Caregiver Resources

Supporting Your Caregiving Journey

Taking care of a loved one can be very rewarding. It can also be very challenging. At Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield MyCare, you’re not alone. Everyone needs a helping hand from time to time, especially caregivers. Let us support you in making each caregiving moment meaningful and manageable.

The resources and tools you’ll find on this page are designed to help you with your day-to-day tasks as a caregiver and to take care of your loved one and yourself.

Who to Contact

We will assign you a Care Coordinator when you enroll in Anthem MyCare. Your Care Coordinator will serve a very important role in supporting you. They will be your primary contact person and the first person you should go to if you have any questions about your services.

Your Care Coordinator will:

Coordinate all your physical health and behavioral health (mental health or substance use disorder) needs.

Help facilitate any problems and answer questions that you may have about your care.

Communicate with your care providers to make sure they know what’s happening with your healthcare and coordinate your service delivery.

If you need to find out the name and contact information of your Care Coordinator, call us at 833-727-2169 (TTY 711).

You will be assigned a Waiver Service Coordinator to make sure you receive the waiver services you need.

Your Waiver Service Coordinator will:

Assess your needs, goals, and objectives at least annually.

Schedule, coordinate, and facilitate meetings with you and your care team.

Work with you and your care team to develop your person-centered service plan.

Help you identify your waiver services to meet your needs and coordinate your long-term services and supports.

Monitor the delivery of all waiver services identified in your person-centered service plan.

Community Resources – find no-cost or low-cost resources in your community.

Golden Buckeye Care Program – a no-cost program for residents 60+ and adults ages 18–59 living with disabilities. This program offers cardholder special savings such as discounts, waived fees, no-cost products or services, and more.

State of Ohio’s Caregiver Supports – Ohio’s aging network offers support and resources for Ohioans who provide care for loved ones.

Area Agencies on Aging and Disability (AAAD) – provides advocate support for seniors and helps with education, information, and referral services. Call 866-243-5678 from anywhere in the state to automatically connect to your nearest Area Agency or visit http://ohioaging.org/area-agencies/ for a list and county map of locations.

Care.com^TM – find top senior care providers near you.

Veterans Affairs Caregiver Supports Program – offers a range of services to support family caregivers, including training, education, mental health counseling, respite care, and financial assistance. Eligibility may be required.

AARP Family Caregiver Resources for Ohio – offers resource help to caregivers that allows them to navigate the challenges of caregiving, from assessing needs to managing caregiving tasks and finding support for themselves.

Daughterhood – a community of people supporting each other in the challenges, realities, and joys of caregiving through connection, support, and education.

Alzheimer’s^®Association – find in-person and virtual support group offerings throughout the state, along with other opportunities for connecting with those who have been directly impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.

Care.com – multiple caregiver support groups offering face-to-face or virtual support.

Mayo Clinic Connect – offers an online community for caregivers and patients to connect, share experiences, and support each other.

ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center – offers a variety of services related to respite care, including assisting in the development of respite programs, helping caregiver families locate respite services, and advocating for respite in policy.

Ohio Council for Cognitive Health – provides support for addressing dementia as a public health priority, offering resources, educational materials, and assistance to communities in Ohio to become more dementia-friendly.

Ohio Department of Development Disabilities – provides a statewide system of supportive services for people living with developmental disabilities — focusing on health and safety, community participation, and meaningful employment.

Ohio Disabilities Network – provides a range of services and support to help individuals living with disabilities in Ohio. This includes helping them find and retain employment, accessing disability determination services, and promoting independence.

Family Caregiver Toolbox – search by disease/condition, resource type, or caregiver role to find checklists, guides, and helpful tools for every stage of caregiving.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Resources

Below are helpful resources from the Alzheimer’s Association. These resources can help people living with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and their caregivers.

10 early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's is a brain disease. It causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills. Learn about some of the typical changes that can happen with age. Then learn what may be warning signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Why you should get checked early

Do you notice any of the 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's disease? You might see them in yourself or someone you know. Learn why it’s important to get an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Find out about benefits of early diagnosis and how they can help people with Alzheimer’s and their families.

Legal and financial planning for caregivers

It’s a good idea to put legal and financial plans in place early. This lets the person living with dementia make decisions for themselves while they are able. It also lets them work through the complex issues in long-term care. Learn about:

Common care costs
Important legal documents
Insurance

Stages of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease usually progresses slowly, though it affects each person differently. Learn about the stages of Alzheimer’s disease and how abilities can change over time.

