Assisted Living At Home - What Is a Care Assessment?
Thank you for being a reader of this column. It supports the ever-changing needs of caregiving families.
I answer questions and provide recommendations. In the previous weeks, I discussed what Katy (a long-distance caregiver in Florida with a dad in Oregon) could do to care for her dad. COVID-19 restrictions made it almost impossible for her to move her dad into an assisted living facility. I recommended the free level of care assessment offered by the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) that sparked a few questions. So today is a good day to answer the question.
Q: What is AAA, and how could they help caregivers like Katy?
A: The AAA is an agency designated by the state to address the needs of older adults and to help them stay independent. Their services include Meals on Wheels, homemaker assistance, caregiver respite and level of care evaluations. In St. Helens, OR our AAA is at Community Action Team. They offer a respite reimbursement grants for those who qualify.
Between work and family, caregiving can become overwhelming. Statistically, 30% of family caregivers die before the person they are caring for die, due to a lack of self-care. For someone like Katy, the AAA would help determine the correct level of care for her dad through a comprehensive assessment because he might not need to move into a facility because there might be other options. For others, the respite reimbursement grant provides a BREAK from caregiving. If you or someone you know is tired, exhausted and feeling burned out, I encourage you to call the AAA and ask for respite care.
If you need a little more help, Comfort Makers is available. Families select Comfort Makers for 3 big reasons;
- They DO NOT require a minimum number of hours
- You select the caregiver and hourly rate that you prefer to pay
- You get to see the drug screen, background check and credentialing of the caregiver of your choice.
