Summary
In this episode of Care Lab, hosts Brandy Archie and Emilia Bourland discuss the top five most-searched caregiving questions from Google. They offer practical advice and professional insight on finding respite care, managing caregiver stress, locating support groups, handling challenging behaviors in loved ones, and securing financial assistance for caregiving. Throughout the episode, they highlight key resources like LumaLink, AskSAMIE, and community programs that can make caregiving more manageable and sustainable.
Key Questions Answered
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How can caregivers find respite care?
Caregivers can explore Medicaid-funded programs, VA benefits, or private duty home care for short-term relief. Local organizations like Shepherd Centers of America and community senior programs may also offer volunteer-based respite services.
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What are some effective ways to manage caregiver stress?
Set up regular breaks—daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly—to maintain balance. Use respite care, technology tools like AskSAMIE or LumaLink for support, and prioritize healthy habits such as good sleep, exercise, and nutrition.
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Where can caregivers find support groups?
Start with organizations tied to specific diagnoses, like the Alzheimer’s Association or Adult Children of Aging Parents. Check with local hospitals, senior centers, and online platforms for facilitated or peer-led groups that provide emotional support and shared experiences.
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How should caregivers manage challenging behaviors in loved ones with dementia or cognitive issues?
Instead of “managing behavior,” focus on managing the environment and meeting unmet needs. Ensure comfort, address hunger or pain, and keep the person engaged with safe, sensory activities. Always treat adults with respect and avoid infantilizing them.
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What financial assistance options are available for caregiving?
Resources may include Medicaid, VA benefits, long-term care insurance, area agencies on aging, and Medicare Advantage plan perks. Combining multiple programs can help reduce costs for housing, supplies, or care services. Tools like LumaLink, AskSAMIE, and 211 (United Way) can guide caregivers to local aid.
Transcript
Brandy Archie
Hi everybody, welcome to Care Lab. This week we don't have a guest or you could say that you are our guest because we are talking about the top five things that family caregivers are searching for on Google and for looking for answers and we're gonna give those answers today. So we're here to solve those problems. So Amelia, are we ready to do this?
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, we're totally ready to do this. I'm excited for this episode. I think we're gonna have some fun and talk about some valuable stuff and let's jump right in. Yeah.
Brandy Archie
Okay, yeah, let's do that. Okay, so the very first thing, the thing that's top in Google Trends that people are searching for is how do I find respite care? So how about let's start with you telling us what is even respite care?
Emilia Bourland
Okay.
Emilia Bourland
Mmm.
Emilia Bourland
Okay, that's great place to start. And what an interesting thing that people are searching for, but not surprising, right? Because if you are a caregiver, especially if you're like a full-time caregiver, you need respite care. It's not optional. And what respite care is, is it is basically someone else and providing care for your care partner that could be in your home. It could be at like a residential community. It could be even, it could be someone coming for...
the day, could be someone coming for a weekend, it could be someone coming for a couple of weeks. And it really just kind of depends on how long you need a break for and what your care partners' care needs are. But basically it just means you get a rest and someone else is gonna take over your caregiving duties for a set amount of time.
Brandy Archie
So I think we should answer this in that way. Like, what are our resources for if we need a few hours and so on. So I'll start with a few hours. So if you need a few hours, the first thing I think of is if your person is qualified for Medicaid, Medicaid will pay for some caregiving hours. There are lots of things to consider with that. And if you need help with that, just reach out and let us know. But that's the only system that already, that you might already be a part of that will pay for some caregiving hours based on
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
how many daily activities they need help with. So that's how you can get a few hours of help. Got any other ones?
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, so and I want to be really clear here. Sometimes people get Medicaid and Medicare confused. Medicare does not pay for home health aids or any kind of non-medical care, but Medicaid, as you said, does. So kind of different programs depending on what you qualify for, So if you need just a few hours a day in your home, you can always have what is sometimes called like private duty home care or non-medical home care coming in to offer those services.
