Dear Commander Bun Bun, I have been a caregiver for my mother for more than a decade. She is ready to move into a skilled nursing facility. She would like to make her room feel like home, and I’d like to help her do so. Do you know what kinds of personal things can we […]
Why Don’t ALL Nursing Homes Offer This?
Q. My mother has dementia, and things are starting to become too much for me and my father to handle. She used to be so easy going, and now she gets cranky, angry, depressed, and fearful at times. It is so hard to see her like this, and caring for her at home has become […]
How You Can Help Prevent Wandering and Wandering-Related Tragedies
Dear Angel, My grandmother, who has dementia, lives with our family. She seems disoriented a lot, and I am afraid she might wander from the house. What are some things we can put in place in our home to stop her from wandering away? Thanks, Wanda Ring —– Dear Wanda, Wandering is a risk associated with […]
CMS Finalizes Commitment to Person-Centered Care for Nursing Home Residents
Q. My father has Alzheimer’s, and he is no longer able to live safely on his own. Since my mother died, I have been his caregiver, and although trusting his care to strangers isn’t going to be easy, I know a nursing home is the right place for him at this time. My husband and […]
Questions to Ask at a Nursing Home Interview
Dear Baxter, My husband and I are evaluating nursing homes for his mother. We set up several tours. We are wondering if you could suggest questions to ask at these meetings? Thanks for your help! Wanda Fine-Darytwan — Dear Wanda, When you visit a nursing home to check it out, it’s important to be prepared. […]
Hospice Care for Healthier Patients. . . Something Isn’t Right!
Linda Rodgers was shocked to see her father in so much pain when she visited him at his hospice facility. In a letter she wrote to the editor of USA Today, she described how her father had his pain controlled by medication while in the hospital, before admission to hospice, but was in severe pain […]
What Medicare Won’t Cover
Q. When my mom turns 65, she will enroll in Medicare, as most seniors do. My understanding about Medicare is that Part A is hospital insurance and Medicare Part B helps pay for doctors’ services and other medical services and supplies that are not covered by Part A. My mother seems to think that Medicare […]
Overcoming Emotions: Moving Mom to a Nursing Home
Q. My aging mother has lived in her home since I was a child. My family loved the neighborhood so much that we never moved, and when I got married and had my own family, we bought a house a few blocks away. Now, dad’s been gone for many years, and mom has had home […]
Nursing Home Preparation
Dear Baxter, My father will be moving to a nursing home next month. What do you suggest we do to prepare for this big move? Thanks! Bea Forehegos —— Dear Bea, The move to a nursing home is more like a journey than an event, for most residents, caregivers, and families. After you have chosen […]
$10,000 – $12,000? That’s for a Year, Right?
Q. I read in one of your recent newsletters that nursing homes in the metro DC area cost $10,000 – $12,000 a month. I think you made a typo, and I wanted to bring it to your attention. Those amounts are for a year, right? If nursing homes cost THAT MUCH per month, then nobody […]
Enough is Enough! I Quit.
Every day, Rebecca goes to her mother’s house in Oakton, gets her out of bed, gives her breakfast, and dresses her. She spends the day with her, as she is working from her mother’s home. Sometimes, when Rebecca arrives, her mother will greet her with, “Oh, it’s you again.” And, throughout the day, she complains […]
Her Hospital Bracelet Said She Was “Admitted.” But We Found Out After Her Discharge That She Wasn’t.
This question was sent in by J.R., in response to my article about observation status in the March 2016 Golden Gazette. See also our recent blog posting on this topic: https://www.farrlawfirm.com/is-it-the-end-for-observation-status Q. My 89-year old mother (in PA) recently fell injuring her hip and was taken to a local hospital. After being assessed by her […]
Seniors Decide: What’s Important in the Presidential Election?
Q. Thank you for your recent articles about where candidates stand on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits. In reading them, and in watching the debates on TV, I am still trying to figure out other critical issues seniors and baby boomers are evaluating when voting for our next president, and why I haven’t heard much from any candidate about long-term care. Unfortunately, […]
Is it the End for Observation Status?
Q. Late last year, you answered a question about a woman who spent a week in the hospital and was seen by doctors and nurses, given every kind of test imaginable, operated on, transferred to another room for recovery, and then to a nursing home for two weeks of rehabilitation. Subsequently, she received a […]
Mandating Overtime Pay for In-Home Caregivers
My mother-in-law, Stella, lives alone in her home in Florida, and her health has been declining for some time. About a year ago, we hired an in-home caregiver for her who comes 4 hours every day from a local agency. Now her health is deteriorating more rapidly, and we are thinking of hiring a live-in […]
70% of Americans turning 65 will need Long-Term Care
Correction: The title of our newsletter is incorrect. It should be “One in seven adults will have a disability for more than five years.” We apologize for this error! Photo from homeaidescny.org A new federal issue brief, compiled by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), was released following the White House Conference on Aging. The research shows that […]
Filial Responsibility
Q. I was on Avvo recently looking up “filial responsibility.” I saw you answered a question where a husband sued his wife’s children to pay him monthly for the care of their mother in a dementia unit, and they were ordered to pay him $2,000 a month over and above the actual cost of her […]
$10,000 a month! Why don’t they take it seriously?
Q. My parents are in their 70’s and I am a caregiver for them, while working part-time and raising a family. My father has had Parkinson’s for fifteen years and is no longer mobile. My mother is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. As much as I love them dearly, it is becoming a real […]
Alzheimer’s Diagnosis is Rarely Disclosed to Patients
Q. My mother, Lorraine , is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s. We think it began ten years ago when she started showing signs, but no one knows for sure. She went to a doctor for physicals every year, and seemed to be in good health, except she had what we thought were “senior moments.” When […]
Informal Home Care Could Result in Medicaid Ineligibility
Betty Jensen was an elderly woman with dementia, who resided in her home in Muskegon, Michigan. In May 2011, when she needed assistance, her concerned grandson, Jason, acted on her behalf and hired a non-relative, Teresa Alexander, to serve as her Caregiver. Hiring a Caregiver When hiring the Caregiver, Jason entered into an informal agreement […]