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I feel behind now the state wants them.. how closely do they look at them? The days went by and I slacked off as the days all seemed the same.. Now I have to fill in 2 years worth of details...
all to prove that I have been caring for my mother.. and Title 19
Its the last think I have to do. and its stressing me out.. do they really do line by line.

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I wouldn't think so. Looking for general pattern. And it is the same day after day after day. Log 24 hours each day, doctor appointments, therapy, baths, whatever you do on a normal basis. Copy and paste should be good for most of it.
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REally? I have to log my time with MOM? What state are you talking about and what are they wanting?
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I was given time sheets when mom's elder care lawyer drew up my care contract. Mine is just a very simple weekly thing, no details required. I am paid for 8 hours daily, 7 days per week. (Of course, we know it's a 24/7 thing). The lawyer says nobody he's drawn up a contract for has questioned it. I'm in Ohio, by the way.
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Didn't have to but I did anyway. It is a really good idea. You think you'll remember exactly when she first vomited or how her behaviour changed, but you won't, you know; and then when the doctor or nurse asks for a history where are you?

Also, suppose you think you spend twenty hours a week on caregiving. Then, when you're keeping track, you do include all the other things like laundry, cooking, time on the phone making appointments, running errands, getting up in the night to check she's okay - and you find that actually it's nearer forty. Or sixty. Or...
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We hired caregivers privately. They have a notebook in which they write detailed notes, down to what my mother eats and snacks on, her level of activity, everything. This ranges from a half page to 3/4. Since there are 3 caregivers, each can read the previous entries. I keep my mother from Friday to Monday, so read this and respond to their notes if necessary and give a brief update of the weekend. My mother is prone to UTIs, so noting possible symptoms is invaluable. They have never complained about this and do a wonderful job.
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I keep mine on a spreadhseet and things I do daily I just simply cut and paste. If you feel confident private me and I will send you my copy - it might help you
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Oh and Ido this because the social workers were beginning to say I was incapable of looking after Mum properly. Now let me just do a comparison.
Type of care Me
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Bother let me try again

Type of care Me Agency
Getting up 8:30 Somewhen between 7 and 11.30
Getting washed 9:00 As above
Breakfast 9:30 We don’t get breakfast
Lunch 12:00 Somewhen between 11.30 and 3
Afternoon tea 3:00 We don’t do afternoon tea – how
quaint (grrrr)
Dinner 6:00 Somewhen between 3 and 7
Bed 10.30-11.00 Somewhen between 7 and 10

Now at its worst They put her to bed at 7:15, got her up at 11.30 never arrived for lunch at all and dinner was at 7.00 that day and the carers met each other when one came to put her to bed as the other was leaving.

The social workers thought I would have difficulty arguing the point - oh how wrong they were. All my care is documented every bit of it meds/contraindications that I should be looking for when she has refused meds the whole lot

When the doctor who was with them saw what I had done - he said (god love him) It would seem XXXXXXX tha Judith does a better job of record keeping than the professional so how you can possibly say she isnt coping I am unsure - instead of trying to work against her try working with her she knows her stuff. Ooooooh I hate social workers poking their noses in - when they just help they are brilliant when they just confront I cannot be doing with them
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I have a question for cindyoh. I am also in Ohio and had to quit my job to take care of my mother. So I was wondering, how are you getting paid to take care of your mom? Basically my mom pays our room and board and my husband pays the utilities, so in that sense we aren't destitute. But I was just wondering if there was a better way so at least I had some income coming in. I looked into one home health agency that advertised "Get Paid to Take Care of Your Loved Ones" but since my mom is on Medicare and a supplementary insurance and not Medicaid they said it really wouldn't have helped us. Any suggestions?
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I think it ist is only medicaid that pay and they do it through a cash and counseling scheme. there is a piece about it on this site:
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/Medicaid-s-Cash-and-Counseling-Allows-Pay-for-Family-Caregivers-133268.htm
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Whether they go through your time sheet (you can get on-line) line for line, your care is basically the same every day and every night. Other than errands, shopping, etc., the personal care you give is basically the same and it certainly is more than 8 hours per day. It is more like a 24/7 job. I had to go back two year for Medicaid. Although I have a Care Management Agreement, which is very important to have if your mom is on Medicaid, I did have to document everyday with time sheets.
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I have to assume your getting paid to take care of a parent. I think all the suggestions are great. For the future u may want to get one of those pocket calenders for keeping track of appointments. I have me, Mom, nephew and husband I keep. This way I don't book two appts in a day. I keep them for a couple of years in case I have to look back. I also have a large laminated Calendar on my fridge. I purchased it at an office supply store. If u basically do the same everyday no problem but something different you could write in. At the end of the week, enter them onto a form.
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My neighbor, who was working at the time, and also caregiving her brother with autism received IHSS pay from the state of California, County of L.A. His income was low, and he is on disability, which includes medicaid. She was required to fill out timesheets. HOWEVER, she later stated it actually cost her money to receive these funds because of her work and taxes. (In Home Supportive Services).
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Record keeping not my strong suit. Have you heard about the guy who took years of receipts in a box to his IRS audit? We are not professional bookkeepers, just family caregivers, so don't panic. I procrastinated, could not quite get all the paperwork together with the forms, envelope, and a stamp. I had my third notice with a pink envelope, phoned them for more time, saying I needed help. They answered my questions, gave me more time, I did it right away.
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Is there somewhere I can call or go to get paided for caring for my Dad ? Had Heart attack in 5/2014 and I had to quit my job to care for him and has been in hospital 5 times last year still not doing good an money is running out .
Live in Chicago Need somewhere to turn, too.
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Procrastination can help you lose your sanity.
I got pretty decorative boxes to throw in these things all together, make notes later on separate 3x5 cards.
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I keep track of things so I do not forget. I am a family caregiver. I do a calendar that is cheep process...I have the required medical attention on it. Example is Am, Breakfast, Noon pills, Breathing Treatments, bandages, or other medical items needing done. Then I keep track of mood, behaviors, physical strength and naps. This is helpful to have for the Nurse when she asks. Sometimes she calls and asks. How is she doing? I will say ok, not thinking I need to tell everything to Hospice. At that moment she was ok, but two hours ago was not.
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I am getting paid 3 days a week at 3 hrs at a time through HCBS waiver through medicaid to care for mom, which is way less than what I am actually doing. I just have to punch in online through Consumer Direct, my employer.
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Imccarthy1, I'm paid biweekly through mom's checking account. She's not a rich woman but can certainly pay for her own care. Mom's elder care lawyer charged me $1000 to draw up this contract. I was worried that my being her DPOA might make things too complicated but apparently not. My brother and sister are named "authorized persons" in this contract and know what I'm paid. They're very okay with it. We can change this whenever we want, and we all get along fine as we're trying our best for as long as we can to keep her out of a nursing home, and mom is physically fine at this point. I'm called an independent contractor and not an employee of my mom. I also went to the lady who does my taxes to be sure I know how much to pay quarterly. I don't expect this contract to go on forever and told my sibs that I plan to early retire in 18 months. I'm personally cutting every corner I can at my age (61 this year), having lost my job. I just sold my house (had a $30,000 mortgage left to pay) and bought a cottage for mom and me with cash; got a terrific deal and wish I'd done this before. Mom's been living with me for about 2 years now in my home. I'm doing fine on $12 per hour, but this sure isn't what I planned for my life, ya know? I loved being a transcriber at home but doubt I'll ever find anything like that again full time. So this situation has actually been a godsend for both of us, if you ask me. I do have an STNA but really don't want to have to work for anyone else when mom passes. I can and will get help when she gets worse. Not sure I have any advice to give you; I just did what the lawyer recommended for the time being and would be nervous without that contract, simple though it is.
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When I worked as an activities director in a nursing home in MT, I was told that the state requires that I log all activities. I think it was also for family members to see.

