Paying The Cost of Care

As we learned in the previous sections, informal caregivers are family members or friends who take care of loved ones typically without being paid for their services.  Formal care givers are paid professionals or volunteers from aging organizations.  Whether they are reimbursed for their services or not, formal care givers receive some sort of funding either as wages or salary or for administration of their support group.

As care needs increase, both in the number of hours required and in the number of intensity of activities many requiring help, there is a greater need for the services of formal care givers.  Unfortunately, many informal care givers become so focused on their task they don't realize they are getting in over their heads and they have reached the point where some or complete formal care giving is necessary.  Or the informal care giver may recognize the need for paid professional help but does not know where to get the money to pay for it.

It is the job of a care manager or a financial adviser or and attorney to recognize this need with the client care giver and provide the necessary counsel to protect the care giver from overload.  The advisor can also likely find a source for paying for formal care that the care giver may not be aware of

As mentioned in previous posts Intermittent Care would require the occasional attention of an informal care giver but there may also be a medical condition that may require expertise and informal care givers does not possess.  As a general rule most people receiving this kind of care would probably be in their own home and the care giver would be living or working close by and stop only for occasional visits.

There is, however a growing trend where the only family care givers may be living hundreds or thousands of miles away from their loved one.  In this case, a care manager would be hired to arrange for the intermittent care for the loved one.

This could still be furnished by an informal care giver assuming there is not extensive medical condition requiring frequent attention.  It is more likely under this scenario the patient and the informal care giver would be living together.  Or with no care giver available a decision would have to be made whether it would be in the best interest of the patient to receive formal care in the home or to go to a care facility.  Oftentimes a care facility can offer a better environment at a lesser cost.  On the other hand, many patients prefer to remain in their homes at all costs.  And for long distance care givers, hiring a care manager is still the best option. In my next post I will discuss full time care and various options for patients.