Blog

  • Why Educating Your Caregiver is a Win-Win

    It’s common for your loved one’s needs to change over time. If you’re lucky, you have a trusted caregiver who really connects with your senior, understands his or her needs, and is responsive to your input and concerns.

  • How to Obtain Guardianship—and When You Should

    Realizing that your parent has become incapable of caring for herself or making reasonable decisions about her property is a heart-wrenching discovery. And if you postponed getting legal documents in place -- a power of attorney and living will -- your only option may be guardianship.

  • How to screen a caregiver (or as importantly, how NOT to screen a caregiver)

    If you’ve ever watched a crime drama, this scene is probably familiar. A beat cop hustles a criminal into the police station for booking. The intake officer records his name, takes a mug shot, tells him to empty his pockets—and then asks for his Social Security number. Right?

    Wrong. As every crime drama from Hill Street Blues to CSI has taught us, when someone is arrested for a crime, it’s the fingerprint that links them to it forever.  So why do some home care agencies rely only on Social Security numbers when screening caregivers? 

  • How to Protect Your Senior from Financial Abuse

    Is your senior safe from financial abuse? You might be surprised. A report by elder financial services firm True Link Financial reveals that the extent of senior financial abuse is much greater than previously reported. Approximately 36.9% of Americans over age 65 are affected in a given 5-year period—at a cost of $36.5 billion a year.

  • Overwhelmed by Home Care? We’ve Got No-Nonsense Answers

    Perhaps your mom is having surgery next week in New York, but you live in L.A. How will you make sure she’ll get the right home care upon discharge from the hospital? And what about the high cost of your dad’s caregiver from an agency? Every month there’s another bill, and his savings seem like they’re going right out the door. Should you find more affordable help?

  • When Your Senior Needs Care, You Need a Support Network

    Finding care for your aging parent is a huge responsibility, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Can your mom age in place, or do you need to consider a residential facility? Should you hire a private caregiver or a licensed home health aide? How will you finance care?

  • 6 Common Caregiver Myths Debunked

    Myth #1: Medicare covers the cost of home care. Neither Medicare nor Medicare supplements or other private health insurance plans cover non-medical home care. Medicare will cover short-term, intermittent care services in the home through a licensed agency...

  • Building Homes & Rebuilding Lives

    As Americans gather at home to start the winter holiday season this Thanksgiving, we’d like to share the story of an organization that builds homes for disabled veterans so they, too, can more easily gather at home with friends and family.

  • Do I Need A Nurse Or A Senior Caregiver?

    My mom needs help with putting in eyedrops. Does this mean I need a registered nurse or a senior caregiver? My dad has a Hoyer lift to transfer him out of bed. Should I find someone skilled or can a strong companion help him? 

Pages