Articles:

Many caregiver agencies today state that they will give a free assessment to your elder family member before they provide their caregiver services. Is this really a good deal? Or is it simply a disguised sales pitch?

It is important that you obtain an objective, third-party professional geriatric assessment for your elder before you jump right in to contracting one of the many home health care organizations in the area.

A thorough geriatric assessment will take several hours, and takes into consideration a wide variety of issues facing your elder, including medical, emotional, nutritional, social, financial, legal, pharmaceutical and physical issues.

After a thorough, objective geriatric assessment, your care manager will devise a comprehensive care plan, tailored to your elder’s exact needs — regardless of who provides the ongoing services. In fact, one of a good geriatric care manager’s objectives is to assure that all services are organized as cost-effectively as possible, and that safety is the top priority.

Often care managers can spot potentially dangerous situations, such as drug interactions, that can only be found by having the big picture view gained by a professional assessment. The cost is not free, but it may save thousands of dollars in the future.