FAQs

1) How much does it cost?
Each service that a family and/or senior might need has its own cost. The cost of the service is dependent upon the guidelines from the funding sources. Family Alliance has a number of different funding sources. The cost will be discussed with you when you call and it is determined by the type of intervention you and/or your family find yourself in need of.

2) Who pays for it?
The service can be paid for privately by family, by the senior or a combination of both. We offer some services that are subsidized by the Illinois Department of Aging, and the state Department of Mental Health and the Illinois Department of Public Aid which are now under the umbrella of Department of Human Services.

3) Doesn’t Medicare provide for this?
Medicare does reimburse some of the cost for an evaluation by the geriatric psychiatrist. The remainder of this fee could be paid for by private insurance if there is coverage for this type of evaluation. Medicare also pays in part for therapy provided by our Medicare Certified Counselors. Your supplemental insurance may also help with this providing you have therapy as part of your coverage. Medicare does not cover Adult Day Health Services and will not reimburse for this type of service at this time.

4) My mother can’t be alone, how do I find a nursing home?
When a medical professional alerts you to the fact that it is not advisable for your senior family member to be alone it is important to understand that there are many options for Long Term Care. Family Alliance staff can help you plan for the long term and introduce you to the many options for care that exist locally.

Long Term Care used to mean Nursing Home Care, but that has changed considerably. Long Term Care can include: in home care services such as chore/housekeeping, bathing services, nursing services and 24-hour in home care agencies, there is Adult Day Health for coverage during the day, there is assisted living offered within the range of services within certain retirement communities. There are Care Managers available to help you set these services up. There are Case Managers to help you solicit care and monitor your family member’s response to the care that has been set up. There are a myriad of options for responding to the care needs of a senior who is no longer safe at home. We have staff that can help you look at what might be available in your senior family’s locale.

5) When is the right time to place my mom/dad in a nursing home?
There is no right time. The decision has to do with how much care that your family member is needing dependent upon the condition/s that they are responding to and just how much help/support/ and physical, emotional and financial ability you have to respond to the condition or conditions.

We have therapists and nurses on staff that can work with you to objectively look at your situation and help you to determine where you are in the balancing act of trying to keep a life of your own and trying to offer your family the best life possible with the care that you have set up. This type of a decision is very difficult and needs to be made on an individual basis. There is no “one size fits all” for this question, but we have been helping families for the past 21 years to look at all the facts and decide for themselves what is best for them at the time.

6) Should I move my mom/dad in with me?
This is almost as hard as “Should I move my mom or dad closer to me?” Before any type of move is made it is important for you to look at the whole picture. Many times there are many more supports surrounding that senior that aren’t readily evident to us.

We all need as much social support as we can get. When adult children try to move their senior family member in or near their house they may not be expecting the impact of the loss of all that social support that was provided by friends, neighbors and other family that had lived nearby.

After serving seniors and families for 18 years, we find that moving Mom or Dad in with you is perhaps not the first nor the best answer for both parties. Our professionally trained therapists can help you to look at the whole picture and just what will be lost and what will be gained by any type of move that you and your family member might be contemplating.

7) Why don’t my parents understand all I’m doing for them?
Most of us, when we become older will still want to be as “independent” as we thought we have always been. Very few of us realize just how much we rely on others around us for support. Even though we know we can count on our friends to help us emotionally, we may not come to the understanding of just how hard it is to ask anyone to do anything physical for us when we have some type of a medical disability. That senior family member is no different. It is hard to accept that you need someone else’s help. This family member may have always had a hard time thanking anyone for help and that isn’t going to change just because s/he now needs more support.

This matter is complicated by whether or not the senior has dementia. With dementia, a senior is not aware of all that needs to be done and while that's probably better for the senior, it can be very difficult for us as family members. That senior may never realize just how much you and the rest of the family members have done. It doesn’t mean that you don’t need your responses acknowledged. Many times these issues can be worked out in support groups. Our support groups that might give you insight as to why it might be hard for your family member to acknowledge, let alone thank you, for all you have done and continue to do.