Caregiver Resources

Your loved one may be given extra hours of care at home or respite care at an adult day care or in a nursing home. This gives you support so you can attend to your own needs.

Your mental health needs matter, too. Your loved one’s benefit will allow you to get therapeutic support to help manage the demands of being a caregiver.

Simply will cover the cost of a one-year Amazon Prime subscription for you to get what you need delivered right to your home. You can also enjoy reading or listening to music through Prime Reading and Prime Music.

You and your loved one are given education and resources about treatments and other services in the member’s care plan, equipment use, updates needed to keep your loved one safely at home, and support to meet their needs.

When members leave the hospital, we engage members with a high risk for readmission and their families and caregivers and better meet health care needs by providing coordination and continuity of care in the transition home.

Members and their caregivers needing to travel more than 120 miles for medically necessary care get a lodging and food benefit. This Simply benefit removes some of the burden of having to travel far to support your loved ones.

PDOs let members manage their service workers 

Under PDOs, members hire, fire, and supervise workers. These workers provide them with covered services.

The workers help with medical and personal needs. PDO workers could be:

• Licensed nurses. They provide attendant nursing care. They help with medical needs that take longer.
• Licensed nurses. They provide intermittent and skilled nursing. They help with medical needs that take less time. For example, they might give injections or care for wounds. They usually help for less than two hours a day.
•  Adult companions. They do household tasks. They also go places with the member. The tasks could be:
  •  Getting meals ready 
  • Laundry 
  • Shopping 
  • Light housekeeping like vacuuming, dusting, and sweeping 
    
    The companions may drive members places. These could be:
  • Parks
  • Museums
  • Restaurants
•  Homemakers. They do household tasks and chores. Their tasks could be: 
  • Getting meals ready
  • Vacuuming
  • Laundry 
    Their chores could be: 
  •  Bathroom cleaning
  • Lawn care
  • Pest control
• Personal care workers. They help with daily personal tasks. They also help with household tasks. 
  
  Daily personal tasks could be:
  • Eating.
  • Taking baths.
  • Getting dressed.
  • Using the bathroom. 
    
    Household tasks could be: 
  • Getting meals ready.
  • Making the bed.
  • Dusting.
  • Vacuuming.

 

• PDO workers may help with activities of daily living (ADLs). These are things people do to care for themselves. These ADLs may include:
  • Bathing. Workers help the member bathe. They do this as often as their doctor suggests. They help the member get in and out of the shower.
  • Dressing. Workers help change clothing. They make sure the member is sitting or stable. They change clothing daily and as needed. 
  • Eating and drinking. Workers help arrange the place setting. They help the member eat and drink, as needed.
  • Maintaining continence (control over bladder and bowels). Workers may help with a catheter or colostomy bag. They may change a disposable incontinence product. 
  • Toileting. Workers help the member use the bathroom safely. They make sure the member is stable. They also help with buttons or zippers.
  • Transferring. Workers help the member move safely.
     

PDO workers may help with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). These are things people do to live independently. These IADLs may include:

• Grocery shopping.
• Laundry. Workers wash, dry, and put away laundry. They do this for the member’s:
  • Clothing 
  • Bedding
  • Towels
• Light housework.
• Getting meals ready. Workers ask what the member wants to eat. Then they make the meal. They will cook or heat foods, if needed.
• Medication management. Workers fill pill boxes or give medications. The members will swallow or inject the medications, as their doctor orders. 
• Money management. Workers pay bills online or write and mail checks. They do this with the member’s permission (OK).
• Personal hygiene. Workers make sure the member is clean and not soiled.
• Transportation. Workers take the member to doctors or stores.
• Essential tasks. Workers take care of tasks. They may pay bills with the member’s consent (OK). They may set up medical visits over the phone.

Resources for members, caregivers, and direct service workers using PDOs 

Self Direction Toolkit: View this toolkit to:

• Learn what PDOs are.
• Understand what the member has to do. They are an employer who manages workers.
• Review other useful topics and terms.  

Website for Public Partnerships, LLC (PPL): Learn about PPL and PDOs. PPL is our partner for PDOs.    

Online training for hiring and managing employees: Do six training courses. There is . They are at your own pace. The program is called “Recruiting, Selecting, and Retaining Direct Service Workers to Provide Self-Directed HCBS.” HCBS is short for Home and Community-Based Services. 
 

Elsevier Performance Manager: Fill out a form to register. Then Simply will let you use the online courses. There is no cost. Topics include “Home Safety,” “Healthy Meals on a Budget,” and “Individualizing Personal Care.”

If you’re a caregiver of a Simply Healthcare Plans, Inc. member, you can access articles, books, and webinars on a variety of caregiving topics. You’ll also find tips on how to manage your role as a caregiver and take care of yourself. 

Visit caregiving.com for these free resources.