Planning for Successful Aging?
Or,ย Are You in Sudden Caregiving Crisis Mode?
Overwhelmed? Don't know where to start or who to ask?
Here's a roadmap!
FREE Signup - Access More Than 100 Articles and VideosSuddenly you’re a caregiver of your aging loved one. Now what?
How do you handle their medical decisions?
Where should you take care of them? Their house? Your House? Long-term care facility?
Health insurance? Medicare? Medicaid? Plan A, B, D? What is all this?
How will you or they pay for long-term care? Do you have to lose everything?
Do they have to sell their house to pay for long-term care? Can it be saved?
What are the 28 reasons seniors sell their home?
Can retirement funds be preserved?
How do you get family members to help? See Chapter 7
How do I deal with caregiver burnout?
What legal pitfalls am I not even aware of? What’s going to blindside my loved one, myself and my family?
What legal documents do I need? And when do I need them?
How do I get in-home care?
How do we decide on level of long-term care facility? Assisted Living? Personal Care? Memory Care? Skilled Care? What does all that mean?
How do I evaluate the need for change?
Who do I need to ask? Who should I have on my virtual team? Doctor? Nurse? Elder Care Attorney? Social Worker? Realtor? Mortgage Broker? Financial Planner? Long-Term-Care Insurance Agent? Senior Moving Specialist? Medicare and Medicaid Consultant? Aging-in-Place Planner/Designer/Remodelor? Homecare Aide Agency? Long-Term-Care Facility Placement Agency?
What can you expect from Dave Halpern's Caregiver Website?
Improve the quality of life of your aging loved one.
Reduce your caregiving learning curve by years.
Learn the many ways to make caregiving easier.
Ways to reduce caregiver burnout.
How to deal with family members who refuse to help.
Gain access to networking with thousands of family caregivers like yourself.
Learn how to get high value legal advice from Elder Law attorneys.
Learn how real estate is intertwined with many of your eldercare decisions.
Get advice from Dave Halpern, Real Estate Broker about your aging loved one’s real estate strategy.
Improve the quality of life for your aging loved one while reducing stress for all.
Welcome Aboard! How To Use This Website
This site provides a vast amount of knowledge and material and is based on thousands of hours of my personal experience and research.
I have structured it methodically. However, every caregiver is at a different point in their journey. You may go through the site sequentially or go directly to the sections that are your highest priority and catch up with the rest later.
Overview: 22 Topics You Need To Master About Caregiving For Aging Parents
Lost? Overwhelmed by the many aspects of caregiving for an aging loved one? Emotional, physical, legal, financial, social, where to live, family relationships.
Build Your Caregiving Dream Team of Professionals
Are you thrust into caregiving and don't know who to ask or what to ask? Don't know how to find the right people?
So many unknowns, so many decisions, so little time, so little training or preparation!
I created these tools for you as a byproduct of my own caregiving journey.
Recognizing The Need For Change
Worried about small or big changes in behaviour, medical, or physical condition?
Why is it so important to take notice of the signs of decline?
Because at some point the cumulative decline may require changes.
Having The Conversation About Change
How do you talk to a loved one about changing their living arrangements? Who, should be in the conversation? What should be discussed? Modify the home? Move in with adult children? Move to assisted living? A wide variety of options, but how to get everyone on board?
Aging in Place
Can the home be modified to be more safe? Are there services that can be delivered to the home such as medical, food, in-home aides? Are there technologies to enhance the safety, the communications and socialization of the resident?
Analyze Level Of In-Home Care Needed
Do you need light housekeeping, food preparation? Help with bathing? Transferring to and from bed/sitting/bathroom? Help with medication? A few hours a day all the way up to 24 hours a day? Assistance with shopping?
The Positives and Joys of Caregiving for a Loved One
Love. Giving back to a loved one who sacrificed so much for you. Strengthening bonds and relationships. Quality time that wasn't previously available.
Family Relationships When Caring For Aging Parents
Caregiving for an aging loved one can bring out the best and the worst in family relationships. Old and new grudges and rivalries may further deepen causing irreparable harm to the aging loved one, to the primary family caregiver, and to the family as a whole.
Caregiver Burnout
The primary family caregiver is the one who is making the highest sacrifice. The sacrifice is physical, emotional, time, and sometimes financial.
There are numerous practical ways to reduce caregiver burnout.
Caregiver Support Groups - You're Not Alone!
Caregiver burnout? Frustrated? Depressed? Overwhelmed? Need advice? Or just someone to talk to who understands? There are many local and national support groups for family caregivers.
Online, zoom, and in-person groups, and also specific to medical conditions.
Types of Retirement and Long-Term Care Communities
So many options! Which is the right one for your loved one? Will they accept him/her?
Independent Living, Assisted Living, Personal Care, Skilled Care, Other?
