Understanding medical jargon, acquiring best medical, long-term, and home care, and navigating the challenges of aging can be stressful for older adults and their family caregivers. Geriatric care managers support and direct older adults and their family members as they plan and arrange care. These care managers are also sometimes known as aging life care managers. Elder law attorneys frequently work with geriatric care managers in Court guardianship proceedings, fiduciary representation, and long-term care planning matters.

What Is a Geriatric Care Manager?

The National Institute on Aging describes geriatric care managers as “professional relatives” for older adults. They can organize and manage care when family members are overwhelmed, in dispute, or live too far away to assist their loved one. When family members live apart from their older loved ones, the geriatric care manager can check in on them, help coordinate care, and keep track of their ongoing needs.

Many have backgrounds in various fields related to aging, such as nursing, psychology, or social work. Since they have professional experience working with older adults, they have insight into the kinds of issues affecting people as they age.

What Do Geriatric Care Managers Do?

Geriatric care managers guide individuals through many aspects of care, including:

• Performing assessments highlighting unmet needs to determine older adults’ care requirements.
• Supporting patients in creating short-term and long-term care plans.

For instance, if your loved one has been diagnosed with a progressive disease, such as dementia, their needs will change over time. You might need to arrange for future care, when their ability to live independently declines.

• Helping individuals find services that fit their needs and selecting an appropriate assisted living facility, nursing home, or in-home service.
• Arranging planned and emergency medical visits as well as transportation.
• Providing legal, financial, and medical referrals.
• Arranging respite care when primary caregivers need to temporarily step away from their duties.
• Responding to caregivers’ and patients’ questions.
• Explaining complex and emotionally challenging topics, such as planning for long-term care for individuals with dementia.
• Aiding with communication and cooperation in instances when multiple family members work together to assist an older adult.
• Identifying social service programs for older adults who are eligible.

Paying for an Aging Life Care Manager

 Most individuals pay for geriatric care management services out of pocket. Insurance rarely covers aging life care coordination.

How do the Elder Law Attorney and Geriatric Care Manager Work Together for You?

An elder law attorney typically handles the following types of representation:

• Prepares the older adult’s medical directives.
• Represents the Agent designated in the older adult’s medical directives.
• Represents the court-appointed legal Guardian of the incapacitated older adult.
• Works with the family to craft a long term care plan to preserve assets while at the same time meet the care needs of the older adult.

Elder law attorneys are well-versed in the issues that often arise due to aging and provide legal advice and solutions. The geriatric care manager’s role is to assess and make specific recommendations regarding placement, medical, and other care that might be necessary to meet the specific needs of the older adult. Care managers are familiar with the senior living options, medical, and other services available in the older adult’s community.

Geriatric care managers provide a third-party professional opinion which often times helps families in dispute reach an accord concerning the care of their older loved ones. Their assessments can also be used as evidence in contested guardianship proceedings. Lastly, if a child is the caregiver to the elderly parent a geriatric care manager can be used to assess and calculate the fair market value of the child’s caregiving services which can then be used by the elder law attorney and family in crafting a personal care contract between the child and elderly parent.

Handling an older adult’s care and personal needs can be overwhelming and often families do not know where to begin, or when changes occur how to chart the best path forward. A few hours of care management services can save families months of research, time away from work or other responsibilities, and result in better overall outcomes. Together, the elder law attorney and geriatric care manager can provide solutions to many issues that families with older adults face.

Finding Geriatric Care Management

 If you are a client of the firm, our office can refer you to experienced geriatric care managers.  You can also find a geriatric care manager at Aging Life Care Association – https://www.aginglifecare.org

Before hiring an geriatric care manager, take time to do your research. Determine whether the elder care specialist or company can provide the kind of guidance and level of interaction you seek.

• Consider their professional credentials, how long they have been providing services, and typical client.
• Are they are available 24/7 for emergencies or only standard business hours?
• How will they share information?
• What is their payment structure?

Geriatric care managers provide valuable services for older adults and their families, reducing caregivers’ responsibilities and providing access to information family members could lack. These aging specialists can also be invaluable for those without close family or friends willing to assist with coordinating elder care.

In Arizona? Contact us Today!

If you need an Arizona elder law attorney, call our office today at 480-922-1010 or email info@bivenslaw.com to schedule your consultation with one of our experienced elder law attorneys. Whether you need guidance on estate planning, Trustee or Agent representation, Guardianship, or long term care asset protection planning with Medicaid (Arizona Long Term Care System- ALTCS benefits), we have the experience and know-how you need to make the best decisions for you and your family. Do not be overwhelmed. Instead, let us help you chart the best course of action for yourself or your older loved one. We are here to help.

-Stephanie A. Bivens, Esq., CELA