by Athan Bezaitis, MA
(Aging Well Magazine- September/October 2009) Skilled professionals and cutting-edge technologies combine to effectively dispatch tasks related to caring for loved ones living far from concerned caregivers.

Overcoming the challenges of caring for an ailing loved one from afar takes organization, teamwork, and a certain amount of trust that tasks will be completed without direct supervision. The process calls for gathering family members, tapping into community support, and dealing with a never-ending line of medical and legal professionals. The goal is to make life as independent and comfortable as possible for the older adult in need while maintaining one’s own sanity at the same time. Fortunately for overwhelmed caregivers who live far away from older adults in their charge, there is someone who can help.

No, it’s not Superman–although the ability to fly at superhuman speeds would certainly come in handy for this job. It’s a geriatric care manager, a professional trained in long-term care with a specialized focus on issues of aging. Minus the cape, the care manager assesses the older adult’s living situation and devises a plan of action for the caregiver that can help make the experience both rewarding and relatively worry free.

Unique Profiles and Problems
Most of the approximately 7 million long-distance caregivers in America are well educated, affluent, and married, according to studies from AARP, MetLife, and the National Council on Aging. Their ages generally range from 46 – 51, with a 60% of them being women and just over 20% caring for parents with dementia. “On average, long-distance caregivers live between 300 and 450 miles away and spend about four to seven hours traveling one way to the care recipient,” says Cathy Jo Cress, MSW, an instructor in geriatric home care management at San Francisco State University and the author of Care Managers: Working With the Aging Family.

Regardless of caregivers’ sex or socioeconomic status, distance makes the already difficult job of caring for an ailing loved one even more difficult. The experience of a long-distance caregiver is much different from and usually more complicated than that of a caregiver who lives nearby. “It’s important to know the local resources and services and also to have in place a strong support system to communicate with weekly, to keep good notes, and to join a support group,” says Donna Benton, PhD, director of the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center. “Too frequently, long-distance caregivers do not ask for help, do not keep updated on lists, and do not have emergency backup plans.” They also face increased costs in travel and time. According to a 2007 study from Evercare, long-distance caregivers spend an average of $8,728 per year on care provision compared with $4,500 to $5,885 for all other caregivers.

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*Family Alliance provides 30+ hours of supervised personalized care during the week days to help out-of-state caregivers feel at ease knowing  their loved one is in a stimulating and safe environment monitored by nurses and nursing assistants trained in geriatrics. Family Alliance also employs full-time community support staff and Licensed Clinical Social Workers to make sure the senior has access to community resources like meals on wheels, transportation and subsidized funding they qualify for. Our Social Workers and Community Support Staff speak with the senior and the caregiver on a regular basis to ensure they are following the care plan agreed on in the intake assessment.  For more information on Family Alliance’s services please visit us online, or call 815.338.3590.