100+ Caregiving Topics Divided into 22 Logical Categories
FREE
Easy To Navigate to Topics Most Important To You
Click to Sign Up here for FREE Access to More Than 100 Articles and Videos
Real Estate Considerations For Seniors
- What are the 28 reasons seniors sell their home?
- Should I remodel to "Age In Place?"
- Should the adult child move in with the aging loved one?
- Should the aging loved one move in to the adult child's home?
- Should you sell and move to Assisted Living or other long term senior living?
- Should you sell and buy a one-level home?
- Sell and move to a condo or 55+ community?
- Sell and buy a larger home so an adult child and family can live with the aging parent?
- Should I get a reverse mortgage?
- How do real estate decisions impact Medicare eligibilty?
- Can I legally protect the equity in my home from the Medicaid lookback period and estate recovery?
Schedule FREE Consultation With Dave Halpern, Realtor, SRES - Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Dedicated to Helping the age 55+ Baby Boomers and Seniors and Caregivers of All Ages
A Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) is uniquely qualified to help you take the next step.
As someone over the age of 55, your needs aren't the same as a first-time homebuyer or seller. You might be looking to retire, downsize, or join an active adult community. Whatever reason you may have for considering a move, you can depend on a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® SRES® to guide you through every part of the process.
Knowledge, Experience, Compassion, Dedication.
Dave Halpern, Realtor, Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES), has been serving real estate clients in Louisville and surrounding counties for 24 years. He has successfully closed almost 1,000 real estate transactions. Dave is highly trained and extremely experienced in complicated real estate transactions including but not limited to helping seniors, their caregivers, and sometimes their heirs, to find the best solutions for their real estate needs. Dave is patient, compassionate, knowledgeable, and is dedicated to helping his clients optimize solutions to their real estate needs and wishes.
Legal Matters For Seniors
Seniors almost always have more options available to them than they can imagine. Asset preservation, long-term care insurance, disability and medical care, Social Security benefits, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, estate planning, medical care directives, declarations and powers of attorney, real estate and mortgage and reverse mortgage advice, wills, trusts, guardianships, and more. Everone has different needs and goals. Eldercare attorneys know how to help you maximize your options.
Choosing Medical Care Providers
As we age we need more medical attention. But other constraints are present: Traveling and getting from the car to the appointment in sweltering heat, or snow, or rain, or icy conditions Coordinating schedules to fit the patient, the doctor or lab work, and the caregiver. Are there medical services that come to the home? What about medical services in Assisted Living? What about insurance, Medicaid and Medicare?
Deciding If To Move To A Senior Living Community
Most seniors will automatically say they wish to continue living at home rather than go to a senior living community. But today's senior communities are not like the the image of the "old age" homes of the 1950's.
The Assisted Living and Long-Term Care facilities of today are generally more like beautiful hotel settings with customized care, social activities, and many amenities.
The senior and their family caregivers should tour half a dozen facilities before deciding against moving
How To Pay For Long Term Senior Living
Ways to pay for long-term care
1. Self Fund with Savings
2. Life Insurance
3. Deferred Lifetime Annuity
4. Cash in on Home Equity
5. Rent Out Your Home
6. Sell Other Assets
7. Reverse Mortgages
8. Run Through Savings and Qualify for Medicaid
9. Rely on Family Members
10. Have a Plan and Communicate it to Family Members
Downsizing, Packing and Moving
Packing, moving, unpacking, setting up. Most of the time, when seniors move there is also an element of downsizing and decluttering.
Unpacking and setting up the new residence is also a challenge.
Specialized Seniors Movers are trained and passionate about helping seniors sort into categories of keep, sell, give away, donate, or throw away.
Seniors Movers also specialize in unpacking and setting up the new place to be move-in ready.
Technology and Gadgets to Aid Seniors
Technology and gadgets today can improve the quality of life of seniors and make caregiving much easier.
- Provides access to grocery shopping and meals.
- Monitors health and wellness
- Enhances security
- Provides entertainment
- Alerts caregivers if something is irregular
- Provides peace of mind
- Connects them with friends and family
- Enables telehealth
- And much more...
Socializing for Seniors
Socializing is critical for:
- Improved Mental Health
- Sense of Belonging
- Staying Relevant
- Increased Self-Esteem
- Purposeful Living
If the senior is not independently mobile, there are transportation options available. There are also many technology tools, such as Zoom calls and smart home devices, that make it easier to socialize even if homebound.
Transportation for Seniors
Transportation customized for seniors can be found in many places:
- Community Centers
- Religious Institutions
- Non-profit organizations
- Medical Transportation Companies
- Hospital In-home Care Services
- And more...
Hospice and End of Life Decisions
Hospice will give the senior and the caregivers guidance and support regarding the physical, emotional and spiritual changes occurring near the end of life
Hospice staff are compassionate, knowledgable, and experienced. The Hospice team usually consists of nurses, social workers and clergy.
