Geriatric Care Management is a private resource available to help when you are faced with long term care decisions for an aging loved one. These managers will have great knowledge of the local resources available in your area to help with care giving. Typically geriatric care managers are local nurses, social workers, gerontologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, or other social service professionals.
Geriatric Care Managers will:
- Provide an initial assessment
- Create a care plan
- Implement the care plan
- Monitor the care plan in order to assure quality of care
By using a geriatric care manager, you can not only improve the quality of care for your aging loved one, but also for the caregivers and family. Their goal is to keep the aging adult in the home as long as possible while making sure the family is comfortable as well.
Because this service is a private service, the cost will have to be covered privately. Both Medicare and Medicaid do not cover geriatric care managers. However, some long term care insurance will cover some or all of the management costs. You can utilize the Professional Geriatric Care Managers website in order to locate a manager in your area. They can be found at www.caremanager.org.
