Long-Term Care Options Worksheet
To assist in the decision-making process, some options for long-term care are listed. Use this worksheet as a starting point.
Long-Term Care Options
- In-home care
- Home health care
- Nursing home (skilled nursing/rehab/convalescent)
- Adult day care
- Assisted living
- Adult family/foster home
- Retirement home
- Family moves in
- Move in with family
- Combinations of above
Options Checklist Defined
In-Home Care
Individualized assistance in a home, either the frail person’s or a family member’s home. Can be non‑skilled, like companion-housekeeper assistance, or, depending on state licensure, can be a CNA or a nurse. Usually paid out of pocket, through long‑term care insurance or by Medicaid.
Medicare Home Health
Is generally called “Home Health Care” and is a term used to refer to Medicare‑certified agencies that provide services which are paid for by Medicare. Medicare is not, and was never intended to provide, long‑term in‑home care. It is “reimbursement driven”, meaning that the patient has to fit into a specific category for which care is reimbursed by Medicare.
Adult Day Care
A planned program of activities designed to promote wellbeing though social- and health-related services. Adult day care centers operate during daytime hours, Monday through Friday, in a safe, supportive, cheerful environment. Nutritious meals that accommodate special diets are typically included, along with an afternoon snack.
There are three types of adult day care:
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- Adult day social care provides social activities, meals, recreation and some health-related services.
- Adult day health care offers more intensive health, therapeutic and social services for individuals with severe medical problems and for those at risk of nursing home care.
- Alzheimer’s specific adult day care provides social and health services only to persons with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.
Assisted Living
For those needing assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) but wishing to live as independently as possible for as long as possible.
Retirement Home
Retirement center/congregate care facility: large group real estate developments offering variable non‑medical and medically assisted lifestyle packages.
Nursing Home
Skilled nursing/rehabilitation/convalescent/specialty care facility: large group medical assistance in a facility.
Adult Family/Foster Home
Small group houses offering varying levels of medical and non-medical assistance. Varies according to state licensure.
Long-Term Care Considerations and Questions
- Using the list of long-term care personal care options above for living elsewhere, rank in order from most desirable to least desirable.
- Determine an approximate cost for each option.
- What long-term care extra needs will add more costs to the basic services?
- How much does each extra cost?
For each long-term care option, determine how much personal money goes toward room and board each month.
- For each long-term care option, determine how many hours per month will include the undivided, one-on-one attention of:
- A personal aide?
- A nurse?
- A therapist?
- Based on the hours of one-on-one personal attention received, how much does it cost per hour for:
- A personal aide?
- A nurse?
- A therapist?
- Which of the long-term care options obligates more payments if physical or mental condition deteriorates in the future and more care is needed? How much more money does it cost to stay in the facility with that option?
- Considering the costs given above, how far will available assets last under each long-term care option?
- Which long-term care option comes closest to meeting needs without including other things that may not be needed?
Feel free to contact us at (949) 876-7396 or send us a message for information related to any long‑term care option or to obtain a free assessment of needs.
CareWork Health Services’ home care professionals are here to help. If home care is the right choice, we certainly hope that CareWork Health Services will be considered. However, our goal is helping others make the long-term care service choices that are right for them.