Expert: Michalene Peticca - 10/19/2009

Question
My 75 yr old mother has been experiencing short term memory problems for a couple years. She is now in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She has trouble remembering things she talked about only moments before. Sometimes she forgets whether or not she has taken her medication. She lives alone, but has told us she is ready to move into an assisted living home. None of us kids are in a position to care for her when she goes into a later stage.  How do we go about finding her a suitable and affordable home?  Her home as a few thousand dollars equity and she has about $5000 life ins. she hopes to leave for each of her kids; and we could use it, but she needs to come first. She receives Social Security and has Medicare and I believe Blue Cross/Blue Shield as a secondary insurance. I don't know where to start to help her. Her husband died about 15 yrs ago and she'd been fine on her own until now. Any ideas?  Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hello Ed,

I am very glad your mother has made the decision on her own to move to an Assisted Living.  That must be a relief for your family and i'm sure will be a much smoother transition for her as well.

All Assisted living residences are privately paid.  Some will assist with VA benefit applications to cover costs.  But, otherwise, you would need to spend down her "assets", including the sale of her house.  

I would start by inquiring with AL residences that she would like to be near.  Otherwise, i would contact your local Office of Aging and allow them to give you a listing of homes.

Best Regards,
Michalene Peticca, MA