Whenever possible, planning ahead for senior care is the best course of action. This helps to not only get your loved one’s input and desires for their latter years taken into account, but can help make the financial burden of care much easier to carry. By beginning to save money appropriately early in life, even the most expensive of care options becomes a lot more feasible. This way, your loved one isn’t limited to using just the options that accept Medi-Cal dollars as payment options for senior care. Although there are some great options down this route, it does limit the freedom of choice for you and your family.
The importance of choice cannot be overemphasized. Regardless of where your older loved one lives while receiving care, it’s important that a plan of action be put in place that they approve of. This ensures that they do not feel trapped or unheard. It can help make the transition into care a lot easier, and it has even been shown to help reduce the likelihood that some sort of mental illness may develop as a result of moving from their home. Short term dementia is very common for seniors that are relocated abruptly–gaining input can help to reduce the impact of this.
Planning ahead can also help to make sure that the legal side of things are done correctly. Power of attorney rights, advance directives, and any other legal matters can be settled well before they are acted upon, again, ensuring that your loved one has a voice and their best interests are being accounted for.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible. Sometimes an accident makes senior care an urgent matter and the time for planning is past. Now it’s time for action. Although urgency can make senior care seem like an overwhelming choice, you do have options in front of you. This is why it’s so important to start with what your loved one’s needs are. If they are in the hospital, get a clear idea of what the short and long term prognosis will be. Then, see what types of care exist in your community that can satisfy those needs. This will help you to instantly diminish your choices down to the options that will actually help you. From there, it’s easier to narrow things down using factors like payment options, proximity to home, and the general impression that the service gives you.
By no means is this an exhaustive list of options. However, even if your family’s planning is not complete at the time that care becomes a must, this can help you to get a good start in that direction.
We’re here to help. If you are looking for guidance when it comes to senior care, then our free consultation service is going to take you a long way. One of our trained professionals can help you go over your family’s needs, and then get you started in the right direction. Just give us a call today to get started.
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