That is often private pay, but if you have VA benefits, often VA benefits will pay for that type of care, as will long-term care insurance in a lot of policies. So those are all options to have that kind of care paid for. In addition, you could also look for local programs that offer free respite care services. And those can be a little bit more challenging to find, but they are out there.
Brandy Archie
right?
Brandy Archie
That's true. One that I think is fairly nationwide is the Shepherd Centers of America. Almost all of them have a program in which they have a senior partner with another senior. And so they'll come in and just be there to hang out with them and build hopefully relationships and come on a regular basis. So that's one good resource. So now if we jump up to, need a day or two, maybe you need to go out of town. How do I find recipe care for a day or two?
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Again, so it kind of depends on what the needs of your care partner are and how like intensive those needs are. But let's say it's a situation where like your care partner needs someone there 24 hours a day. Again, you could hire a home, a non-medical home care company to come in and provide as many hours as you need and they will staff that 24-7 if that's what you need for however long you need it.
On the other hand, if you need a couple of days or a weekend, it's always a good idea to reach out to maybe sometimes local assisted living, local memory care communities. Often these communities are delighted to offer respite care services because it's a great way to one, offer a valuable service to you and your care partner, but it's also a great way to introduce their community to you. So you kind of get a feel for that as well. I really do recommend
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
before you choose any kind of respite care, and this probably goes without saying, you wanna make sure that it's going to be a reliable provider with a really good reputation, because especially if you are like, let's say you're going away on vacation, you want to feel pretty confident that your loved one, your care partner is gonna get really good care while you're away so that you can actually enjoy yourself and not be worried about what's going on in the background.
Brandy Archie
Yeah, I totally agree. Are there any other, do you think we gave them as many resources as possible for finding respite care? And we can go on to our next, our second one.
Emilia Bourland
Well, the one thing that I would add to that is that respite care is something that you can find using Lumalink. So you can find a ton of different services through Lumalink from respite care to home health. You can find physicians, you can find transportation, you can find AskSAMIE on Lumalink. So we have a ton of resources there. Right now.
We're really optimized to help find resources in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and St. Louis. However, we're expanding pretty rapidly to help make it easier for caregivers everywhere to find vetted and reliable local resources, because we actually do that vetting process as part of the service at LumaLink. And so if you want to know where, if you want to know where we currently are, you can just check out meetluma.us and that's
one of the ways to figure out where we are so you know if we're an option to really help you too. Okay, sorry. Moving on. Yeah.
Brandy Archie
Sweet. So sweet. Moving on. Topic number two that's highly searched is how do I manage caregiver stress? So we talked about this in a couple of different episodes in a few different ways. But I think it's super important to bring up even just a few things, even just the importance of actually managing it. Taking care of yourself is the
is already a challenge. Some grownups are not even doing that well, right? And so now you're taking care of yourself plus somebody else. And so that makes it even more stressful, even more important that you take breaks in time for yourself. Whether those are short, little, deep breathing through the day, momentary breaks or longer ones that help to relieve some of your stress. So what are some of your top tips for managing caregiver stress?
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, I mean, I think that really it is all about being able to take those breaks so that you can actually care for yourself. And so kind of to try and wrap this up, I think in a way that feels doable, there are kind of two sides of this, right? The ability to actually take those breaks. So obviously we just finished talking about respite care, whether that is, and that just means like we need to get some help in there.
Brandy Archie
Exactly.
Emilia Bourland
That might be help that comes in for a couple hours so that you can run errands without having to deal with a wheelchair or something like that at the same time, right? It could be, you know, bringing someone in for a few hours a day. It could be making sure that you get a vacation a couple times a year. It really depends on you and your needs, but making sure that you are getting help. I would say, you know, obviously we talk about bringing people in to get help and for many, many tasks, that's optimal.
you know, having another person, whether it's a neighbor, a family member, a friend, someone that you're paying for the service, a volunteer, there are lots of ways to get that help. There are technology though, is also really, there are some great technical tools, right? That is making caregiving a little bit easier and that can save you time with some of the little tasks that you have to coordinate. Cause sometimes it's like that.
