Elder Care Can Be Confusing, But These Services Are Here to Help

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As Baby Boomers reach their elder years, an unmet need is reaching critical mass: What happens when senior citizens get to the point in their lives when they need extra help? How do you navigate the maze of possibilities for assisting your elderly relatives—in-home care, retirement communities, assisted living facilities, memory care facilities, full-staff nursing homes—and find the right option for your senior family member?

Fortunately, there are services that can help. Elder care referral services can help you navigate the ball of confusion and find the best possible place for the elders in your life.

A Place for Mom

Probably the best known among elder care referral services, A Place for Mom has received endorsement from no other than author, journalist, and TV host Joan Lunden. It has also received funding from a number of private equity firms, including General Atlantic and Silver Lake. 

“A Place for Mom sits at the critical intersection of a number of exciting trends across the information technology and healthcare sectors, including the continued shift in consumer research from offline to online channels,” said Anton Levy, General Atlantic Managing Director and Head of Global Internet & Technology. 

A Place for Mom’s advisors provide referrals for an array of services from in-home caregivers to memory care facilities. It serves the entire U.S. 

Eldercare Consulting

Patricia Throop founded Eldercare Consulting in 2006 after dealing with the many complexities of moving her elderly mother to Seattle. After she connected with the best professionals in the industry and built a network of trusted vendors, Throop’s organization opened for business in 2010. Eldercare Consulting provides a free one-hour consultation to identify the challenges people are facing when locating elder care services in their area and to connect them to organizations and people that can help. Eldercare assists not only with arranging care but also with connecting people to trusted professionals from yard workers to elder law attorneys. Eldercare Consulting also serves the entire U.S. 

First Choice Advisory Services

Founded in 1993, First Choice Advisory Services serves six metro areas in the Pacific Northwest. The company provides personalized referrals for senior housing, senior care, and in-home care services. They also provide assistance with the sale of the elder’s home and even with moving to a facility, whether that’s a retirement community, assisted living facility, or nursing home. A free consultation begins the process, and once the care advisor has found out what the client’s needs are, they help to locate appropriate elder care options. First Choice offers a complimentary printed resource directory as well. 

How are these companies funded? Typically through fees paid by care facilities and in-home care organizations once arrangements are successfully made through the companies. Typically, these services require that care facilities or in-home care be paid by private funds or long-term care insurance benefits rather than Medicare or Medicaid. Veterans’ benefits can also provide funding for elder care services.

Have you used an elder care referral service? How did it work out for you? Please share your experience in the comments!

How to Have “The Talk” With Your Parents About Elder Care

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Elder care is on a lot of people’s minds. Whether it’s Baby Boomers starting to plan for their own retirement years or Gen-Xers starting to face the reality that their parents are aging, how best to care for senior relatives has become a topic of discussion at many dinner tables.

Discussions about elder care have become a topic in the financial community, too. In fact, William E. Ford, CEO of private equity firm General Atlantic, said in a recent interview that healthcare companies are responsible for significant innovation as they try to address issues of cost and improving quality of care in an efficient manner.

But all of this talk about elder care doesn’t make it any easier to have that discussion with your parents, or to navigate the many options available. Here are some tips for having that sensitive discussion.

Talk with other family members first. Give everyone a chance to discuss their concerns so that all of you agree on the need for the conversation. Decide who should be present. Remember, though, that if too many people are present, your parents could feel like you’re ganging up on them.

Pick the right time and place. If you know your parents get tired late in the day, you may want to have the conversation after breakfast or lunch, for example. If there’s a place where your parents feel the most relaxed, you might want to talk there. You know your parents best, so you can make the call on the place.

Have a respected professional facilitate the conversation. Your parents’ doctor, attorney, or spiritual advisor (priest, pastor, rabbi, etc.) could be a good person to help your parents make the decision to enter care.

Ask questions to direct the discussion. You can ask your parents what they would do if they fell at home or if they could no longer do basic tasks such as showering safely. “Asking questions and letting them come to the answer is a good approach,” says JoAnn Abraham, Vice President of Sales for Porter Hills Retirement Community & Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You may be surprised to learn that your parents are also worried or feel unsafe, and they’ll be relieved to know support is available.

Be prepared for denial. Nobody wants to admit that they’re getting to a place in their life where they can’t manage on their own. But remember, a successful conversation doesn’t necessarily mean you come to an agreement. Success, in this case, is just opening the door to further discussion.

Know what resources are available. Your local agency on aging, council on aging, state department of elder services, and other free referral services like A Place for Mom can help you and your parents come to a decision about what solutions work best for everyone.

With the steadily increasing demand for elder services, it’s not surprising that private equity firms like General Atlantic and Silver Lake are investing in A Place for Mom. I imagine that with the aging population, the need for A Place for Mom and other services like it will only grow in the future.

Have you had to have “the talk” with your parents? How did it go? Do you have any tips from your experience? Please share them in the comments.