Whether you’re an older adult or a concerned family caregiver, the decisions you need to make surrounding aging safely, comfortably and healthily can be overwhelming. What are the best housing options available? How can you create a health care proxy? Can you use life insurance to pay for long-term care?<\/p>
An aging life care manager — sometimes referred to as a geriatric care manager — can be a great go-to resource to help answer these questions and generally improve the life of both you and your loved ones.<\/p>
An aging life care manager is a trained professional who specializes in the field of geriatrics, or older adults and aging. According to the National Institute on Aging<\/a>, they are often a licensed social worker or nurse who can act as a kind of “professional relative” to help you and your family identify needs and solutions to make life easier. Their professional organization is known as the Aging Life Care Association<\/a> (ALCA), a non-profit group that focuses on providing help for older adults or others facing long-term health problems.<\/p> “Aging life care managers, also known as geriatric care managers, are professionals who help families and their older loved ones navigate health care decisions, such as deciding whether to age in place<\/a> or relocate to a residential facility; coordinating medical care; and being the ‘eyes and ears’ for a families at a distance,” explains Nancy Avitabile, the president of ACLA.<\/p> Aging life care managers may have a background in one or more of a range of areas, including social work, psychology, nursing or gerontology. Although aging life care managers aren’t required to be licensed, it’s a good idea to look for someone with certification from either the National Association of Social Workers, the National Academy of Certified Care Managers or the Commission for Case Managers.<\/p> According to the ALCA, aging life care management provides a holistic, client-centered approach to caring for older adults or others facing ongoing health challenges. They have several duties, but one of their primary responsibilities is advocacy for older adults.<\/p> The National Institute on Aging lists some of the many tasks that an aging life care manager might assist with:<\/p> If you’re a caregiver for someone with a physical or developmental disability, cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s or a brain injury, mental health problems or another serious or chronic illness, it could be worth contacting an aging life care manager. They can be especially helpful if you are a long-distance caregiver. <\/p> An aging life care manager who lives in the same area as your loved one can help you coordinate care, give you regular updates on their condition and even attend doctor’s appointments with them.<\/p> Aging life care managers are available to hire for a single consultation or for as much help as desired, usually at an hourly rate. Unfortunately, Medicare and Medicaid do not cover geriatric care management services, and most private health insurances don’t either. Some long-term care insurance policies may cover a portion of the cost; check with your insurance provider.<\/p> The cost of geriatric care managers varies widely. Hourly rates could range anywhere from $100-$145, according to the American Caregiver Association<\/a>. <\/p> To find aging life care management options near you, search via the ACLA website<\/a> or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Eldercare Locator<\/a>, or connect with local support groups<\/a> to get recommendations for providers in your area.<\/p> When you connect with an aging life care manager, consider asking:<\/p> Whether you\u2019re an older adult or a concerned family caregiver, the decisions you need to make surrounding aging safely, comfortably and healthily can be overwhelming. What are the\u00a0best housing options\u00a0available? How can you create a\u00a0health care proxy? Can you use life insurance to\u00a0pay for long-term care? An aging life care manager \u2014 sometimes referred to as Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":975,"featured_media":30294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"enable_toc":true,"care_reviewed_by":0,"care_post_updated_flag":false,"care_updated_date":"2026-01-14T11:57:41.032Z","last_update":"2026-01-14","view_count":9012,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1071,1118],"member-type":[3],"vertical":[8,33,32],"platform":[2],"class_list":["post-5086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family-caregiving","tag-hiring-interviewing","member-type-seeker","vertical-seniors","vertical-senior-care-advice-tips","vertical-senior-care-options","platform-resources"],"acf":[],"created":"2018-12-10","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225115,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions\/225115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"member-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member-type?post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/platform?post=5086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What does an aging life care manager do?<\/h2>
How much will it cost?<\/h2>
Where can you find an aging life care manager?<\/h2>