Guest Article: 5 Questions You Should Ask Before Choosing a Home Care Provider

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Choosing an expert in-home care provider service requires thoughtful consideration. There are several issues which need to be addressed in order to choose the right home care services. Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself before selecting a home care provider.

1. Are your Home Care Providers Certified?
The first thing to check for is whether your home care providers are certified by Medicare or not. A number of Medicare certified agencies also offer services which are usually not covered by Medicare. These services may include assistance with everyday activities and are often referred to as “private pay.” Make sure you are not hiring amateurs for something as serious as in-home care to waste your time and money.
2. Does your Home Care Service possess it’s own Employees or hire a contract staff?
Sometimes, home care providers are not able to discover satisfactory nursing or rehabilitation staff to meet the needs and requirements of their patients. In such a situation, these providers may require to contract with other providers or staffing agencies to utilize professional staff for part-time or full time basis. Whatever kind of staff they use, make sure they have enough credibility to successfully provide you the best of in-home care services and also cover your needs professionally.
3. Do they Document Clear and Specific Agreements?
Agreements are an important part of availing home care services. Your written agreement with the home care provider must deal with one or more of the following, if relevant:

• The time-period for which the quoted rate is guaranteed
• In case of any rate increases, there must be advance notices
• Rates for holidays, night shifts or emergencies should be mentioned separately
• Any other significant requirement

4. Safe and Secure Payment System
For your services to be covered by your Medicare insurance, you have to check whether your home care providers are Medicare certified or not. You need to inquire your home care providers whether they allow the process of “Assignment of Benefits” which allows the insurance company to pay the home care providers directly. While you are paying the agency directly, make extra efforts to completely understand all the payment terms. Information regarding the grace period from the end of the billing cycle or late fee come in handy for a smooth and swift payment process.
5. Make sure your loved one’s daily activities and health conditions are Monitored
Several in-home care providers make the home care staff responsible for keeping a daily log of activities and episodes. The home care providers at all times make notes about every individual patient’s mood, energy and appetite. You must inquire your providers, whether these logs are ever evaluated by a professional clinical staff for any future concerns.

 

Author Bio

Anaida Robert is a content writer for Geriatric In-Home Care, a Fresno based In-Home Care Provider. Follow @AnaidaRobert for more updates.

Senior Online Dating

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As time moves on invitations from family members continue to pour in, spending time with the grand & great-grandchildren are wonderful, however there is a loneliness they cannot always fill. As a person gets older and more mature, dating seems less like finding a physical attraction and more like finding a well-rounded person who can fulfill many different needs. Whether your last marriage ended due to death or divorce, being elderly doesn’t mean you have to be alone.

First question you should ask yourself is, are you ready to date? Can you handle emotionally and financially what dating may or may not have to offer?  Dating can be stressful and of course at times it seems as if you’re the only fish in the sea and the rest of the people are algae.  Trying to find someone can make you feel more alone than when you started the journey.

Not much has changed in the way of dating, however meeting people to get to the actual date is drastically different. There are many social media sites that people can meet, online dating is specifically targeted to those who are looking for a relationship. Online dating sites have recently realized that targeting demographics is the way to spark new interest in their services, there are dating sites for farmers, ethnic races, geographic areas and of course seniors.

A list of a few of the more popular senior dating sites:

• ourtime.com
• seniorpeoplemeet.com
• eharmony.com/senior-dating
• dating.aarp.org

And of course if you are already on a dating site, you can limit the age ranges of the people you are looking for to include only seniors, it’s not necessary to change sites and have to write your profile all over again.  Remember that sites like Craigslist are not dating sites, these are general post sites, which means you could be getting more or less than you bargained for.

Notifying your family and close friends about your intentions may be stressful or to them may be a relief, you may also get one of the more tech savvy grandkids to help you with your profile.  Talking to people you care about is a necessary step, sharing with people who care about you also acts as a safety feature.  Remember that you care about them, so keeping them in the loop helps you both.

