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Caring Spirit
Winter 2003
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NEWS for Friends of the Lutheran Home Care Agency
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At least one in every four American families provides care for an older relative. Many live hundreds of miles apart, compounding the stress and concerns of caregivers. How can they be sure their relative is not refusing to eat or misusing medications or mismanaging finances or feeling depressed?
A Geriatric Care Manager (GCM) is a professional who specializes in assisting seniors and their families/caregivers in meeting their immediate and long term care arrangements.
Geriatric Care Managers may have training in gerontology, social work, nursing, or counseling.
Geriatric Care Managers in general, provide services that include:
In-person assessments and care-planning
Screening, arranging, and coordinating in-home help and services
Reviewing financial and legal issues
Providing crisis intervention
Acting as a liaison to families at a distance
Assisting with transitioning to assisted living, adult foster care, or nursing home
Providing coordination and monitoring of medical care
Offering counseling and support
GCMs also may provide family or individual therapy, money management, and conservatorship or guardianship assistance. They may recommend assistance with transportation, shopping, yard management, accompaniment to physician offices, home care, homemaking services, or respite care.
GCMs have extensive knowledge about the costs, quality, and availability of services in their community.
What should you look for when hiring a Geriatric Care Manager?
Ask about licenses, training, and experience
Discuss care philosophy
Ask the care manager to specifically define the range of his or her services
Discuss fees - get a clear idea of what rate is charged and under what circumstances
Is the care manager available in emergencies 24 hours a day? What are the back up systems?
Long-term care insurance policies sometimes cover the cost of geriatric care management but Medicare does not. At first glance the rates for Geriatric Care Management may seem high, but geriatric care managers may actually save families money by connecting them with community resources and steering them away from expensive living arrangements where fees may add up quickly without warning. Dealing with the elderly is a multi disciplinary event, and families who have the least, have the most to lose.
Lutheran Home Care Agency is pleased to offer Geriatric Care Management services to the people in our communities. These services are provided by a Masters prepared Social Worker with over 20 years of experience in mental health, home care, and hospice.
As part of our Mission Statement we endeavor to serve clients by responding to their needs and improving their quality of life. Geriatric Care Management is another avenue to allow us to do just that.
Please call Lutheran Home Care Agency/ Hospice of Hope for more information on this and other services offered at 1-989-652-4663 or visit our website at www.LHMINC.org.
Sources: The States- Regional News of Interest to AARP members- December 2001