Mapping A Senior Care Service Solution

October '07 -
(Mercer County Women, Burlington County Women)

Resources for creating the most beneficial plan from you specific needs ...

As many of us know, statistics about the aging population and care giving are staggering and all numbers seem to grow exponentially. Concurrently, options to help caregivers, adult children caring for elderly parents and even senior care professionals themselves are growing in leaps and bounds. The great growth of services world seem all good news at face value, but very quickly a dichotomy surfaces. Many solutions are aligned with many needs; yet where does one begin?

Today, we are lucky to have service resources for seniors in many forms. To start, there are three basic sources to consider relative to what they can offer your situation: public (federal, state and local), private and not-for-profit organizations. Most often, the best solution consists of some integrated level of the three.

We’ve all been told numerous times – “use the right too (resource) for the Job!” At no time is such an adage more applicable than in the case of mapping a care solution for an aging individual.

Resources come in many forms and are available to seniors and caregivers along the entire continuum of aging life – from the active retiree looking to take on new experiences to the well-aged senior whose growing support needs span numerous areas including housing, nutritional support, help whit home activities, etc.

To make sure you get the right plan in place form the start, a resource to seriously consider invoking is the aid of various professionals focused on providing the type of planning help you need. These professionals can be found in both the public and private domains, will often save you stressful hours of false starts with wrong resources and will almost always save you dollars in the long run.

In the public domain, each state (and then to varying degrees, county or township level municipalities) has some form of Area Aging Offices in place to provide the public guidance on these issues. The Department of Health & Senior Services (or the equivalent) of each state is another great starting point. Individuals in these public departments will be familiar with public resources and programs in the areas of finance, legal, guardianship, etc.

In the private domain, the ranks of Geriatric Care Managers, Eldercare, Attorneys, Certified Senior Advisors, etc. are going in both number as well as in their level of use. These individuals have strong backgrounds and experience relative to their areas of practice (law, registered nursing, social work, financial planning, etc.) and are now leveraging their professional experience in the focused area of senior-related issues. Often these professionals gain certifications which further help to enhance their knowledge of senior issues, the latest regulations, etc.
The value of developing the right plan in a proactive manner cannot be overstated! To the degree that the elder involved is able to actively participate in the process, any necessary subsequent adjustments are transitions are made easier for everyone involved.

Visit: www.SeniorsA2Z.com, to find many more definitions f terms for the senior care environment along with thousands of listing of senior services resources.

www.SeniorsA2Z.com is the newest and most comprehensive website of senior service resources, combining public and private, national and local service providers – all in one place! It contains over 200 categories, organized in a simple-to-use online index. New Jersey based, the site lists basic public resources for all 50 states and is already in the process of expanding local, private listings in additional states.

SeniorsA2Z was founded by Grazina Crisman, entrepreneur and business executive in both large Fortune 500 corporations as well as small businesses, is experienced in the presentation and delivery of critical information to customers.