Beginner in online dating? First thing first, set up your profile and figure out what you want. This is mandatory on most sites, so if you are unsure about what you are looking for, take a day or two and figure out the attributes of the person you would like to have in your life down to hair color, age and even whether they are a smoker or not.  If you don’t specify what you want you will get a larger list of people to look at, some of the fields are required but specify so, and of course if you change your mind later, you may always change these details.  Also give thought to what you want people to know about you.  Remember to keep personal details and sensitive information about yourself off your profile, to avoid any possible scams or issues later.

What information is safe to give someone online:

• Name
• Birth Month
• Things You Are Interested In
• General Area you live or visit
• How many children or grandchildren you have
• General Hobbies (don’t specify where and when)
• Culture and religion
• Phone Number (when you start to get better acquainted)

What information you shouldn’t give to someone online:

• Full Birthday (of you or anyone you care about)
• Address (of you or anyone you care about)
• Phone Number (of anyone you care about)
• Mother’s Maiden Name
• Children or Grandchildren’s Names
• Social Security Number

Now that you’re a little more comfortable with the idea of dating and your family is too, think about the future.  Are you looking for a life partner?  Are you willing to relocate and what does that mean for your family?  These will all be questions you will come across sometime in the dating process.

Kathy Damer from a Blog Resource for Senior Dating says, “Take it slow. Be patient about meeting someone. If they are genuine they will have similar concerns about you being genuine too.  If the person is pushy about meeting you too soon this is not a good sign. Move on, even if you’re developing feelings. Easier to cut loose now than when it’s too late.”  You can find all of Kathy’s advice at www.senior-dating.org

Online dating is filled with difficult way to decipher how someone feels about you by adding things such as winks, this is an easy way to say to another person that you are interested them without any pressure or commitment and of course no obligation to message you or wink back at you.

Always remember that you’re not the only person who might be learning to online date, so if someone doesn’t get back to you or it takes them a while to get back to you, don’t take it personal. They may not be interested, didn’t notice your message or wink, have little internet access, are shy, or generally don’t know what they are doing.

Messaging another person.  Remember to take it slow, ask them about their additional interests other than what is said on their profile, of course read their profile first.  If you agree to meet in person, remember to find a safe public location.  Always notify someone you are close to as to where you are going.  If you have a cell phone, remember to bring it with you just in case.

Meeting in person.  It’s so exciting when you finally meet someone in person.  Beware that a profile is often the reflection of what a person wants to be rather than who they really are (or what the writer thinks the person is), meeting them in person will help you discover that inner self.  Remember to keep an open mind and that you’re discovering more about this person every time you interact with them. Maybe jot down some notes about things to talk about and questions to ask.  The more you date the easier it will become, especially if you’ve been out of the scene for a while.

Deciding to Stop Communicating. Remember the golden rule, do unto others.  If you decide that you no longer want to communicate with a person, for whatever reason (discovering you aren’t ready to date, just don’t see eye to eye with them, found the love of your life, etc), remember to be respectful and tell them that you no longer wish to communicate so they aren’t wondering what happened to you.  If you decide to give a brief reason why, remember to make it brief, giving too many details may confuse the situation.  Remember that’s it’s okay to not like someone or just want to be their friend.  Understand that this may happen to you as well.  Things don’t always work out with everyone all the time but when it does the magic is worth all the heart ache.

Falling in love. Remember to talk to a lawyer before you pop the question.  Remember that when you get married your estate doesn’t necessarily get inherited by your spouse and your children’s inheritance isn’t always secure.  Don’t take any of this for granted.  You can find a lawyer in your state on our website: http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a2cfindattorney.htm or http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a7estateplanning.htm

I hope you find these tips make it easier to figure out how the online dating world works and of course, best of luck to you in your endeavors.

Written by Valerie Michel Buck