dementia care giving

[DeborahP233225]

Hi, 

My name is Deborah and i am a full time caregiver for my father who has dementia. He needs help with everything and his needs exceed his social security. I am looking for resources to help financially since

i had to quit my job to care for my dad full time. 

[Jen]

---

@DeborahP233225 wrote:

Hi, 

My name is Deborah and i am a full time caregiver for my father who has dementia. He needs help with everything and his needs exceed his social security. I am looking for resources to help financially since

i had to quit my job to care for my dad full time. 

---

Hi Deborah and welcome! I'm so happy the community is weighing in and providing you with financial information/guidance. I would also like to direct you to our Dementia Care Guide. It's a free guide that you can view HERE. 

Please keep us posted on your journey and let us know how we can continue to support you. 

[JaneCares]

---

@DeborahP233225 wrote:

Hi, 

My name is Deborah and i am a full time caregiver for my father who has dementia. He needs help with everything and his needs exceed his social security. I am looking for resources to help financially since

i had to quit my job to care for my dad full time. 

---

Hi Deborah! Your father is so lucky to have you willingly caring for him. 

It's time to get his financial affairs in order. I hope you have access to his bills, accounts, savings, etc. At some point he will qualifiy for Medicaid, or whatever the state you're in calls it. In california it's medical, in oregon its the oregon health plan. Once he has long term care medicaid, which is different from the regular kind, the program may be able to help pay you, and should pay for aide help to give you a break. And eventually a nursing home, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

One easy and free way to find out what he's eligible for is to type in his zip code into www.eldercare.gov and then call or even better meet with a social worker there. You aren't trying to escape caregiving for him, you're supplementing what you do with what the community can offer. There are services for free, and for a low cost, that will add to what you provide. 

I also hope, Deborah, that you are part of a web of care for him and for you. Neither of you need to be isolated. I hope that other family members give you respite, keep you company, visit and enjoy you two, as part of a family. Your friends, his friends (however many are alive) and kinfolks are a web of care that will help you thrive.

My dad lived in a nursing home after a huge stroke that left him a total care patient. We reached out to everyone in his phone book my sister and i, and found a couple of people willing to visit him for a few hours every month. And the nursing home found a volunteer, also a veteran, who was willing to watch my father's favorite movie, Patton, over and over (God  bless him!) My step mother visited almost daily and my sister and I visited frequently. We needed a web of care around us. 

You are a blessing to him. And i hope you are taking care of yourself as well. Martyrdom isn't necessary, ever. 

Do tell us more, share what you're figuring out as you go, if you could. And thank you for posting. 

Jane

[DeborahP233225]

Jane,

thank you for the information.  My husband and I are the only caregivers for my father - together

we are managing - but it does take the two of us at times.  We got all of his financial affairs in order

when he was diagnosed a few years ago.  

[VickiM68]

@DeborahP233225 This article explains a bit about getting paid as a family caregiver: https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/you-can-get-paid-as-a-family-caregiver.htm... (make sure the link is ending in ".html" without the elipses when you copy and paste it)