Stage One, section 4: Using a Care Manager

If you need someone to help your family plan informal support and formal services for your care receiver, see a professional called a care manager.

Government-Funded Care/Case Management

You may feel that services will be needed, but you don't know where to start. Call the Senior Helpline at 727-217-8111 or 1-800-861-8111. The Senior Helpline provides information on services including case management that are available from non-profit agencies and private businesses. One resource may have a waiting list while another is available, so you may have to try several options. For more about case managed programs, see Stage Two, section 5. For a definition of terms such as "care manager" and "care plan", see the Glossaries section.

Private Care Management

If your family can afford to hire a private care management company, this can sometimes be the right choice because service will probably be available immediately, case loads for private care managers are low so they have more time for each client, and you may receive a great deal of on-going personal service throughout caregiving transitions such as liquidating a home and moving your care receiver to an assisted living facility or nursing home if needed. Private care managers in Pinellas County, Florida generally charge a flat rate for the initial assessment and then bill per hour after that. In-home services ordered by the case manager are billed separately.

Service by a private care management company can be as extensive as the family desires and can afford, from being on-call to assist a local caregiver after the initial assessment is made to making monthly or even daily visits to check on an older person for an out-of-town caregiver. Private care managers arrange and closely monitor in-home services to make certain the companies providing direct care to the older person are doing a good job. Some care management companies send family members e-mails to update them on their care receiver's condition after visits are made.

If you are a long-distance caregiver, it can be reassuring to know that there is someone to accompany your care receiver to medical appointments and to serve as the local contact person to meet your care recipient at the emergency room in the middle of the night. Private care managers can make visits to monitor care in an assisted living facility and nursing home the way you would if you were an in-town caregiver.

Helpful Resources

• For a private care manager listing by zip code or other area, visit the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers' web site, www.caremanager.org. This web site also provides a list of questions to ask when hiring a geriatric care manager.
• If you are a long-distance caregiver and the person who needs care lives in Florida but not in Pinellas County, ask about care management by calling the state Elder Helpline number, 1-800-963-5337. Ask whether services are government funded at little or no cost or whether private with fees for service. The national toll-free Eldercare Locator telephone number, 1-800-677-1116, refers callers to Elder Helplines throughout the United States. If you prefer, visit the Eldercare Locator website, www.eldercare.gov.
• The National Institute on Aging offers a helpful booklet for long-distance caregivers.: So Far Away:Twenty Questions for Long Distance Caregivers. In addition to information, it also provides websites and toll-free numbers for caregivers. You may access their website at www.nia.nih.gov or call them toll-free at 1-800-222-2225/ TTY 1-800-222-4225.

To access the services or programs described in this on-line verson of the Caregiver Handbook, call the Senior Helpline at 727-217-8111 in Pinellas or 1-800-861-8111 in other areas of Florida.