For Family Caregivers

A listing of links and resources

For Family Caregivers2018-08-01T11:19:21-04:00

NIHSeniorHealth.gov. A collaboration of the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine that provides authoritative information on all diseases and disorders of old age. Each section is available in both large-type and audio versions.

National Institute on Aging. Describes ongoing research on aging and lists clinical trials seeking participants.

Administration for Community Living. ACL brings together the efforts and achievements of the Administration on Aging (AoA), the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD), and the HHS Office on Disability to serve as the Federal agency responsible for increasing access to community supports, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities across the lifespan.

Housing and Services

National Center for Assisted Living. Provides a more elaborate “facility finder” that factors in cost, method of payment, mobility, dietary needs, activities and amenities.

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Search for a geriatric care manager by location.

Visiting Nurse Associations of America. Search for home health services nationwide. Includes suggested questions to ask service providers.

Homemods.org. Advice on home renovation from the University of Southern California.

HealthGrades. Comparisons and one-to-five-star ranking of nursing homes, for $9.95 for the first report and $2.95 for each additional one.

UCompareHealthCare. Free search by location for nursing homes, plus data on quality, staffing and outcomes from government sources. (Disclosure: Owned by The New York Times Co.)

TheSeniorGuide.com. Search by state and region for all types of senior housing, case managers, lawyers and more. Includes a glossary of industry jargon.

National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM). A not-for-profit, professional association dedicated to assisting older adults with the physical and emotional demands of downsizing, relocating, or modifying their homes.

Caregiving

National Alliance for Caregiving. Reviews of more than 1,000 books, videos, Web sites and links.

National Family Caregivers Association. Provides statistics, research and policy reports, tip sheets, first-person accounts, a newsletter and an exhaustive resource list.

MetLife Mature Market Institute. Reports from a research arm of the insurance company on the price of assisted living, the strains of long-distance caregiving, and the cost to employers of baby boomer employees involved in eldercare.

The Alzheimer’s Association.

Caregiver Action Network. Caregiver Action Network (CAN) is the nation’s leading family caregiver organization working to improve the quality of life for the more than 90 million Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or the frailties of old age.

Legal and Financial

BenefitsCheckUp. A search tool developed by the National Council on Aging to determine eligibility for 1,300 benefit programs that help pay for medications, health care, utilities and so forth.

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Search by location for members of the association. Provides questions to ask lawyers about qualifications and areas of expertise, and a wide-ranging resource list for the elderly.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Free fact sheets and shoppers’ guides for long-term care insurance, annuities and Medigap policies.

Insurance Information Institute.

ReverseMortgage.org. Calculator and search tool to find local lenders, with links to their Web sites.

Nolo. Do-it-yourself legal advice. Wills, powers of attorney and other documents.

Senior Law Home Page. Advice from a New York law firm on the legal and financial issues facing the elderly. state forms for powers of attorney, health care proxies and living wills.

U.S. Living Will Registry. Free state-by-state forms.

American Bar Association Aging Tool Kit. Offers a 10-step process for making end-of-life decisions with worksheets, suggestions and links.

End of Life

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. An excellent search tool for finding a hospice, as well as guides on issues related to palliative care, including Medicare coverage and techniques for communicating end-of-life wishes.

Caring Connections. Contains of the consumer information from NHPCO and has state-by-state advance directive forms.

Compassion and Choices.

Hospice Foundation of America. Information on end-of-life issues, such as pain management. One section called “Caregivers Corner” has links, reading lists and a self-assessment tool for caregivers to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses.

Miscellany

Elderweb. An eccentric site that includes the history of long-term care policy in America, census maps that show the concentration of people 60 and over, book reviews, updates on state laws affecting the elderly, and a dictionary of eldercare jargon.

Eldercare Online. This site has a home-made look and is difficult to navigate, but includes a wealth of original and imported information.

Caring.com. An all-in-one site with advice on caregiving, long-term care, talking with elders and insurance issues.

National Care Planning Council. A work in progress from a couple who “didn’t have a life for five years” while caring for four elderly parents. Now a membership organization advocating for long-term care.

Third Age. Articles, expert interviews, quizzes and discussion boards for caregivers.

Advocacy

AARP. Political position papers, member discounts, demographic research, online versions of its bulletin, and magazine and consumer advice.

Center for Medicare Advocacy. Detailed information about what Medicare covers, and how to enroll and, if necessary, appeal denial of claims.

Medicare Rights Center. A similar tutorial on how this government health care program for the elderly works. A link to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Medicare 101” and a hotline for questions and complaints.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Articles on caregiving, policy reports, and links to eldercare service agencies.

Magazines

Today’s Caregiver Magazine

Caring Today

Blogs

Caring Today’s blogs

KnowItAlz

Minding Our Elders

Our Alzheimer’s

Aging Care

Time Goes By

3GenFamily Blog

My Elder Advocate

Alzheimer’s Reading Room