Anonymous wrote:I am going through this right now with my parents... some reflections...
Aging in place is great until it's not... then you have to figure out a plan. There are a lot of options all over the spectrum and its hard to imagine how it will all work out.
We had a great home care service and a wonderful aid. The director was a resource for us and I always felt gave us honest advice and never pushed us into anything that we didn't need. In fact, her advice now is to move my parents into a facility for better care.
Assisted living facilities vary on their qualifications and what they can do for care. It is all over the place... we had one place tell us that assisted living wasn't right and our father needed to be in a nursing home, and another say he was welcome and they could take him right away. It is just how they are set up, what resources they can provide and what they think they can handle.
On all of this we are private pay which is an eye popping cost no matter what you choose. It's all $$$$$ bye, bye.
Anonymous wrote:If your parent is on Medicaid and requires a nursing home level of care, you can check out a program called PACE (Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly). If eligible, it provides services but allows the parent to live at home. www.npaonline.org/pace-you
The program is not yet available in DC (expected in 2022 per DC gov website) and northern VA, but it is in progress. The program is available in other parts of VA, Baltimore, and a number of other states.
Anonymous wrote:My mom had some wonderful, caring home health aides 24/7 for the last 7 months when she was in hospice. Sure, there were a few duds who were phoning it in, and one who could never arrive on time for her shift, but you can talk to the agency and get different aides. But the two who split weekdays were just wonderful-one used to sing to my mom as she bathed her and my mom, who barely said more than a sentence for the last months, would always look up at her and smile.
IMO the people making money are the agency managers. Two aides came to us and offered to work for us directly so they’d get more $ and we’d pay less. The problem is that if someone got sick, we’d have no help, and Mom absolutely needed that 24/7 coverage and the agency’s ability to send someone to else.
Medicare only sends someone twice a week, even for slime one who was bed-bound like my mom. Having seen a facility with lots of Medicaid patients
Anonymous wrote:agree. i think the home health agencies are kind of a racket. we had it last year for health and PT and they were horrible about scheduling and being on time. i am sure it cost a lot and they didn't do much at all.
nursing homes are also trying to drain you of all possible funds. too bad we can't all fall asleep on day and not wakeup the next.
Anonymous wrote:If your parent is on Medicaid and requires a nursing home level of care, you can check out a program called PACE (Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly). If eligible, it provides services but allows the parent to live at home. www.npaonline.org/pace-you
The program is not yet available in DC (expected in 2022 per DC gov website) and northern VA, but it is in progress. The program is available in other parts of VA, Baltimore, and a number of other states.