Caring for an Aging Loved One
04/07/08 15:24 Filed in: Elder Care
Did you know the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) has a plethora of information for the client families you serve? Our aging population is looking to you, the End of Life Professional for solutions to their problems and answers to their questions. Most of what the FCIC offers on-line is free (www.pueblo.gsa.gov), and several brochures can be ordered at no cost in small quantities.
This week we are reviewing “Caring for an Aging Loved One”, a free 28 page brochure filled with numerous gems of advice. It includes topics such as How Will You Know Your Loved One Needs Assistance, Developing a Care Plan, Organizing Documents and Paperwork, Who Pays for Long-Term Care, and many more.
Some of the more useful pages in the brochure include information on aging websites. Here are a few off the beaten path that you may not have heard of before.
• www.benefitscheckup.org. This website was developed by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to help people determine benefit eligibility in their area. It’s easy to navigate the site and you can feel comfortable referring your families to it.
• www.aahsa.org American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. This site has some fantastic questionnaires and suggestions for people who are facing aging issues.
• www.caregiver.org The Family Caregiver Alliance founded in 1977 is headquartered in California; their website is in English, Spanish, and Chinese. They have a great archived newsletter, and although many topics on the site are referenced to the State of California, the information provided can be helpful to everyone.
The sites I didn’t recommend were mostly the ones that ended in .gov, or had too much content. Before you refer a client family to a website it is important that you have visited it and feel it is beneficial to them.
Be specific, tell your client family, “Go to www.caregiver.org, click on the Newsletter banner at the top and then click on the Legislation to Watch icon about half way down the page.” Even better, just email them the link to the page you think may be helpful.
Referring clients to a website that is content heavy or with little relevance to them can be frustrating. All of the information we have at our fingertips can be overwhelming. Our job as a professional is to first screen it, then filter it, only then, pass it on. This brochure is worth passing on, even if all of the websites referenced are not.
This week we are reviewing “Caring for an Aging Loved One”, a free 28 page brochure filled with numerous gems of advice. It includes topics such as How Will You Know Your Loved One Needs Assistance, Developing a Care Plan, Organizing Documents and Paperwork, Who Pays for Long-Term Care, and many more.
Some of the more useful pages in the brochure include information on aging websites. Here are a few off the beaten path that you may not have heard of before.
• www.benefitscheckup.org. This website was developed by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to help people determine benefit eligibility in their area. It’s easy to navigate the site and you can feel comfortable referring your families to it.
• www.aahsa.org American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. This site has some fantastic questionnaires and suggestions for people who are facing aging issues.
• www.caregiver.org The Family Caregiver Alliance founded in 1977 is headquartered in California; their website is in English, Spanish, and Chinese. They have a great archived newsletter, and although many topics on the site are referenced to the State of California, the information provided can be helpful to everyone.
The sites I didn’t recommend were mostly the ones that ended in .gov, or had too much content. Before you refer a client family to a website it is important that you have visited it and feel it is beneficial to them.
Be specific, tell your client family, “Go to www.caregiver.org, click on the Newsletter banner at the top and then click on the Legislation to Watch icon about half way down the page.” Even better, just email them the link to the page you think may be helpful.
Referring clients to a website that is content heavy or with little relevance to them can be frustrating. All of the information we have at our fingertips can be overwhelming. Our job as a professional is to first screen it, then filter it, only then, pass it on. This brochure is worth passing on, even if all of the websites referenced are not.
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