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Consumer Medicare Resources

Caregivers Guide

More than 27% of the adult population cares for a chronically ill or aged family member or friend. Sometimes there are more questions than answers when seeking medical help. Questions like:

• Where do you go to find help for you or a person you are caring for?
• How do you know a good nursing home, hospital, or home health agency?
• What if you are trying to care for someone from a different part of the country?
• Delmarva can help make this all easier by providing some resources and contacts to local and national caregiver organizations.

Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)
The Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) helps Medicare members understand their health insurance benefits, bills and rights. The Maryland SHIP program provides trained staff and volunteer counselors in all 24 counties and contact information is for each county is available on the SHIP Web site.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
Over two dozen links to information related to caregivers and caregiving are offered through the AARP's Web site.

Benefits CheckUp
This free, easy-to-use service, created by the National Council on Aging, identifies federal and state assistance programs for older Americans. Caregivers can obtain facts about benefits for which their loved ones may qualify.

Eldercare Locator
This service, provided by the Administration on Aging, helps you locate the nearest area agency on aging and a wide variety of community services to support older adults. You can conduct an online search or call
1-800-677-1116.

ElderWeb.com
This award-winning site includes articles and information of interest to caregivers, along with links to Web pages chronicling the personal journeys of caregivers that want to share their experience with others with similar needs.

Family Caregiver Alliance
Addressing the needs of caregivers providing long-term care at home to individuals with cognitive disorders, this organization provides a Web-based clearinghouse of information on cognitive conditions, public policy news and updates, online discussion groups for caregivers, and other resources.

National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC)
Along with information such as hospital discharge planning and tips for caregivers, the NAC offers an online Family Care Resource Center - containing reviews of the vast number of videos, books, Web sites, magazines, and other resources available for caregivers.

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers
This site can help you locate a geriatric care manager who specializes in assisting older people and their families in making long-term care arrangements. Links to other care management resources are also available.