Caring for a father.

When you go to seek respite or care for an elder, they always ask if the person is a veteran, because there are a lot of options available to help if they are. Those options may not all be great ones, and require investigation (e.g. a VA nursing may or may not be the best in any given area) but there is likely some help out there for him. Some states have eldercare waivers that will provide for a fair amount of at-home help via Medicaid too. Area Agency on Aging usually has information on that too. This is tough stuff...do you or does someone in the family have durable POA for finances and medical care, and are all the legal papers in order? It could become critical to have that to be allowed to make decisions and take care of applications for anything or services he might want or need.

Hi, Jim. It is a trying task. Getting together resources can be the most exhausting. It would be nice if they just fell in place. Two resources that are immediately apparent are from the VA and from Medicaid. Both take a good bit of paperwork and time, but it sounds like your father is a good candidate. Perhaps you can call in a social worker from your county Human Services to help you assess your needs and make application. He/she will also be able to give you the name of the contact so you can apply for veteran's benefits. Other people on the group may have some good ideas of resources available to you.