October Marks the Start of Long-Term Care Planning Month
When I think of long-term care planning, the first thing that comes to mind is geriatric care managers (GCMs). Geriatric Care Managers are mainly social workers or licensed nurses who help identify your family’s needs and how to meet those needs. These trained professionals play an extremely vital role in long-term care planning. A good analogy to describe how families can work together with GCMs is to think of them as the quarterback of the long-term care planning process. As the quarterback, you will find a slew of benefits of hiring a geriatric care manager.
Benefits of a Hiring GCMs
There are typically a lot of moving pieces involved in this process: legal needs, home care, assisted living, skilled nursing, downsizing of current residence, etc. One of these topics alone is enough to leave you feeling overwhelmed, let alone having to tackle multiple issues.
A worthwhile GCM is knowledgeable about all of these areas and has established relationships within the industry to call upon for assistance. Making a wrong decision with ANY of the above can be expensive, frustrating, time-consuming and – most importantly – can have a major negative impact on your loved one’s well-being.
A quality GCM is going to cost approximately $800 – $1500 for an initial assessment and $150/hour for ongoing hourly support. The costs for a GCM are typically out of pocket/private pay, and as a result a lot of people do not enlist their services. This is a MISTAKE. Â
All of the services listed above are expensive and can be difficult to navigate. By investing in the beginning of the process and choosing to hire a geriatric care manager, families are offered the support they need to make educated decisions for their loved ones and not waste time and money on services that are not the right fit for them.Â