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
that mental energy of trying to hold together all of the things that need to be done in your head. It's so exhausting. And so there are some tech tools out there that can really assist with this and to help kind of lighten the load. So looking down those avenues can be really helpful too. I would say, again, AskSAMIE is a great example of this. If you are looking for home evaluations, if you are looking for
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
DME recommendations. mean, I know you do a ton of stuff at AskSAMIE now too. Like these are things that you can use tools like that to help walk yourself through faster so that you are not spending hours and hours trying to do all this research for yourself. That's just one example, obviously. And Lumalink is trying to help with stream like that too. then, so okay, so we talked about, we gotta get some help. When you get help, you have to actually do the things that are going to make you.
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
feel better, which are eat right, get some exercise, get some sleep. I know it doesn't sound very fun. Sleeping is great actually, but these are the things.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm. Get some sleep. Yeah.
Brandy Archie
It doesn't sound very groundbreaking because these are things we know we need to do, but they do actually work and help. I like to think about it in, I agree with all that that you said, for sure. And I think it's easier for me to think about this in.
Emilia Bourland
Mmm, it's not.
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
in sections. So there should be something to do every day for yourself, something every week for yourself, something every month, and something every quarter or every year. Because one, it's really helpful to have something to look forward to, because hope is really just having something to look forward to that you're working towards. And that does tons for the endorphins in our body. And so something that happens every day, I'm just gonna throw out examples, right, of how simple this could be, but actually be
important. I'm going to set a timer to go to bed at X time so I get my good sleep but also I'm gonna spend 30 minutes watching my favorite show before I to bed or whatever. Every week maybe you do find somebody to help you sit with your person for a couple hours every Saturday morning so you can get your nails done and every month you make sure that you do a fun activity together and go out of the house and do something different than you normally do and maybe every year you make sure you take a vacation like
Those activities can be whatever brings you life and joy, but having them all set on the calendar as a thing that you do is a way to not burn out.
Emilia Bourland
That's, love that you said that and you laid it out. Like it's also about that intentionality of having something, having something to look forward to is so powerful. I'm so glad you said that and being intentional about how you lay out, like this is, I'm excited about this. I'm excited about this. I'm excited about this because like that, that feeling of, of like you said, hope and excitement, it makes your whole day better.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
Yep, it does, it does. And it can be as simple, and it doesn't have to cost money. You know, it can really be simple. So managing caregiver stress was number two on the list of things people are searching for. We gave you some ideas on that. And also you should go back into the Care Lab archives because we have multiple episodes about how to do that that dive a lot deeper. Great guess, yes, talking about that for sure.
Emilia Bourland
Okay.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And with some really, really great guests on that too. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
Number three is like how to find support groups, which I was actually kind of surprised that was number three because it's something that I recommend all the time for people to do. And I'm glad that people are searching for that. So tell us what are some of your tips and tricks for finding a support group and why are support groups important?
Emilia Bourland
you
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, and also support groups can be hard to find because sometimes they get set up and then they don't they get discontinued. And so it can be hard to find them. So great way to find support groups, you can find support groups through LumaLink. Again, you can check the website to see if we're in your area. It's meetluma.us. But other great ways to do that. Maybe there is a nonprofit organization near you that helps specifically with like the type of the
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
type of diagnosis or challenge that you're facing. for example, like the Alzheimer's Association, they have local branches all over the place. They often run support groups. Or if they don't, or again, that's like kind of a placeholder organization here. It's an example. But if there's an organization that kind of helps to serve people who are in your similar situation, even if they don't have support groups, often they will know who does.
