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My family lives in Gratiot County, Michigan. My dad with Parkinson’s and dementia, my Mom his primary caregiver, my wife his secondary caregiver, and me the adult son.
As we sort through our own options for our father who’s 70+ with Parkinson’s, dementia, and several other diseases, we’ll look into potential local respite care providers and services.
Looking for non-family care, you bet I feel a ton of guilt. We love my dad, and we’re looking for caregiving services and facilities near Gratiot County.
We’re trying really hard. This is 20 years into Parkinson’s, and about 5 with problematic dementia related issues.
We haven’t given up caring for my dad. We just need help. We need respite care.
I’m hopeful that reducing the time my mom, wife, and I dedicate to caregiving for my dad will increase the quality of time we spend with my dad.
Providing quality care for my father has always been non-negotiable. We’re still closely managing my dad’s care, and moving forward direct care by a non-family member will become more prevalent.
Thanks for sticking with me, as I struggle to rationalize my actions whilst grieving. Choosing the best respite care for a family member is not the easiest decision a Michigander had to make.
How’s this sound? I’m going to show you any (legitimate?) business or organization within Gratiot County. No problems there.
How about any outside Gratiot County within a 30 minute drive? That sounds reasonable for the fruit smoothie, massage, and matcha facial mask that awaits while dad is in the capable hands of a professional. In this case Mt. Pleasant is in, but Midland, Saginaw, Flint, and Lansing areas are out.
Whether it’s in-home respite care where the non-family caregiver comes to your home, or it’s out-home respite care where you transport the care-recipient to a care facility or location.
Not unique to the elder care industry, when you search Google for elder care services, you’re going to be served paid advertisements at the top. Furthermore, the elder care services ranking at the top of the Google search are typically nationwide organizations who have a really good marketing team in Silicon Valley.
Large established businesses and organizations with big advertising budgets get customers, even though they don’t necessarily offer the best service in Gratiot County.
Local respite care services fall to the wayside of national services that are focused in Michigan’s urban areas. I have a hunch these types of respite care services have great internet advertisements and webpages, but not necessarily the best respite care.
I grew up in small town Michigan, and I’m certain several capable and affordable respite care services don’t advertise on the internet. They might have nothing more than a pin on a Google Map!
I wrote about dark patterns in my Caregiver Quizzes review. Some of these advertisers don’t have your best interest in mind.
They get you to fill out a form with all your personal information, put you in a database, and keep advertising to you because they’ve got the budget and marketing smarts to do so. Again, not necessarily because they offer satisfactory care in your area.
Today, I’m doing what I can to find respite care for my own family, and for my neighbors in and around the area. (Nice to meet you, I like your smile.)
I’ll start today by listing short term elderly care services near Gratiot County that I believe are worth further consideration. I’m excluding healthcare services and centers that meet my requirements for local respite care.
I'm including respite care services and adult day care services because my dad is not ready in a home 24/7 because he has family.
Later, I’ll call each one to speak with a representative and learn details.
Basically, I’m still at the first step. Whilst grieving. Some days rewarding with my dad, some days soul crushing. I haven’t gotten in contact with each one just yet, so these are NOT necessarily recommendations. But for a list of Gratiot County respite care options, it’s a damn good start.
602 W Washington Ave, Suite B
St. Louis, MI 48880
(989) 681-6674
www.primaryhomecare.com
Minimum 4 hours minimum per shift
$32.00+ per hour and increase based on level of care
2826 N State Road
Ithaca, MI 48847
(989) 875-7405
www.dailylivinghomecare.com
Minimum 4 hours minimum per shift
$25.00+ per hour and increase based on level of care
2625 Denison Drive
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
(888) 242-4759
www.glhcu.com
Minimum 4 hours minimum per shift
$30.00 to $35.00 per hour based on level of care
You can call them to invite a professional caregiver into your home out of pocket if you’re above the Medicaid line. As of our experience in September 2022, they were very short of staff but in December 2022 staffing is improving a little bit.
Links
I’m proud to announce we have successfully arranged a Gratiot County Commission on Aging Caregiver to for in-home care on an ongoing weekly basis.
My family is really satisfied with this situation, and grateful for the caregiver who works our case.
You can find more about the Ithaca, MI location, on the gratiotmi.com website.
Or, here’s their contact information: Gratiot County Commission on Aging (Ithaca, MI) 989-875-5246
So that’s Gratiot County’s Area Agency on Aging, as part of the Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, which makes me confused since I’m new to this and just looking for respite care.
One more related place you can call or email for information on local elder care services: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Aging & Adult Services Agency (AASA) (517-241-4100 AASAInfo@michigan.gov
Last time I drove on a roundabout, I figured how to navigate my way in one go. But going around these AAHASAA acronyms is now driving me round in circles.
Official information about PACE Central Michigan, which is located in Isabella County and serves Gratiot County, is housed on the MichiganMasons.org website. r you can call at (989) 953-5814.
To over-summarize, the PACE Program is available to people who have Medicaid, Medicare, or Both - and likely carries significant out-of-pocket cost for people who are above the Medicaid line. A middle class rural Michigan family might be looking at $1,000 to $7,000 per month.
They take over all aspects of care because they have all kinds of doctors and nurses on staff. It sounds great, but remember it also limits your control over how, where, when, what, by who care is administered to your family member.
If you’re now actively managing your family member’s care, PACE takes away much of your control. Especially if you have a good doctor you like, you might not be able to see that doctor if you join PACE.
Here's contact information: Gratiot County Free Clinic - Alma, MI - 989-388-3004
I’d like to give them a call about the possibility of caregiving support, since they are “organizations that provide medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and/or mental health services at little or no cost to uninsured and underinsured people through the use of volunteer health professionals, community volunteers, and partnerships with other health providers.” (direct quote from their website)
Here's their contact information: Eightcap Inc - Alma, MI - 616-754-9315
And a quote from their website: " Eightcap Inc advocates for the poor, including the individual and the collective; as teachers to a community that must concern itself with the scope, causes, and problems of poverty; and people of empowerment that lead, guide, and support the poor in their struggle to be fully self-sufficient. (direct quote from 8cap.org). They might have know-how about elder care in Gratiot Country.
