How do you get affordable help? We have had a caregiver during the day for about 5 years. But my dad has reached a point where someone needs to be there 24/7. My brother and I both work full time and have our own family's to take care of. We can see running out of money in less than a year. What is reasonable for 24/7 care? How do you find help that will be good to very vulnerable parents. I understand that Medicare does not cover this.

That is a very good question! Affordable help, home care or otherwise is very difficult to come by. It is a very costly endeavor to care for someone especially when the care reaches the need of 24/7.

Typically with a 24/7 or live in caregiver at home the cost can be 15-20 dollars per hour. This would be a very costly option but some families are advised to spend the resources in this manner so that when there is no funding left the person with Alzheimer’s can move into a nursing home and be supported by Medicaid. This however is only one way families may handle such a situation. Other families find it important to plan financially for the upcoming costs of care, as they know there will be an end to the resources. In some scenarios, families find a nursing home that has an Alzheimer’s unit with private pay beds with Medicaid beds. This way when the private pay resources are depleted they know their loved one has a chance to stay in that facility but change to a Medicaid covered care. Again, this is just one scenario seen with some families looking for 24.7 care with limited resources.

To know what you can do as a family and for your dad, I recommend working with an Elder Law Attorney who specializes in long term care planning and financial planning. Go to http://naela.org to locate an Elder Law Attorney near you!

Also, you can call our helpline at anytime and talk with one of our counselors about other ideas to help pay for care. Our care consultants can also give ideas for other long term care options, like care facilities. Your local chapter may have some resources locally that you could utilize, like home care agencies, long term care residences- if you call our helpline you can reach them call 800.272.3900

Bests,

My very first post to this message board was on the same topic and JAB had some good links. Here's a link to the thread, I hope it helps.
http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/e...=578100021#578100021

Nank, I don't know how far along you've gotten with getting help for your grandma, but I wanted to let you know that the Pace program is available in Michigan now. in four locations: Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Henry Ford Hosp. in Detroit, and Flint. Jellybeans post made it sound like the PACE program isn't available in Michigan. It is now, and it is in many other places around the country. Here's a link to the main site in Michigan, which may lead you to a link for info about your state.

link to state website http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0...2549-87437--,00.html

I hope that will help you.
K