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Asking social workers if you are in a situation where maybe you're in rehab, maybe you're in the hospital, you have access to a social worker somewhere, right? Asking that social worker where they might be able to find, where you might be able to find a support group. That can be really, really helpful. A lot of times support groups can be run through, are run through hospitals and rehab centers. And then I think looking for support groups in like,
Brandy Archie
Okay, yep, yep.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
your local community senior centers or just local community centers too. So even if they don't have them there, oftentimes these places are a wealth of knowledge because people come there to connect. And who knows, maybe if you can't find one in your area, maybe there's actually a great place there where you can be the person who, you know, says, let's go ahead and do this. Because if you need it, other people need it too.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
That's totally true. And I think this is all really good ideas. The first thing I usually think about is what's the diagnosis that you're dealing with and what organizations can help you find, what organizations are tied to that. So you already mentioned Alzheimer's Association has lots of groups. There's also like an online tool called Best Programs for Caregiving and they have specifically for dementia care, online caregiver support groups. And so that's a great resource you can.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
connect to that on AskSAMIE, but it's also caregiver, bpc.caregiver.org, we'll put the link in the show notes. And so again, that's like diagnosis specific, and then you can find support that way. The other thing that's interesting is there's an organization called Adult Children of Aging Parents, and there's chapters all over the country. They're mostly on the East Coast, and they're moving West, including in Kansas City, and we're starting a chapter here.
with the purpose of bringing people together so it serves as a community and a support. But then what happens every chapter meeting is that we bring in an expert in a certain topic to talk about some information that either you might need right now as a caregiver or you might need in the future but now you know the resource to go to. So that's a great resource. It's free to attend and
They're really intentional about doing it in person so that you make good relationships with people in your community. So I think that's a great resource too.
diagnosis specific, finding something local to your area, and then also determining whether you want to do it in person or online. Both can be really awesome. And you might also just find some level of support within Facebook groups that are caregiver or diagnosis specific also because you can meet with other people that are dealing with the same things. I think there's just so much power in working together and like learning from each other, like from a peer group. We're professionals and we're happy to share knowledge information, but
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
and that's good and helpful, but it's still not the same as talking to somebody who's doing the exact same thing as you and like taking care of their person. So I think it's really valuable.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. The thing that I, the only thing that I would add to that is to say that if you can, whether it's online and of course online support groups are amazing because they really open up the world for people no matter where, no matter where you are, you can probably find an online option. It is really helpful, I think, to find a support group where there is a facilitator because a facilitator of the support group is basically, it's like the leader of the group and they can help to guide the group in ways that
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Emilia Bourland
like stay uplifting and positive, while allowing people to, you know, really share where they're at and be there for each other. And a facilitator can, a great facilitator can be really, really wonderful at that. And sometimes if you're in a group where there is no facilitator, things can devolve a little bit. And you just need to be, there's no right or wrong here. There really isn't, but you need to make sure that when you're in a support group, you leave feeling
Brandy Archie
Yeah, yeah.
Emilia Bourland
better, refreshed, truly supported, maybe if you're leaving feeling amped up, worse, having more anxiety, then that might not be the best fit for you.
Brandy Archie
I'm so glad you brought that up because the other thing to consider between in-person and online, diagnosis specific or not, is do you want your person to be there with you or do you want to have a separate one? And so there's benefits to both. If some people feel like I want to be able to talk openly without having to think about how they're going to feel about how I say this, then you might want to be at a support group where it's just for you or maybe they have a separate support group, same time, different room for your care partner.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
that's
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
Or maybe you want to bring both of you into the situation so that you can have somebody else talk about kind of the things you feel and have them hear it. Whatever, there's multiple ways to think about how it could be beneficial, but that's also something to consider.
Emilia Bourland
Absolutely, great point.
Brandy Archie
Okay, so number four on our list is how do I manage challenging behaviors in loved ones?
Emilia Bourland
This is, think, I think in all of the caregiver training that I do, this is probably the biggest question that comes up after I'm afraid of falling. I mean, like tied with I'm afraid of falling or having someone fall and transfers. It is how do I manage this behavior that I'm seeing? And a lot of times,
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Emilia Bourland
This is tied to behavior that you might see in someone who has dementia or a cognitive impairment. That's usually where the question is coming at when I'm involved. So I guess I'll answer from that perspective. Here's what I like to say. Everything that we do is, that anyone does, is a natural human reaction to the experience that they are having in that moment.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Right? And so the person that you're caring for is, is it might seem like they're acting crazy, but to them, they're reacting completely rationally based on the experience that they're having. Now that experience may or may not be based in reality, right? but we can't argue with other people, other people's realities. And so we can't really argue with that experience. And so,
Brandy Archie
I love that you catch it that way, yes.
