Most affordable in home care

[Anonymous]

What is the most affordable care for dementia patients in home? Even if it’s not perfect?

[Anonymous]

The only advice I have, having been through it myself, is to hire people who have experience but do not work for an agency. The drawback, of course, is that going through an agency gives you backup when the caregivers are out sick for whatever reason and you don't have any kind of insurance against the caregiver if they do anything to cause harm nor do you have insurance if your parent causes the caregiver harm.

I'm sorry for what you're going through. It's terrible. We need some kind of shift in how we care for the elderly. It is unsustainable for adult children to be expected to care for and pay for the care of our parents.

[Anonymous]

I actually want her to pay for part/most of it as I don’t have a huge cash flow. She doesn’t want to go to a nursing home and I feel like I am her only advocate in this. My sister would send her yesterday. I feel like it would be awful for her since she’s an introvert and generally doesn’t like being around non family members. It would break her.

[Anonymous]

I’ve posted on other threads about in-home care. We use an agency for my aunt (though she doesn’t have dementia). The rate is $34/hour. I know people who pay less than the agency rate for someone privately. This makes sense since the agency takes a percentage. This might be an option but you will likely find yourself scrambling for coverage at times due to illness, holiday, weather, family emergencies. This was a risk we couldn’t take since my aunt lives alone and is bedridden. The other issue is that I don’t believe you can take the tax deduction for medical expenses unless you are doing it all above board which would then add to your cost. In my aunt’s case, care well exceeds $100k/year so that tax deduction is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually want her to pay for part/most of it as I don’t have a huge cash flow. She doesn’t want to go to a nursing home and I feel like I am her only advocate in this. My sister would send her yesterday. I feel like it would be awful for her since she’s an introvert and generally doesn’t like being around non family members. It would break her.

With dementia, it can help to love them earlier, while they are still capable of forming memories. It’s less scary than later.

At some point, she will need someone 24/7. Plan for that and work backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually want her to pay for part/most of it as I don’t have a huge cash flow. She doesn’t want to go to a nursing home and I feel like I am her only advocate in this. My sister would send her yesterday. I feel like it would be awful for her since she’s an introvert and generally doesn’t like being around non family members. It would break her.

With dementia, it can help to MOVE them earlier, while they are still capable of forming memories. It’s less scary than later.

At some point, she will need someone 24/7. Plan for that and work backwards.

Fixing an unfortunate typo. Of course you love them always!

[Anonymous]

Try calling memory cares, assisted living, independent living, or rehabs. Sometimes the staff wants to work extra hours or has relatives/friends who are looking for CNA work. They might also know agencies that are cheaper. Also search or post on Nextdoor. Unlicensed will be in the $20-$30 range.

For an agency, the cheapest I have found is NutureCare at $33/hour.