For many seniors, the prospect of needing long-term care is disconcerting at best and terrifying at worst. The costs involved in long-term can quickly decimate an estate that took a lifetime of hard work to acquire. Today, the importance of a quality long-term care policy is becoming increasingly obvious. However, few people understand the elements a policy should include. So, eldercare experts routinely point out What a Good Long-Term Care Policy Should Include. There are five things that should be considered when obtaining a long-term care policy.

For many people, the time comes when help is needed to take care of everyday needs. Home care providers are readily available to fill the need, but before considering hiring a provider, eldercare experts strongly recommend understanding what level of care is needed and if that need is likely to change in the future. Hiring a Home Care Provider is a big step and, for the process to go smoothly, everyone must be on the same page. There are six steps to consider carefully when selecting a care provider.

Define the Level of Care Needed

Everything from icy and slick sidewalks to plummeting temperatures can leave seniors in danger during the winter months. Here are some ways that caregivers and family members alike can help keep seniors safe during the winter.

For many seniors, one of today’s biggest struggles is figuring out how to pay for assisted living care. Typically, people turn to public sources, such as Medicare and Medicaid. For seniors on Medicare, the first 100 days of in-patient assisted living care is typically covered. After the initial 100 day period is over, an expensive daily co-pays kick in, or a patient would be forced to switch to Medicaid.

Family members face a number of decisions When a Social Security Beneficiary Dies. While many individuals think they are prepared for the death of a loved one, there are still issues that arise, and dealing with the Social Security Administration is certainly one of them. In addition to making final arrangements for the loved one, notifying the Social Security Administration (SSA) as soon as possible is crucial to avoid issues in the future.

Contacting Social Security

Preparing for Elderly Parents to Move In can involve a mix of emotions and be a physically and emotionally draining experience. Nearly every family will adjust comfortably to this new situation eventually, but there are some steps you can take prior to their arrival that will make the adjustment period much shorter and easier to manage.

Creating a Budget

When you reach the end of your life, you may not be able to adequately make decisions, or express your wishes. This is often due to restricted mental capacity, often caused by illness. Your family, doctors, and other medical professionals need to know what your wants are so that they can be followed. In order to plan for this, health care directives, living wills and do-not-resuscitate orders are three things that you want to have in place.

Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders

Over the past century, the average life expectancy has increased 30 years.  Due to advanced technology in medicine and vaccinations, healthier life styles, and numerous other factors, the older population is continuously growing.  The question is, how does one live years beyond the average life expectancy of our time and live to be 100 years or older, as a healthy centenarian?  To find out the secrets of a healthy centenarian, one must go beyond simply comparing the lifestyle and habits of centenarians to the average person, who lives to be about 80 years old.