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Originally Posted by princessbelle
Here are a few places that may be a help for those of us taking care of our parents and need a place to start.
As i said earlier, sometimes it's just knowing who to reach out to...
First, Office of aging.
I didn't put up a link because you need to look in your city/county. So, type that in first then the words office of aging. They have tons of resources available and most are free. They even have catalogs of free or nearly free help in your local area, from low cost dentist to sitters to help for hearing impaired. This is the "go to" place for financial assistance as well. Including meals on wheels (for meals delivered to the home daily), food stamps, etc.
Check into their insurance. If they have a supplemental insurance plan such as Humana or Blue Cross or Mutual of Omaha or any of those, give them a call and tell them the situation. Ask them for help. Sometimes they have case workers, social workers, doctors, nurses that can come to the rescue and even come to the house, monthly, weekly to assist with the care.
SSI directly in your town...call and set up a meeting. Take all of their earned income for the previous year and see what they qualify for. Sometimes, you may be surprised...pleasantly.
If your loved one is home bound, they could qualify for home care...talk to their doctor. Do they need help with medication compliance, therapy, ect. And if so, you can usually get assistance with bathing. Again, they must be home bound and this is usually short term.
Need help with cost of medication for your parents? Check out this site...
http://www.needymeds.org/index.htm
Type in the name of a medication and it will bring up a list of places to apply for low cost and often free medications. You will have to show proof of income, etc. But, it's worth it.
I'll post more later. There is help out there. Hang in there everyone..we are all in this together.
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This is a great list, thank you so much for posting it. I have used a few so far, and some of this will be size of town related (as I am finding) the aging catalog is quite good, though their local state office comes up a bit short. They live in a town of 75k so there is a lot less available than a city of a million.
I have spoken to both her Dr (little to no help) and also the social worker at the nursing home who has given me some contacts. Some of those have panned out and some haven't, I'm going to contact the social worker at the cancer treatment center my father was going to also. I do get a bit tangled up because, of course, nobody is available right now and I end up leaving messages all over town and am always doing something else when they call back. That just is what it is.
One thing I am specifically looking for right away is some sort of geriatric general MD for my mother. Sort of like a pediatrician only the other way 'round. It seems that it isn't really a popular specialty. At the nursing home there is a practice of four Drs that covers it and the other facilities and the social worker told me I could use them for my mother also. When I called them though it turns out they only see patients who are in a nursing facility and the umbrella group they are in only covers family practice and pediatricians.
I want to find a Dr for my mother who will take early stage dementia as a serious possibility (unlike her current Dr) and run some specific tests. It was other medical professionals who noticed her symptoms and told me about this. I have talked to her about it and she agrees that she wants to pursue it so that if there is a problem she can get medication, and if there isn't she will buckle down on making better lifestyle choices around food, sleep, etc, or we can put her somewhere that those things are monitored for her.
If anyone knows of a specific terminology I can search, or ideas of where I can find a geriatric MD, I'd be most appreciative.