Communication strategies

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias make it harder to communicate. This happens slowly. Learn ways that caregivers and the person living with dementia can understand each other better.

Communication strategies

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias make it harder to communicate. This happens slowly. Learn ways that caregivers and the person living with dementia can understand each other better.

Dementia-related behavior

The behavior of someone can change as Alzheimer's and other dementias progress. Learn about common behaviors you might see when caring for someone living with dementia. Then learn strategies for caregivers to best care for the person and themselves. These can help at any stage of the disease.

Caregiver stress

Stay strong physically and emotionally. It’s the best thing caregivers can do. It helps the caregiver and the person living with dementia. Learn the symptoms of caregiver stress. Then learn ways to prevent additional stress or burnout.

Legal planning (advance directives)

It’s a good idea to get legal advice early and make a plan to uphold the wishes of the person living with Alzheimer’s and dementia-related conditions. Learn about legal documents that can help them to make choices about:

Treatment
Care
End-of-life wishes

10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s

Learn the common warning signs of Alzheimer's. Then learn what symptoms to look for in yourself and others.

Effective communication strategies

Learn to understand messages in speech and behavior from someone with dementia. Then learn strategies to help caregivers connect with people with dementia and communicate. This will help at each stage of the disease.

Understanding Alzheimer’s and dementia

Learn about the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia. Learn about the stages, risk factors, and more. Closed captioning (CC) is available.

Caregiver Well-being & Emotional Health

Caring for yourself as you care for others. The importance of taking care of you.

On an airplane, an oxygen mask descends in front of you. What do you do? As we all know, the first rule is to put on your own oxygen mask before you assist anyone else. Only when we first help ourselves can we effectively help others. Caring for yourself is one of the most important —and one of the most often forgotten — things you can do as a caregiver.

When you take care of yourself, the person you care for will benefit, too. Visit caregiver.org to learn more.

7 Cups of Tea - How It Works – no-cost online listening service offering anonymous virtual chat with caring listeners. Need to talk to someone? Trained volunteer listeners are available 24/7 to give support.

The Caregiver Help Desk – offers no-cost support to family caregivers, staffed by experts, who can help support you on your caregiving journey. Have convenient, confidential conversations with caregiving experts by phone, email, or chat.

Healthy eating – a nutritional toolkit for caregivers of older adults and published by the Administration on Community Living. This toolkit provides guidance and resources for ensuring proper nutrition for older adults, as well as those caring for them. Check out The National Resource Center on Nutrition & Aging’s Spring 2020 CAREGIVER Nutrition Education Toolkit to learn more.

Mindfulness and relaxation – check out the caregiver relaxation exercises at caregiver.org.

Stress relief – effective stress relief strategies that can help you get a handle of your stress. Learn more at verywellmind.com.

Yoga and wellness for caregivers – visit the Caregiver Whole Health website at yoga4caregivers.com to learn more about their holistic approach to support caregiver mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.

Member Benefits & Resources

Emergency response services – emergency response services (ERS) help MyCare Ohio waiver members with a device that monitors member safety and communicates with a central monitoring station. The member must be able to communicate hands-free with the staff at the monitoring station. Staff at the station respond to an individual's alarm signal via the member's emergency response equipment.

Home medical equipment and supplemental adaptive and assistive devices – these devices are medical equipment, devices, supplies, and vehicle modifications for a vehicle owned by the individual, a family member, or someone who resides in the same household as the individual, that helps the individual function with greater independence, remain in their home, and reduces the need for caregiver assistance.

Home modification – these are adjustments to ensure the health, welfare, safety, and function of a home, often for the benefit of greater independence in the home.

Alternative meals service – a self-directed service which allows up to two meals per day from a non-traditional provider, such as a restaurant, but not an adult day center. For more information about self-direction see the “Self-direction” section below.

Home-delivered meals – this meal delivery service is based on a person’s care plan. The service safely prepares meals or makes sure meals are prepared to meet the person’s dietary or specialized nutritional needs. Meals can be hot or cold — freshly made or prepackaged. Therapeutic and kosher meals can be provided, if needed.

Out-of-home respite services – these services are delivered to people outside of their homes to provide a break to the caregivers who normally provide care for MyCare Ohio waiver individuals. The service must include an overnight stay and offer waiver nursing and personal care services. It must also include three meals a day which meet the member’s dietary needs.

Self-direction – is a way to receive services that are not distinct to a person-centered care plan. Self-direction gives more control and autonomy of how you receive services and who comes into your home. Self-direction comes with a budget that you can manage to pay your care providers at a rate you negotiate to best meet your needs.

