Guide to Creating a Senior Care Plan

Reviewed by Leslie Fuller, LMSW, CDP Leslie Fuller, a Licensed Master Social Worker and Certified Dementia Practitioner, is the owner of Inspired Senior Care.

Creating a senior care plan can help families address a senior loved one’s present needs and prepare for future care needs. The planning process can be a lot of work, but it’s worth it. A care plan can provide a sense of control and confidence for caregivers and seniors alike. It can also encourage an ongoing dialogue meant to ensure your loved one’s needs are always being met. Use this senior care planning guide to help you identify a loved one’s needs, conduct a meeting with all caregivers, and delegate caregiving tasks.

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Key Takeaways

1. A senior care plan is a tool to provide guidance and coordinate care. Care plans can incorporate help from family and professional caregivers.
2. Both seniors and their caregivers benefit from care planning. A plan helps seniors receive the care they need and helps caregivers remain organized.
3. Specific steps can ease the creation of a care plan. Start by assessing the senior’s needs, identifying their care team, and delegating care tasks.
4. Holding a meeting helps care team members understand their roles. A senior care plan meeting should invite input from the senior and their care team.

What is a senior care plan?

A senior care plan is a tool used to identify an older adult’s needs and coordinate their care. A care plan should outline the services and supports a senior needs and who is responsible for providing them. When necessary, a plan should include a senior’s health conditions and specific treatments. It’s also important to make sure a care plan includes a targeted timeframe in which to reevaluate and update the plan.

Care plans vary based on a senior’s needs. Health care professionals, senior living communities, and home care providers all engage in some type of formal care planning process. Families can also use this approach to better manage their aging loved ones’ care.

Benefits of senior care planning

A senior care plan helps to ensure a senior is receiving the care they need, but the benefits also extend to family caregivers.

Thoughtful senior care planning should:

• Help caregivers efficiently organize their duties
• Give a senior the opportunity to express their care preferences
• Provide a concrete list of tasks and activities that attend to a senior’s specific needs
• Organize a senior’s medications and provides details about when they should be taken or administered
• Facilitate communication between care team members
• Provide opportunities to discuss long-term planning which may include senior living options and estate planning

Creating a care plan for seniors

Caring for a loved one can be complicated, but creating a care plan can help you stay organized and break caregiving down into more approachable tasks. Try to make the processes of creating the care plan a team effort. For the plan to be effective, the plan needs to be realistic and address the needs of both the senior and their caregivers.

Identify your loved one’s needs

The first step in creating a well-rounded elder care plan is to evaluate your loved one’s needs. Work with your loved one to identify the areas where they’re still independent and where they may need assistance.

To determine what should be included in the care plan, assess the following elements of your senior parent’s daily life:

• Ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing, and cooking
• Home safety
• Health status and medication needs
• Social interactions such as friend gatherings or community engagements
• Physical fitness
• Intellectual stimulation

When you’re evaluating a senior’s needs, using tools like an ADL checklist can help you document the areas in which your loved one needs assistance.

Determine care and supports

The next step involves identifying the specific care and supports for your loved one based on the findings of the assessment. Establish the goals of the care plan by addressing the following questions:

• Does your loved one prefer to age in place or in a community setting?
• How could outside support help to fill caregiving gaps?
• What activities or care would your loved one like to improve or incorporate into their routine?
• What supports can family caregivers provide, and for what tasks would it be helpful to have a professional caregiver?

Make sure to prioritize your loved one’s health, safety, and quality of life by identifying the care services they need and the frequency. Knowing your loved one’s financial situation will help your family understand your options.

Consider the following examples:

• For a senior who requires regular support with activities of daily living, list the daily tasks they need assistance with and address who will provide help. Family and friends may be the sole caregivers providing this assistance. Some families opt to incorporate the help of in-home care .
• If your loved one requires daily medication, you might start organizing the care plan with daily medication reminders, then identify who will be providing the reminder.
• For a parent who lives alone, ensuring their home is safe is critical. This could be as simple as removing tripping hazards but may also require major modifications, like grab-bar installations.
• Maybe your parent who lives independently no longer drives but would like to meet with friends for a weekly card game. You might list the event on the calendar and then delegate a family member or companion caregiver to provide regular transportation.

Once your loved one’s health and well-being has been addressed, you should move on to other elements identified in the assessment.

Create a senior care plan draft

After you’ve identified the team members, create a draft version of a customized plan for your loved one. Be sure to address concerns with concrete steps. Propose the care task or service needed to address a concern or need, then identify the individual responsible for carrying out or assisting the senior with said task. A senior care plan is a planning and organizational tool for the entire care team, so it’s important that the plan provides specific information about each team member’s contribution.

Before finalizing the care plan, you’ll need to conduct a meeting with the members of the care team to delegate tasks. This will provide an opportunity for your senior loved one and team members to offer input about their role in the care plan and make adjustments as needed.