Case Study 3 Title

I received a call from Sarah. She was concerned about her 92 year old father. He had been living in his apartment and doing well with 6 hours a day of private home care. Recently he had been found, by the maintenance people, wandering the halls of his apartment building in the middle of the night. He was confused about where he was and what time it was.

Sarah was in a panic but she was able to arrange for the regular aide to stay over night until she could figure out what to do. The family was paying hourly for 24 hour care and the cost was prohibitive. Her father had been a police officer and was living on pension and Social Security payments. He had very little savings. Home care was costing more than his monthly income.

Sarah didnt know if she should place their father in a nursing home or an assisted living facility because she did not understand the differences. Sarah had already begun the process of looking into nursing homes, but was very conflicted about this decision.

I went to their fathers apartment to meet with him and his aide. In spite of this client being almost completely blind and hard of hearing he was in very good health for a 92 years old. He was able to move around his apartment and he knew who his aide was. The aide told me they went outside every day to talk with neighbors or shop at the supermarket. They would go to his doctors office and they would also go out for lunch on occasion. It was obvious to me that this man needed to remain in his apartment but I needed to find a way for him to be able to afford this.

The client was too healthy for a nursing home and he would not be able to afford assisted living. Sarah could not move him into her house because she lived in another state. I explained to Sarah that her father would have a very hard time adjusting to any move at this stage in his life. I suggested to Sarah that she sign up with a non profit organization that offers Self Settled Pooled Income Trusts.

With his money going into a trust, her father would qualify for Medicaid. They would be able to get home care from Medicaid meaning he could stay in his home. I also explained to Sarah how she could keep their present aide by using the Consumer Directed Program.

This 92 year old man is now going to be able to spend his remaining years in his own home where he wants to be and should be.