How has COVID-19 changed things for older adults and the families who love and care for them? We posed this question to Kyra Clements, one of the elder care coordinators at Elder Law of East Tennessee, a Life Care Planning Law Firm with offices in Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee.

Kyra says that lockdowns have created some of the biggest problems. “One of the hardest things has been helping people feel connected,” Kyra said. “Many seniors are feeling the effects of isolation, including depression and weight loss. It’s hard on everyone.”

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than one in seven Americans age 65 or older will need to spend at least one night in the hospital each year. Some of these hospital stays are planned in advance, but many are not. If you’re a family caregiver, you’ve probably already experienced the chaos associated with unplanned trips to the ER.

What is a Community Spouse in Medicaid world? We posed this question to Hailey Michel-Evleth, one of the public benefits specialists at Elder Law of East Tennessee, a Life Care Planning Law Firm with offices in Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee.

The concept of a Community Spouse applies to married couples where one spouse needs Medicaid to pay for nursing home care and the other one doesn’t. “You're considered part of their household and referred to as the Community Spouse during the application process,” Hailey said.

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the scope of the opioid problem among America’s senior population. Read Part 1 here.  In Part 2, Elder Care Coordinator Claire Merendino explains how to tell if a loved one is abusing opioids and how family caregivers can confront the issue. For the last 3.5 years, Claire has worked as an Elder Care Coordinator at Bratton Law Group, a Life Care Planning Law Firm with offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Think drug addict and what comes to mind? Young people shooting up heroin? Stoners smoking weed?

What about your 80-year-old mother? What about your 90-year-old grandpa?

Just because older adults don’t fit the common stereotype of a drug abuser, it doesn’t mean that your elderly parents or grandparents are immune from a secret (or not-so secret) addiction.

If you’re caring for an older relative who happens to be a veteran, the VA offers several benefit programs that could help you pay for your loved one’s long-term care. How can you access these benefits? We posed this question to Steven Rubin, a Certified Elder Law Attorney and a VA accredited attorney at Drazen Rubin Law, LLC., a Life Care Planning Law Firm in Milford, Connecticut. Steven has been advising clients on VA-related issues for more than eight years.

It’s a well-known fact that women outlive men. According to the National Center for Life Expectancy, women live an average of 81.1 years while men live an average of 76.1 years. Married women, therefore, can expect to live a full five years longer than their spouse.

If your parents are getting older, what will you do when their health declines. How will you know when to step in and help?

One of the best forms of help available today is Life Care Planning, an approach to elder law that does far more than just qualify older adults for public benefits to pay for nursing home care. Life Care Planning guides families through the entire elder care journey.