Geriatric Care Managers' Services Vary
Ask the geriatric care manager for a list of the services they provide. They are charging you for certain tasks they perform and you will want to know if their services fit your need. The National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers site explains a care manager like this: "Geriatric Care Manager is a health and human services specialist who helps families who are caring for older relatives. The Geriatric Care Manager is trained and experienced in any of several fields related to care management, including, but not limited to nursing, gerontology, social work, or psychology, with a specialized focus on issues related to aging and elder care."
The NAPGCM site does have a code of ethics for their members and they do provide a search for managers. This is not to say that all good geriatric care managers belong to this site - this is just one group and one way to search. Asking for credentials and references is necessary no matter how you find a manager.
The expense of hiring a care manager may put the service out of reach of many. That's a big drawback, as many folks who most need the service can't afford it. That isn't the care manager's fault as they must make a living just as most of us must. However, it is a service that I hope, one day, will be recognized as necessary enough to be covered by insurance.
Meanwhile, if the care manager is good, she/he will have enough knowledge to get your senior the care needed and give you some room to breathe. In some cases, geriatric care managers may "pay for themselves." If they get you on the right track to care for your elder, and if they are knowledgeable about financial aid for seniors, which they should be, it's possible that they may uncover some funding you wouldn't have found.
Still, if you go to your state's website and look under "aging services," you should find contact information and get some guidance to find aid that is available locally. Don't count on a geriatric care manager to save you money. But a good one could save your sanity.
Elder care author, columnist and speaker Carol Bradley Bursack is an AgingCare.com contributing editor and moderator of the
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