Whether you are beginning to look into long-term care plan options for yourself or someone you love, it’s important to consider the many parts of a long-term care plan and to decide which topics you need to discuss. Long-term care planning includes many different services that are designed to help people live as safely and independently as possible as they age and need more support.
Long-term care planning is critically important, because it is a reality that all people will get older and likely need help as they age. Long-term care planning helps ensure that you or your loved one have the support needed to live safely and to take care of yourselves longer.
What are common long-term care options?
Some long-term care options that you may want to look into include:
- Nursing home care and which facility you or someone you care about would like to use
- Non-medical home care options, such as cleaning assistance or meal prep
- Home health care, such as a part-time nurse to help with medications
- Assisted living, which allows older adults to live with support services while still remaining in dependent
As a part of your long-term care plan, you may want to look into ways to finance this care. There are long-term care insurance policies available, or there may be other ways to qualify for long-term care supports by arranging your estate to have fewer liquid assets.
It’s not always easy to plan ahead
It’s true that it isn’t always easy to plan ahead for long-term care. You need to think about your health or the health of the person who the plan is for. You need to choose housing and prepare finances. Developing a budget that can help offset the cost of long-term care or assist you in qualify for federal or local aid is essential, since long-term care can become costly.
It’s normal to have questions about your legal options with long-term care arrangements. Get to know more about the facilities you visit and think about the plans you want to make. Then, look into the laws that may affect you or help protect your wishes.