- Long-term care plans bring seniors peace of mind - Nazareth College
Choosing the right caregiver can begin as an extension of or modification to existing legal documents. However, if you’ve never put together an estate plan of any type, the care plan itself might be the first thing you do. Within the plan you will nominate the person or persons you wish to care for you or make decisions about your care.
Choosing the Right Caregiver
There are several places to begin the process of putting together a good care plan. A geriatric care manager, elder law attorney, or organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association are all places to get started. Often one of these choices will lead naturally to another, depending on your needs or the needs of your loved one.
Geriatric care managers are one of the newest options available to those seeking long-term care planning. Different from traditional caregivers, geriatric care managers are trained in gerontology, social work, nursing or counseling. These care managers arrange and supervise care. They assess the older person’s needs, coordinate care, make sure the house stays clean and safe, deal with financial concerns, manage crisis and report regularly to families.
Naming the Caregiver
When thinking in terms of care planning, naming a caregiver is often the most important aspect and can also be the most challenging. Meeting with an experienced elder law attorney will guarantee that the care giving relationship is properly established.
From a legal standpoint, the care giving relationship is a very special relationship and it has very strong protections and suspicions in the law. The legal documents must clarify that relationship, especially in terms of payment, gifting, and the handling of the house. Quite often the caregiver resides with the person with a disability, so the legal documents need to contemplate the structure of that relationship. It is a legal relationship that needs to be included in all estate planning arrangements.
Care Plan Flexibility
After meeting with a care manager or other professional to map out the details of your plan, it is important to understand your flexibility and rights, and to whom your caregiver is accountable. Proper planning ensures flexibility not only to the caregiver, but also to the person being cared for, and gives the ability to respond immediately in making a legal decision without getting permission from a probate judge.
The plan also provides flexibility to the person being cared for. The person being cared for always retains the right and power to replace the decision maker or even to revoke the powers given their primary choice should they become incapacitated or they lose confidence in that person. However, it may be a good idea to nominate multiple decision makers especially in financial matters, or to require accountability among multiple people.
Caregiver Accountability
Of great concern to most people thinking about long-term care, whether for themselves or a family member, is the issue of accountability. A person acting under a durable power of attorney is a fiduciary of his principal, or the person who gave the authority. This means that the agent must always act in the best interest of his principal.
There is no formal accountability by an agent unless it is required by the principal, so it’s important to make sure those provisions are in the care plan. Individuals with more than one child often have built in accountability or may want their children to be accountable to each other because of the existing relationship.
Care Plan Options for Seniors
As in many areas, the options available to people thinking about long-term care have grown tremendously. There are many options besides a nursing home, and planning ahead allows you the opportunity to explore those options. Care plan options like hospice are also much more recognized now then in times past. People are living longer, and care planning allows individuals to live out their remaining years in a dignified way.
Long-Term Care Plan Costs vs. Benefits
When it comes to costs for services, most geriatric care managers are on a private pay per hour basis. However, each situation will be different according to individual situations and needs. Medicare, Medicaid and most health insurances do not cover care management, although some long-term care insurances and employees assistance programs reimburse care management fees. The peace of mind this type of service provides far outweighs the cost.
Because none of us know what the future holds, good planning is important. Although thinking ahead about the need for long-term care is not always easy, having the right support base in place to help make these decisions can provide peace of mind to yourself and your loved ones.
Sources:
Today's Caregiver, Caregiver.com, "Planning for Long-Term Care" (accessed August 23, 2010).
Brandon, Emily Brandon. "Talking About Long-Term Care." U.S. News and World Report, Money.USNEWS.com, April 19, 2010 (accessed August 23, 2010).
Patti Richards - Patti Richards is a freelance writer and editor, former teacher, wife and mother of three. Patti writes children’s books and stories ...