With the increased flexibility comes more responsibility for the member who chooses to self-direct. This puts you in the position of being the employer of the care providers, and you must hire, fire, and train as well as manage the budget provided to you for the self-directed services. To assist you, the Medicaid program contracts with a financial management service (FMS) to provide administrative support such as conducting provider background checks, tax documents, and keeping track of provider hours worked. Your Waiver Service Coordinator and Anthem MyCare are also here to help, but as the employer, you are primarily responsible for managing the self-directed caregivers when they provide a service.

If you are interested in self-direction, inform your Waiver Service Coordinator, and they will assist you getting more information and with signing up. More information can also be found on the Self-Direction Services and Information page on the Ohio Department of Medicaid website.

Transportation

As an Anthem MyCare member, you can get rides to and from your doctor’s office, pharmacy, and other care providers of covered services.

How to schedule a ride:

Call the Anthem transportation line toll-free at 888-889-0929 (TTY 711) a minimum of two full business days prior to your scheduled routine appointment.

Reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance. Reservations for repeat appointments such as dialysis, chemotherapy, or radiation can be scheduled for a period of 90 days at a time.

For an urgent/same day appointment or facility discharge, members may call the Anthem transportation line toll-free reservation line at 888-889-0929 (TTY 711), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Anthem transportation line will try to find a ride for the member.

Sydney Health app

Visit sydneyhealth.com and enter your number to get a link to download the app.

Caregiver Support Tools & Organizers

Keep track of your loved one’s phone numbers, appointments, finances, and more with the Anthem MyCare Caregiver Organizer. This all-in-one organizer lets you easily organize all the vital information you need.

Caregiver Well-being Toolkit — Charting the Life Course for Caregivers (CtLC)

The tools in the Caregiver Well-Being Toolkit are designed to help caregivers and those providing support to a loved one to think about their own well-being, and how to best care for themselves while they are caring for others.

Legal & Financial Resources

Supported Decision Making and Guardianship – a publication that provides easy to understand information about decision-making support options for people living with disabilities, in one place.

Advanced directives for healthcare decision-making resources – documents to let your family and doctor know your healthcare decisions if you become unable to decide for yourself. You can appoint someone you know and trust as your healthcare decision maker to ensure that your choice or decision is honored.

The site includes forms, PowerPoint presentations, frequently asked questions, videos, and advanced directives forms and information about these directives.

Advance directive forms by state – advance directive is the general term that refers to the various documents that could include a living will, instruction directive, healthcare proxy, or healthcare power of attorney. States have specific forms for these documents so healthcare professionals can easily recognize the document’s purpose.

Additional resources:

The Conversation Project – public engagement initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) focused on helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care.

Pro Seniors, Inc. – provides no-cost legal and long-term help to older adults. Call 513-345-4160 or visit them online to learn more

How to find legal help:

Ohio Legal Help – leverages technology and innovation to improve justice and fairness for Ohioans. Their work removes barriers to the law so that Ohioans can understand their legal options, make informed decisions, and connect to legal help and community resources.

Rights and responsibilities:

Patient Bill of Rights and Responsibilities: U.S. Department of State

Patient Rights: What They Are and Why They’re Important

Education & Advocacy

Disability Rights Ohio – assists family caregivers who are caring for a loved one with disabilities and advocates for human, civil, and legal rights, especially if a caregiver believes the care recipient’s rights have been violated because of a disability. Call 614-466-7264 or visit them online for more information.

The Arc of Ohio – support for people developmental disabilities, their families, friends of people with disabilities, and those who work with them. The Arc of Ohio is a grassroots organization which advocates for human rights, personal dignity and community participation of individuals with developmental disabilities through legislative and social action, information and education, local chapter supports, and family involvement. Call 614-487-4720 or visit them online to learn more.

Family Caregiver Alliance – provides support, education, and resources to family caregivers of adults with physical and cognitive impairments by state.

Long-Term Care Ombudsman – assists caregivers with loved ones in assisted living facilities and/or nursing homes. Works to resolve complaints about services, help caregivers select a care provider, and offers information about benefits and consumer rights. Call 800-282-1206 for more information.

Adult Protective Services – provides information and investigates allegations of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. Call 855-644-6277 to learn more.

Have questions?

We’re here to help.

Call Anthem MyCare Member Services at 833-727-2169 (TTY 711) 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, seven days a week (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) from October 1 through March 31, and Monday to Friday (except holidays) from April 1 through September 30.

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