Follow
Share
Find Care & Housing
Medicare is health insurance so it won't do anything much for an 87 yo with dementia. She can sell her home and use the proceeds to pay for Memory Care Assisted Living.

Best of luck!
Helpful Answer (3)
Reply to lealonnie1
Report

Your profile name says "neighbor"... are you this woman's neighbor?

The best thing you can do is to report her to APS and get her on their radar as a vulnerable adult. If this woman truly has no family and no PoA then she will need a legal guardian in order to get her into a facility in order to protect her, house her, feed her and give her any medical care she needs.

If you do contact APS and they don't come out right away, and if you are worried about her safety (like if she leaves pots on lit burners, drives, wanders outside at night) then call 911 and tell them there's something wrong with her (don't mention dementia since this isn't considered a medical emergency). Go with her to the ER and make sure the discharge people know she is an "unsafe discharge" so they retain her. Then ask to talk to a social worker and explain that you are not her caregiver, not wish to be, and that she has no family. They will start the process of transitioning her directly into a care facility and recommending her case to a judge who will assign a guardian. That's as much as you can do.
Helpful Answer (4)
Reply to Geaton777
Report

lealonnie is 100% correct.

People don't seem to understand Medicare is health insurance for hospitalization and medical treatment only. Medicare is awesome, yet doesn't pay for "long term care" (Assisted Living, Memory Care, SNF) whatsoever. These "facilities" are very expensive, hence those in their 50s better be making plans for their Long Term Care 10-20 years ahead! Twenty years will fly by, then what generally happens is their adult children get saddled with their parent's long term care issues (and costs).

All working Americans (prior to turning 65) need to realize Medicare is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Their own aging parents are well aware of the end of life issues by age 40-50, yet refuse to make solid estate plans, set up Trusts, do Wills or similar "depressing" planning ahead of time. They selfishly assume they can force themselves on their adult children as their solution.

It burns me up to see so many stubborn elders save money for "old age" yet refuse to use it! Their adult kids have been on their own for decades, have their own families and are still working. Why should they get stuck with stubborn parents and their long term care expenses?

Ask yourself...did your parents ever work for anyone for FREE? Did they sacrifice their lives (and savings) for their own elderly parents? Did they use their own savings to fund their own elderly parent's long term care costs?
PLAN AHEAD!
Helpful Answer (4)
Reply to Dawn88
Report
ElizabethAR37 Jul 21, 2024
One or two generations ago, most people didn't live as long as they often do now so long-term care wasn't as much of an issue. My spouse (now 94) and I (87) did our best to plan and save (on modest salaries from employment in the nonprofit healthcare and human services sector). We bought long-term care insurance, for which the premiums are now astronomical, and have tried to maximize our years of independent living. We still live on our own with some hired outside assistance. For a variety of reasons neither of us anticipated living much beyond the age of 80. But. . . fortunately or unfortunately, here we are.
(1)
Report
See 1 more reply
You need to call APS concerning a vulnerable woman. If she has no family, they should take over and the State will become her guardian. She will be placed, probably, in LTC.

I know its hard, but don't get involved anymore than you need to. Help but don't allow her to depend on you. If she happens to get hospitalized you tell the Social worker she needs 24/7 care and it would be an unsafe discharge to send her home because there is no family to care for her.
Helpful Answer (0)
Reply to JoAnn29
Report

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter