The Alzheimer's Digest

Caregivers of Veterans sometimes feel overwhelmed as they look for services and supports from the community to help care for a loved-one. Often, this search involves many phone calls, office visits, and web searches that produce confusing and sometimes conflicting information. Fortunately, there is a community organization that can help simplify this process—Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). ADRCs, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Administration on Community Living and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, are single points of entry for people looking for long-term supports and services for older adults, people with disabilities, and their Caregivers. ADRCs can reduce consumers’ and their families’ frustrations because with a single contact with the ADRC, a Caregiver can receive accurate information and be connected to many different long term services and supports.

As of October 2013, 514 ADRCs operate in 52 states and territories. Many of these reside within local Area Agencies on Aging or Centers for Independent Living. ADRC staff are experts in public and private programs within their communities. They provide objective information, advice, counseling, and assistance to empower people to make informed decisions about their long-term services and support. Many agencies also assist with enrollment and eligibility, nursing home diversions, and transitions from hospitals and nursing homes.

Caregivers of Veterans may not be aware of services available through VA, so they instead seek help from ADRCs and other community programs before approaching VA. In these situations, ADRCs serve as a gateway into VA for many Veterans and their Caregivers. Many ADRC staff have attended trainings on Veteran Benefits to expand their very limited knowledge of VA programs. This has greatly increased the information and options they can provide Veterans and Caregivers living within their community. For example, one ADRC site helped a homeless Veteran connect with the local VA medical center prior to his discharge from a nursing home. The VA helped the Veteran transfer directly to a contract nursing home, thus avoiding a period of homelessness.

ADRCs can be an invaluable resource to Caregivers by providing connections to community resources. Working with your local ADRCs will widen the services and support available for Caregivers of Veterans. You can find your local ADRC through the following link: http://www.adrc-tae.acl.gov/

Dementia Signage for the Home

Red Dry Erase Board

Weekly Planner (Bright Pink) Memo Pad

$30.95

Weekly To Do List Notepad (White)

$30.95

EZ-C Bold Yellow Weekly To Do List Notepad

______________________________

Dementia Signage for the Home

Behavior Triggers Log (Sky Blue) Memo Note Pad

Bathroom Door Sign-Temporary/Reusable Wall Skins

Calendar Appointment Reminder Stickers (White)

Canned Foods Shelf Sign/ Bumper Stickers

Daily Pain Journal (Sky Blue) Memo Notepad

Daily Fatigue Journal (Sky Blue) Scratch Pads

$22.75 - Financial Records Organizer Vinyl Binder

$22.75 - EZ-C Bright Green 3 Ring Binder

A geriatric care management program is a business that helps families coordinate care for their elderly loved ones. Duties include assessing the elder's living situation and formulating a plan of care, referring families to appropriate services and specialists, mediating between the elder and his family if there is disagreement as to what services are needed, helping the elder transition to a new living arrangement such as an assisted living facility or nursing home, and offering the elder and his family counseling and emotional support. Geriatric care managers are usually nurses, social workers, gerontologists or attorneys.

Office space
Office furniture
Computer
Professional stationery
Business cards
Brochures

Suggestions

Study your client base and your competition. Identify a niche in the market where your geriatric care management program will fit in. For instance, you might specialize in helping elders with pets or elders who have cognitive difficulties. To enhance your credibility, consider obtaining one of the four recognized geriatric care manager certifications: Care Manager Certified from the National Academy of Certified Care Managers, Certified Case Manager from the Commission for Case Manager Certification, Certified Advanced Social Worker in Case Management, or Certified Social Work Case Manager from the National Association of Social Workers.
Consult a small-business attorney to obtain a local business license and attend to other legal paperwork. A sole proprietorship requires less paperwork than a partnership or a corporation. Unless your agency will be providing health care in the home or accepting funds from federal or state programs such as Medicaid, you should not need to be licensed or certified by your state.
Write a business plan. The more detail you are able to put into your plan, the better. At the very least, include a mission statement and sections on the services your geriatric care management program will provide, how you plan to market yourself, who your competition is, what your budget will be and how you see the day-to-day operation of your business flowing.
Locate funding sources and prepare proposals to show to potential lenders and investors. The most common funding sources are bank or government loans, grants and private investors. For government-sponsored loans, check out the Small Business Administration. Grants are harder to find, but you might investigate local foundations or the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
Locate and set up your office. Your office can be in your home or in a commercial office building. You probably won't need that much space at first--a reception area and one or two private rooms for consultations should suffice. Office furniture can be basic, but you will need a reliable computer with Internet access and a software package like Microsoft Office, which includes among other features Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. You may also want to consider purchasing QuickBooks to handle invoicing and payroll.
Develop a manual of policies and procedures. It's a good idea to run your manual past your small-business attorney, as she may be aware of hot-button issues such as workplace violence and sexual harassment that haven't occurred to you. Once your policies and procedures are complete, design the forms you will use for client assessments, care plans, communicating with the family, and billing.
Brand your business. Select a slogan and logo to appear on your stationery, business cards, and advertising materials such as brochures. Order advertising materials and start advertising your business one to two months prior to opening your doors.
Hire and train staff. Some people operate geriatric care management programs completely on their own, but this can be an exhausting proposition. It's a good idea to at least hire an office manager. As your business grows, you will probably also want to hire other care managers and perhaps marketers.