Colorado Springs Senior AdvisorWhat usually starts a senior care search in Colorado Springs?
A discharge from UCHealth Memorial, Penrose or St. Francis, a fall on winter ice, a dementia diagnosis, a family caregiver at the end of their rope, savings running low, or a military reassignment that leaves a parent without family nearby.
Each guide below begins at that moment and lists the steps in order, with the Colorado rules and Pikes Peak phone numbers that apply.
Who can help us work out the next step for free?
The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging ((719) 471-2096) gives free information and referral for El Paso, Park and Teller counties, The Resource Exchange (719-380-1100) handles waiver assessments, and a senior advisor can walk through licensed options; none of them charges families.
If anyone is in danger, call 911. Suspected abuse or neglect of an adult at home in El Paso County goes to Adult Protective Services at (719) 444-5755.
What if our situation is not here?
Start with what help is needed and when: list the daily tasks your parent can no longer do safely, note whether help is needed at night, and estimate what the budget can sustain for two or three years.
Those three answers usually narrow the choice to one or two Colorado license types, and the directory then shows which licensed providers are near you.
Situations: every guide
When a parent is being discharged from a Colorado Springs hospital
What Colorado Springs families should do when a parent is discharged from UCHealth Memorial, Penrose or another hospital: rehab or home, Medicare's three-day rule, observation status and choosing a nursing home or ALR.
Open the guide →When living alone has stopped being safe
Signs an older adult in Colorado Springs, Monument or Woodland Park can no longer live alone safely, and the options from home care and PACE to assisted living, with local resources.
Open the guide →After a dementia diagnosis
Next steps after an Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis for Colorado Springs families: legal documents, driving, safety at home, support, and when a Part 25 secure environment becomes necessary.
Open the guide →When the family caregiver is running out of strength
Help for exhausted family caregivers in Colorado Springs and Teller County: respite stays, adult day care, in-home help, PPAAA caregiver support, the EBD waiver and knowing when to consider assisted living.
Open the guide →When savings for care are running low
What Colorado Springs families should do when savings for assisted living or nursing home care run low: ACFs and the EBD waiver, Health First Colorado for nursing homes, Old Age Pension and VA pension.
Open the guide →Caring for a parent in Colorado Springs from far away
How adult children who live far away can manage a parent's care in Colorado Springs: local contacts, legal authority, visits, checking facilities' CDPHE and CMS records, and using a local advisor.
Open the guide →After a parent falls
What Colorado Springs families should do after an older parent falls: medical evaluation, home safety, winter ice, home health therapy, medical alert devices and when assisted living makes sense.
Open the guide →Moving a parent to Colorado Springs
What to know before moving an older parent to Colorado Springs: 6,000-foot altitude and health, transferring Medicaid to Health First Colorado, Medicare plans, choosing assisted living from afar and timing a move.
Open the guide →