Alzheimer's and Dementia Care | The Financial Tipping Point

This podcast hosted by Tim Tholen CEO and founder of Thoughtful Healthcare looks at the costs associated with caring for a loved one with dementia.

Show Notes

As you may know, dementia is a progressive disease and having a plan of care so very important. But now we need to look at the costs of care and the available assets to pay for it. Because caregiving can be quite expensive and your family will want to anticipate what's on the horizon. Now this conversation is best done as soon as possible after the diagnosis. Now the term costs is associated with both monetary cost and time spent. And we'll look at some caregiving statistics here and a little bit. But first let's look at the definition of the financial tipping point. And it's this. When the needs of the person being cared for begin to outweigh the ability to pay for the care. Me repeat that when the needs of the person being cared for begin to outweigh the ability to pay for the care. That is the financial tipping point. Now for many families money is a touchy subject, but it is vital to begin talking about it soon because it is the one thing that will drive the decisions about what future care looks like. So First educate yourself about the costs for in-home care assistance and for facility living. Knowing these figures will help guide both the initial planning and the future planning as the disease progresses. And what this means is you should begin to contact both home care agencies like Thoughtfulcare and long term care facilities to better understand their specific costs. Timing is important here. Try to make a plan for the financial aspect of care before any crisis occurs.

We've mentioned that time has a financial value. Though it's not seen as a financial cost per say the amount of time a person is caregiving has value and worth. And statistics show that caregiving affects a person's ability to work. According to a study by the AARP nearly seven in 10 caregivers report making work accommodations because of caregiving. Now these adjustments can include arriving late, leaving early, taking time off, perhaps cutting back on work hours, changing jobs or simply stopping work entirely. What this means is that the caregiver's ability to work outside of the home and earn a living is diminished by providing care. So caregiving is real work. It's unpaid often necessary work but it should be factored in as a cost of caregiving.

Thoughtful Healthcare offers 24 hour in-home care tailored to your loved one's needs. We've been serving Kansas City and the surrounding areas since 1999. Now back to the podcast.

So here's how to begin making a financial plan for your loved one's care. First list all assets and know how long they need to last based on what you've learned about home care versus facility care. Then decide at which point financially speaking moving to a facility will become necessary. You can also talk about personal versus pooled family resources. Now a good home care company will have the experience to know what level of care your loved one needs. So by now you might be wondering what's the difference between remaining at home and moving to a facility? And once you understand the difference you will better understand when it is time to make that move. Now generally speaking it is significantly less expensive to remain at home with some combination of family and home care. But know that as the disease progresses the familiarity of home helps your loved one remain more comfortable and your family can better monitor and control the daily routine because it is your routine. It's familiar to you and your family. Now moving to a facility requires upheaval and a shift to the facility's routine which is a significant change and for some families this is necessary even if it's not the ideal situation. The facility will likely assess your loved one and determine that they are best suited for dedicated memory care which is generally the highest cost of care in a facility. So when making a financial plan, consider this very rough rule of thumb for the cost of one month of facility care. You can have between 70 and 80 hours a week of professional home care. I should repeat that. For the cost of one month of facility care, you can have between 70 and 80 hours a week of professional home care. Now dementia's somewhat of a moving target and that there's a ratio between disease progression and cost of care. Generally the more progressed the diseases the more it will cost for care. And dementia can progress at varying rates and that will throw variables into your care plans. So try to create a few of them for different eventualities, and know that your efforts will not be wasted. There's not one right way to do this, but the best thing you can do is to plan early and adjust your plan as needed. Careful financial planning will give you peace of mind which will allow you to spend more quality time with your loved one. Thank you.

For more information about Thoughtful Healthcare and its services, visit our website at www.thoughtfulhealthcare.com.

What is Alzheimer's and Dementia Care?

Tim Tholen, CEO of Thoughtful Health Care, discusses valuable strategies, tips, and information used every day in the care of Alzheimer and dementia patients at home.

Thoughtful Healthcare is committed to providing your loved ones with the very best in personable, caring and friendly at home care. By providing compassionate and professional caregivers a higher quality of life for loved ones under our watch is achieved through advocacy, integrity, continuous improvement and, above all else, honesty.

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