Brandy Archie
Right?
Emilia Bourland
here are a couple of like really concrete things that we can do. Beyond me just saying, if we can alter that person's experience, then often we can make our experience of that person more pleasant as well, right? So a lot of times if we're talking about someone who has dementia or a cognitive impairment,
Brandy Archie
Yes, yes.
Emilia Bourland
Someone might be acting out because they are uncomfortable and they can't tell us. Often people are acting out because they are, or maybe they want to tell us something and they can't, and that's very frustrating, that experience. They're trying to communicate and it's not getting through. And we can all imagine what that experience would be like and how we might act in that situation. Sometimes people act out because we're asking them to do something that is too hard for them to do.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm, frustration.
Emilia Bourland
And they may either, they may know that there's an expectation that they should be able to do that. And so they might feel shame. And sometimes that shame can come out as aggression or agitation, or it may simply just be too hard to do. And because of that, they get disorganized and they are then not able to, and then we see kind of like acting out behavior. People get a little bit agitated.
People also may have impulse control problems when they have a cognitive impairment or when they have dementia. So basically what that means is we all have thoughts all the time, right? We know a lot of times though that maybe there are some thoughts that we shouldn't act on. When someone has problems with impulse control, it makes it really hard for them to not act on those thoughts. And so that's when we see some of that like inappropriate behavior that you might see that can be really
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
that can be sometimes disturbing for you to see or can be very disruptive to the situation that you're in. Okay, so all of this coming back to, I think the best two things you can do is one, make sure that person does not have a need that actively needs to be met. And two, they're not uncomfortable, they don't need to use the restroom, they're not hungry. Make sure there's no need that actually with their behavior is trying to communicate to you that there is a need.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
And two, keep them busy with something that they can enjoy and do, particularly if it's something safe that they can enjoy and do with their hands, because that creates like a full body, both mind and body sensory experience. And there are lots of different ways you can do that. We actually have some great episodes. Again, if you go back and you listen to some of our prior episodes, what's the name of the, I can't remember right now, the name of the cards.
Brandy Archie
Hody A cards.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, Hodier cards, that's a great example of trying to meet someone where they're at with a physical activity that they can do and engage in on a multi-sensorial level. So can they see it? Can they touch it? know, can they hear it? Can they smell it? Are all of those things enjoyable and safe for them? Because people with dementia and people with cognitive impairment get bored too. They are people first.
Brandy Archie
You
Emilia Bourland
They're all, they're just human beings, just like us. Their brains are operating a little bit differently, right? So trying to keep someone occupied with something that is at their level that they can do safely and that offers that multi-sensory experience is really helpful. And again, we have some great episodes in the CareLab archives. If you go back that where we're talking about very specific solutions and even products that are available to do that. Super, super easy, great stuff.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think you said that they're humans and people first and then they're more than likely adults second. And so the reason I bring that up particularly is that we talk all the time about behavior management strategies for kids with autism and kids with sensory difficulties and kids whatever what they're whatever they're dealing with because as parents and as adults we expect to manage their behavior and their behavior just might be stronger or
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
more unfamiliar to you than with your kid who is not neurodivergent, let's say. And so that conversation happens all the time and I have a feeling that the searches are not about that because there's lots of resources for that. instead, you're, and I also don't think people are so concerned as that they're a kid in the first place, which all kids are learning how to behave in our society and the rules that we have, right?
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
And so you kind of expect that it might be a little harder than you wanted it to be. And it might not get as far as you want it be as fast, but it's still kind of expected. But then when you have those similar behaviors in adults, then we have a lot of trouble. And I say that specifically because one of the biggest frustrations that adults with brain injuries have is that they're being treated like a kid. And they know, even if they're having similar problems, like they got a...
a situation, a need that needs to be met. Like I'm hungry, I'm tired. What do your kids do when they're hungry or tired? They get cranky, right? What do we do as adults when we get hungry and tired? We get cranky. Now I might be able to say, I'm hangry, we need to find some food real quick or I'm gonna like opt out of this activity we're doing right now. I clearly told you what's going on. If you don't wanna do that, then that's fine. Now I can go do my thing. I'm independent and I can do that. Well, what if I don't have words for that? What if I don't have the ability to get up and move and go do that?
