Elderly care home for demential grandmother with very little savings (Honolulu: attorney, homes)

[noblerare]

My grandmother is 92 years old, has dementia, diabetes, and currently has about $10,000 left in her assets.
Her income is only $1,000 as a pension. We plan on applying for Medicaid for her when her savings dips to the required amount.

I am looking for some elderly care homes around O'ahu for her, preferably as close to town (Honolulu) as possible. I understand that a lot of the big names (Palolo Chinese, The Plaza, Kahalo Nui) are all private pay and when calling around to these places, I was told that many of them don't take Medicaid.

Does anyone else have any suggestions or homes to call?

[Rain Monkey]

Try contacting the Elderly Affairs Division of the Department of Community Services for the City and County of
Honolulu. The website: http://www.elderlyaffairs.com

[atp162]

Talk to her doctor or the hospital she is affiliated with ASAP and ask to be referred to a geriatric social worker. They can help you narrow down what care homes she can afford once her Medicaid kicks in. You need to be aware that with Medicaid her choices will be limited and the nicer care facilities (e.g. Kahala Nui, the Plaza, One Kalakaua, etc.) are all going to be out of her price range. She <may> qualify for a place like Leahi Hospital or Maluhia Hospital, but you need to realize that the patient-to-caregiver ratio will be much greater and the monitoring by necessity will be less. And if her level of dementia is such that she wanders, she will need to be in a home that has locked areas to keep her from walking out of the facility.

Another alternative is to hire P/T in-home caregivers that cover when the family is at work. This, of course, is contingent on whether you can afford this over a long term.

The main thing is that you start your research and get educated in what you need to know about what to do when Grandma starts needing care 24/7 (if it hasn't already happened.) From experience I can tell you you need to prepare for the inevitable because when the elderly start declining, it takes a snowball effect and things happen faster than you would believe. Often there is a sentinel event (like a fall or a serious illness or hospitalization) and the downhill decline accelerates astronomically. Get her affairs and finances together (e.g., get a durable power of attorney, medical POA, and POLST form completed ASAP, if you haven't already done so) and enlist her doctors and whatever geriatric specialists you can find to help you figure out your options.

Good luck and I hope things work out.