September is World Alzheimer’s Month and for veterans who may be diagnosed with this form of dementia, home care can be a vital component to safety, comfort, and quality of life. Some veterans have a difficult time looking into home care options because they don’t know where to turn.
Some may not have the money to pay for home care services.
If a veteran is financially limited, if they only have a pension or Social Security payment that barely covers their monthly expenses, they are never going to look into home care as an option. That is, unless they could get financial support through the VA.
There is support available through a pension called the Aid and Attendance Benefit.
This pension provides financial assistance to qualifying veterans and their dependents or a surviving widow to pay for home care services. In order to qualify, the veteran needs to be considered a ‘wartime veteran,’ meaning at least one day of their active duty service needs to have overlapped a time of official combat. Generally speaking this would include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War.
A common misunderstanding about this is that veterans do not need to have fought or even been anywhere near a combat environment. For example, a veteran who served during the Gulf War could have been stationed in Hawaii and been no closer to the Middle East than that and still qualify for this pension based on that stipulation.
The veteran needs to have served at least 90 days active duty (two years if they served any time during the Gulf War) and be able to prove home care is necessary.
An aging veteran who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will likely easily be able to prove home care is necessary. They might be relying on family and friends at the moment, but as the disease progresses it’s going to place enormous pressure on their support system.
Also, most family caregivers in the United States have no direct prior experience working with somebody diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Safety could be compromised as a result. Being proactive and planning ahead is one of the best ways to promote a higher quality of life for a person diagnosed with this form of dementia.
A senior or his or her family should look into home care services and, if their financial circumstances mean they won’t be able to afford it, if their income and assets are below $119,000 combined, they might want to consider applying for the Aid and Attendance Benefit.
Our VetAssist® Program can help you apply for the VA’s Aid and Attendance benefit and access the home care you need. For more information and to learn about The VetAssist Program, contact Veteran’s Home Care at (888) 314-6075.