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
You know, then I'm just stewing in my anger and that might come out in a variety of ways. Shutdown, explosion, whatever, right? And so, but on top of that, they're also still an adult who recognizes that they did at one point have the ability and independence to take care of the situation on their own. And so, I think it's really important to just like make sure no matter what the cognitive state of your person is, that you recognize that they're adult, if they're an adult. And treat them as such and then...
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
moderate the environment around them, right? Because exactly what you said is that they're operating from their own reality, which might not be reality. It's not unlike a kid saying, I'm hungry 45,000 times and you know that you're on your way to the restaurant, right? And like as an adult, you're like, okay, I'm hungry, but I don't need to say it 50 times because I'm on the way to the restaurant. I know this is about to get solved. They don't know it's getting solved or they don't feel like it's getting solved fast. And they're operating out of their reality. And
then you do something different like distract them with something else to do, right? Or talk about something. And so the similar strategies exist is just do it with a level of respect that the person is an adult and try to come at it that way so you don't add that additional layer of frustration if that makes sense.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, I'm really glad that you said that because infantilizing is something when when essentially we treat people like kids or like babies that are adults is something that happens, you know, really widely when we're talking about caring for people with any kind of cognitive deficit or or just disability in general for some for some reason, it's kind of what happens. And and it is so important that we talk to people respectfully and as adults.
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
I also, the only other thing that I want to add to that is that cognitive impairment, your brain does all kinds of things, right? If someone has a cognitive impairment, that does not mean that they are not smart, right? These are actually like, you could have a cognitive impairment that makes you impulsive and you could also be Einstein. These things are not one and the same. So we want to be really respectful of the people.
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Emilia Bourland
that we're caring for, that we're talking to, that we're working with, if we're professionals, understanding that, this is an adult, that they may have a cognitive difference or a cognitive impairment or a memory issue or whatever it is, right? But that does not mean that this person doesn't know what's going on necessarily. It doesn't mean that they're not smart. It doesn't mean that they don't have valuable life experience. And we want to always approach it from that.
that place of respect for adults. Yeah.
Brandy Archie
Yeah, so the biggest thing, the main search question is how do I handle, how do I manage behaviors, it's actually the wrong question. And instead of managing the behavior, let's manage the environment around them. Let's manage the reality that they experience and I bet you the behavior will change. So if you can backwards think it, like why would this be happening and then change what's around, then they'll probably change their response.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Yep.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm. And that's what like if you have a great OT, that's what a great occupational therapist is gonna come and do. And so that's why sometimes when you're working with a really great occupational therapist, you come in and it looks like magic. Like they just changed everything like magic. And what that occupational therapist has done is they have changed the experience that that person is having. That's it. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Brandy Archie
Yep, which changed the reaction. Yep, exactly. Exactly. Okay, are we ready for the last one on our top five? Okay, so the fifth one in our search is, how do I find financial assistance for caregiving?
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, let's do it.
Emilia Bourland
Hmm, okay. This is such a huge question. I'm actually surprised that this wasn't number one. But you know, hey, hey. Okay, Google, you're the boss. Okay, so partly it depends, there are actually lots of different resources there and it partly depends on the type I didn't understand.
Emilia Bourland
That was my G-O-O-G-L-E. Thinking that I was talking to her. That she's the boss. She said I didn't understand. Anyway, okay. So it partly depends what kind of financial assistance that you are in need of. there are a couple of big ones here. So let's...
Brandy Archie
that she is the boss.
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
If you are a caregiver and your person is in need of housing and they cannot afford housing, depending on their care level needs, if they are enrolled in Medicaid, there are often housing options that are available like skilled nursing, long-term care options that can be available to be paid for. And some states even assisted living can actually be paid for by Medicaid.