now that I am a caregiver for my parents, I found an actual printable time sheet template that I use here: printabletimesheets

For a detailed account, I used to write it all down in a notebook, but now I have a blog spot.(free at google)
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Cindyoh, I did the same arrangement as you have now, first I was being paid by an organization but when they restructured it, they wanted my mother to pay for me, which she could not afford anyway, They wanted to pull like 25.00/hr from her to pay, then pay me 12.00/hr. That made no sense and was a complete ripoff to me, why pay an agency to pay me, my mother could just pay me 12./hr - made no sense. Opted out of that, and went through the medicaid way, got more hrs and more hourly rate from the state and mom pays nothing.
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Here is a sample timesheet FYI:
The 36 hour day x 365 days per year =11,240 hours. Got any questions?
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P.S. Sense of humor even in the most difficult circumstances can save one's sanity.
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I keep a time sheet for when I do things for my mom. At first I tried to do it on my desktop PC, that was a disaster cause it took longer for the damn thing to turn on than it tool to enter the notes. So I changed to good old paper & pen. I made an Excel spreadsheet with space for date, time & hours on top. Then all along left third of page I listed about 25 activities I frequently do for my mom (medication check/reminder, calls for doctor, drive to doctor, take shopping, pick up mail, take out garbage, etc). On the right 2/3 of page is a dotted line for notes specific to these activities for that Date. On bottom 4 lines of page is space for any special notes for that Date. Guess what? For me, this is WAAAY faster and more likely to get filled out. Plus when I get a good stack of them (at least monthly ) I can pop the whole bunch into printer to scan and save as a file on the recalcitrant desktop. So I do have a good system going. I also have a separate notebook for all the store receipts, depends receipts (I order online), and any expenses in have had to pay for her....just in case we need to do Medicaid within 5 yrs I will be all set.
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I do exactly the same mallory but I have my day mapped out in half hours in the ros and activities in the columns then all I do is colour the relevant square and I note the time it takes in a final column for the time then all I do is total the column - My day is always above 7 hours and sometimes as much as 12 worst it has been has been 18 with a working week USUALLY around 56-60 hours long
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Oh and that does not include laundry, shopping, gardening, decorating, cleaning (dusting and vacuuming) nipping out to get this or that for her and by this and that I mean something like needing additional pad from the chemist about 800 yards away
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Another detail, on separate sheet I have her medications & vitamins, all listed for times and some need to be empty stomach, others with a meal, etc. So her whole day is mapped out (unfortunately ) according to just about 2 hour increments with a different med or meal. On top of sheet there is space to note any doctor appts coming up. And her main dr phone info, as well as pharmacy. On bottom of page is space to note any health issues (like diarrhea, bruise on wrist, sore gums, etc) I fill out most of these but we also have 1 paid caregiver who also fills out.
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I just quit my job. I took this part-time job to pay for my own health insurance. I told my mom that I would charge her $200/week to care for her. She is OK with that since I quit my other job to take care of her. I begin my "new" job on Monday. I will make sure everything is documented. The VA gave me a guideline sheet to help me. I'm not out to rip my mom off. I just need to sustain the part-time income I had while I was working in the real world.
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aimeejo55 dont forget to keep your own accounts for the IRS hun
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Sounds like a 'waiver' program. contact your local area agency on aging for more info.

I agree with the above response. Typically care is the same each day, get up, bathed, dressed, toileting, meals, laundry etc... dr. appts. and shopping for supplies, food etc. Most places have a tracking sheet with a billing code. I'm not sure what is required by your state. I would think that you would be able to recreate, it probably sounds more overwhelming than it actually is. Good luck.
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