Almost everyone will eventually need some form of home care at some point in their lives, especially veterans. Our heroes don’t just deserve the care and assistance they need as they get older; they’re entitled to veteran caregiver support by law.
The VA offers resources and programs veterans get the care they need. It supports family caregivers, offers funding to help pay for care and even connects veterans with home care agencies who can help with their everyday needs.
Here’s how to help your loved one make use of their veteran home care benefits and access the care they deserve.
Help Them Past the Trust Gap
While there are many good programs to benefit veterans offered through the VA and other departments, relatively few veterans use them. Unfortunately, veterans are common targets of scammers; they often get so used to phony offers of assistance that a real one can seem too good to be true.
Learning about a program in person from someone they trust can help them overcome their hesitance and actually accept help.
Get Support for Caregivers of Veterans
Most veteran caregiver resources help veterans by supporting their family caregivers. The VA offers a wealth of resources for the families of veterans, no matter how you plan to care for them. They offer tools, tips and classes for family caregivers that teach you how to care for yourself, prepare for emergencies and reach out for respite care as needed.
In addition, their caregiver support program offers direct support for family caregivers taking care of veterans, like mentoring, skills training, educational resources and connection to support groups for fellow caregivers.
Find Veteran Caregiver Support Near You
Veterans’ programs vary somewhat from area to area, but there are a few excellent nationwide programs that you can use to make home care more accessible.
The Veterans’ Aid and Attendance Program
One of the best programs to help veterans get the care they need is the Veterans’ Aid and Attendance program, which increases the monthly pension payments of veterans who need help with everyday living. Veterans can qualify for Aid and Attendance if at least one of these is true:
- They need someone else to help them with daily activities like eating, bathing or dressing.
- They have to spend a large portion of their time in bed due to illness or disability.
- They’re in a nursing home due to physical or mental disabilities.
- They have significantly limited eyesight.
This program can make it a lot easier to access in-home care for vets. It can help family caregivers by allowing them to take time off work and offer care, or it can help families pay for a professional caregiver.
The Homemaker and Home Health Aide (HHA) Program
The Homemaker and Home Health Aide (HHA) program provides home care assistance for veterans, either by matching them with a local caregiver or funding care through your preferred agency.
The HHA program is quick, generous and efficient. It covers most (if not all) veteran senior care at home, almost never rejects qualified applicants and has as little as two weeks’ turnaround between when you apply and when they first send a caregiver.
The program doesn’t just assign your loved one a random caregiver. Their social workers will consider your loved one’s needs and carefully pick a home care agency that’s a good fit. Alternatively, you can request a specific agency you’d like to work with that’s contracted with the VA.
Here’s how to use it:
- Enroll in the VA Health Care System by finding your local VA. Make sure to bring your loved one’s DD214 military discharge papers. If you don’t know where they are, you can request new service records from the VA.
- Once your loved one is in the VA Health Care System, make an appointment with their VA doctor.
- Ask for a home health aide referral to help with your loved one’s Activities of Daily Living. Make sure to ask for this specifically, by name—providers may not bring it up on their own.
- Ask to use a preferred provider, if you have one. You’ll need their NPI number, which you can get by calling your home care agency’s local office.
Honored to Care for Veterans
FirstLight Home Care is proud to offer specialty veteran home care services to help our heroes thrive as they age. Our caregivers are deeply familiar with the particular care needs of veterans—in fact, some of our local owners and their staff are veterans themselves.
If you’re having trouble making use of your loved one’s VA benefits, your local FirstLight location can offer guidance to help you navigate the system. Just contact us—we’d be happy to connect your loved one with the care they deserve.