And so that can be an option too. If you are not sure about that, then working with like an elder law attorney can be a helpful way to figure out how to access that type of option as well. There are also often really great local resources for things like bill pay assistance, short-term rental assistance.
Some of them are just for whoever is in the community, but some of them do cater specifically towards caregivers or older adults as well. And again, that's actually something that we search for and vet via LumaLink as well. So if people are having trouble paying bills or having just financial issues in general, there are lots of different resources that you can find through LumaLink that we've kind of searched up locally in the area for people as well.
Questions to ask. So is your person on Medicaid or are they Medicaid eligible? Are they getting any type of supplemental security income? Are they on social security disability income? Are there any free housing options? Are they veterans? Is there long-term care insurance in there? I know I'm listing a ton of things, but the fact is that this whole big financial picture can be
There are a lot of different ways that you can possibly get assistance. And so it's important to sort of maybe start by, I think, asking the questions about like, what do I have right now? And then maybe what can I be eligible for?
Brandy Archie
Totally. I think of like financial management in these caregiver situations, a lot like pain management. There's not one pill that doesn't. And so when you do pain management, yes, you might be on a pain pill. You might also though be stretching, doing ice, doing heat, using a lidocaine patch. know, the amalgamation of all those things help manage the pain. And so the similar thing happens for financial management in that there's not a one like...
There's not one stop shop here that's like, my person needs help and I'm going to find financial assistance here. It's like you're going to need to piece it together from different organizations and different opportunities. So in addition to the ones that you've already said.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
I'd also look at if they are on a Medicare plan, if they're on a Medicare Advantage plan, sometimes there's some additional benefits within those Medicare Advantage plans that could save you on the cost of supplies or food, or maybe they'll reimburse you for the cost of food. All the plans are different. They change every year, even if you stay on the same plan. So it's really important that you check in with your plan or an insurance professional who can decide on those plans and see what's in them to know,
like what you can leverage. So that's one option to find some financial assistance. I'd also dig into your area agency on aging because if you have an older adult that you're caring for, there's often some levels of supports there. Still again, not one thing, but just be like, this organization does this, so use them. This organization does this, so use them for adaptive equipment. This one helps with medication. This one helps with transportation. And just try to cut your costs in every way possible.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
from as many sources as possible so whatever income you do have coming in can go to the things that you don't find a program to help you with. So this is this takes a lot of work and time but that's also the reason why LemonLink exists, why AskSAMIE exists, because we're trying to source that into one place for you so you can get like a head start and know where to go down the road. And if you want a phone number to call or feel like you need some more assistance that's outside of where LemonLink serves then
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
211 in your area is likely connected to United Way for your city and United Way is a great resource too.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
I'd also dig into you mentioned this but I want to go further. I also dig into like what other financial resources your person has that maybe you never needed to ask about because they're their own person and you just now started caring for them. So you mentioned do they have a long-term care insurance plan? Sometimes you bought those a long time ago and nobody's thought about it. We got to dig into the file see if they have access to that. Do they have a retirement plan? Is there an errant 401k somewhere that needs to be dealt with? Just like
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm
Brandy Archie
exhaust all the resources that they might have first that you might not have known about and like ask those questions or try to get to those documents and see if you can find anything that you have resources at. And then especially, I don't think we talk enough about VA benefits. So if your person is a veteran, a lot of the VA benefits are tied to your level of service, which might have happened a very long time ago for somebody who's like 80. And even if they've never been connected to the VA, they can get connected to the VA and ask
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm
Brandy Archie
those benefits regardless. And so you just need to get one doctor there to do some of your stuff. You don't have to get rid of, you don't have to change all your doctors, but you just need to have one point of access that happens there and get started with their system. It takes time, it also takes work, but they do have a variety of resources available and so it's worth digging into too.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the VA and I would just say like if anyone is listening to this who is a veteran Go Go get like go get enrolled at the VA Do it now Before you really need it have like brandy said have a doctor there Who you see maybe once a year or something? Because the fact is the VA actually has a huge number of benefits that you really can't get anywhere else for example They actually they have lots of benefits to pay for
for home modifications that no one else would pay for, honestly. And depending on, and I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but like depending on your service connection, you can really qualify for a lot of different things. if you're a veteran and you are not enrolled at your local VA, start the process now before you really need it because it can take some time and some advocacy to get that done. It's just.
