093 – Interview: Hiring In-Home Care for Aging in Place: What to Know

In This Episode:

Dr. K talks with Michelle Allen, LCSW, about what families should know, when they want to obtain or hire in-home care to help an older person with aging in place. Michelle is an experienced social worker and geriatric care manager based in Atlanta, and is a featured expert providing guidance in Dr. K’s Helping Older Parents Membership Community. They discuss:

• How geriatric social workers (and geriatric care managers) help older adults and families address aging issues
• Why families and older adults usually seek out privately paid in-home care
• Why most of the home care services older adults need to age in place are not covered by Medicare
• What is “home health care,” and how to get Medicare to pay for certain medically skilled home services
• What to know about hiring paid in-home caregivers
• The pros and cons of hiring through an agency versus hiring an individual caregiver
• Why families have to pay taxes, if they hire someone without going through an agency
• Common mistakes that families make, when hiring in-home help to assist an older person
• Why aging in place may not work out, and how to plan for other options
• The benefits of working with “life care planning” elder law firms, which provide geriatric care coordinators such as Michelle

Related episodes: 

059 – Interview: Long-Term Care Insurance & Financing Late-Life Care Needs

017 – Interview: Paying for Long-Term Care & Other Family Caregiving Challenges

Related Resources:

• Family Caregiver Alliance: Hiring In-Home Help
• About Aging Life Care Professionals
• Medicare and Home Health Services
  • Medicare.gov PDF: Medicare & Home Health Care
• Platforms to find paid in-home care for older adults
  • Carelinx.com
• Information on paying taxes to paid caregivers:
  • Learn more about your tax responsibility as a household employer
  • Do you need to pay taxes for your part-time caregiver?
• To find your local Area Agency on Aging: Eldercare.gov Locator
• For law firms that include geriatric care coordinators: Life Care Planning Law Firm Association

For more information on the Helping Older Parents Membership Community, where people helping aging parents can regularly get guidance from Dr. K and from Michelle Allen:

Learn More About the Helping Older Parents Membership Community!