Brandy Archie
They do.
Emilia Bourland
It's just kind of the way it is, So, but get it done now and you might be, my own dad was a veteran. He was never enrolled at the VA. I spent some time working at the VA as an occupational therapist a number of years ago. And at that time I really encouraged him. said, dad, you need to go get signed up for your benefits. He's a Vietnam vet. And his perspective was like, I wasn't treated very well when I came home. I don't think.
Brandy Archie
Is government, yes.
Brandy Archie
Mmm.
Emilia Bourland
And I wasn't told that I could have anything then. I don't think they're going to treat me well now or do anything for me now. No, he went in, he was able to get sign up for benefits. It honestly, in so many ways has changed his life by making so many things more accessible, things like hearing aids, you know, and he was like, wow, this is great. And now he tells all the veterans he knows, go get signed up. So it's never too late. It's also never too early. Go get your benefits if you're a veteran.
Brandy Archie
Yeah, yeah, and we appreciate your service and even if you haven't been treated well or your service was not recognized at the time for a variety of reasons, you still should get connected. And even if your service, level of service doesn't give you the opportunity to access all the benefits, even if it's just your medications are paid for. Do you know how expensive your medications are? Very. And so if you can take that part off the plate.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Yes.
Brandy Archie
and that have co-pays that you need to come out of pocket for. That money can then get used for other things. Paying for the in-home care, respite care. The VA has caregiver benefits too. like, just...
piece together all the different things. This is a job and it's work. This is also a great task or set of tasks that you can assign to somebody else. So let's say you're the person who lives with the person who you're to care for and you're doing all the physical labor and something you got a sister or brother that lives out of town or just can't be there, right? Like they can participate in this resource allocation. This is all looking stuff up online, calling phone numbers, getting connected. And so that's a great way for them to serve as
Emilia Bourland
Hmm.
Brandy Archie
as a care partner without physically being present and doing like the day-to-day care. And so don't feel like you got to take on all the things and maybe it's not a sister or brother, maybe it's just somebody who's like, who? Let me know if there's something I can do to help, which is kind of like the worst thing to say because you never know how to like allocate. I'm giving you permission right now. Allocate this stuff to a trusted person who can run it all down for you.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Yep. Great. Yeah. think that's such a, I love your, way that you compare this to pain management. Like it's not one sort of magic thing that we do. It's about all of, especially when it comes to like chronic pain management, it's about all of the different tools that we're using in our tool basket in order to like make a better outcome. And it is so much like that for financial assistance, but there are programs out there. It does take a little bit of work.
AskSAMIE and Luma Link are both trying to make that easier for you to do so that you are not spending hours so that we're really able to find you that elder law attorney, those financial aid programs, know, that senior center that can offer that respite care, whatever it is. But yeah, just, you can do this. You got it.
Brandy Archie
you can do this. okay this is the end of our list. I think we hit the top five and gave you some high-level overviews. every single one of these topics though we have talked about in care lab. so if one of them is like more pressing to you right now and you need help with.
Emilia Bourland
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
dig back even in like our first five episodes we had an elder law attorney on. And so there's plenty more resources to get you to get some more stuff into your brain as you're moving about your day, listen to the podcast. So feel free to use CareLab as resource. And if you found this helpful and useful, then please definitely leave us a review, like and share it so that we can be found by other people who have similar needs. And then let us know what your actual questions are. What are you searching?
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Emilia Bourland
Mm-hmm.
Brandy Archie
on Google for help for. We want to bring forward those resources to you and take some of the work off your plate. So until next time, see you then.
Emilia Bourland
Bye.
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