FAQ

Our services are provided for free to all patients and their loved ones.

As senior care advisors, we act as advocates, planners, and guides. We work with our clients to educate them about the world of senior care, help them evaluate their options, and offer customized recommendations based on our years of experience and the research we have done. We help our clients make the very best decisions they can so that they can have peace of mind about them. You will find a more complete list of our services here.

Absolutely! Care communities are only one option in a sea of senior care choices. While we might have certain recommendations based on your loved one’s needs, we can research a variety of care solutions. Because we don’t always receive referral fees from communities, we are able to formulate plans that meet the specific needs and desires of our clients, not our own. We can make recommendations ranging from highly qualified and trained caretakers, the best physical therapists, in-home care services, and retirement communities, all the way to skilled nursing when necessary. (Placement and Referral agencies can’t work with skilled nursing facilities due to Medicare regulations. We can.) We also provide medical and non-medical transportation.

Yes! We have helped many clients outside the Bay Area, and we can travel to tour communities, interview service providers, and facilitate family meetings. We can also conduct research on your behalf from a distance. We’d love to talk with you more about your specific situation to see how we can help.

We can be your eyes and ears when you can’t be there. We have clients who live on the East Coast, and we provide them with regular updates regarding their parents’ well-being and changing needs. We can attend doctor appointments with your parents, schedule transportation/medical transportation, interview service providers, and do other research on your behalf. Or, we can set up meetings for you so you can maximize your time when you come to visit. It’s up to you and your loved ones. We also have parents who live far from us, so we always keep in mind what we’d want to know if we were in our client’s shoes.

Care management is for clients who want a long-term, ongoing version of care consulting. As an objective third party, families appreciate our ability to provide services, such as the following: accurately assessing the situation; educating the family and helping all family members get on the same page; creating and updating a plan of care; visiting the client on a regular basis; accompanying the client to doctor visits; vetting and hiring service providers; and researching care alternatives for the future. Please refer to our complete list of services.

In large part, it was our experience with certain placement agencies that led us to start this company. We agreed from the start that providing unbiased recommendations was of paramount importance to our clients and to us. Placement agencies receive referral fees from communities once their clients move there. That means that the agencies will only send you to the facilities with which they have contracts, which means that their recommendations are inherently biased. You can trust that when we give you a recommendation, it represents what is best for you – not for us.

Since we do not depend on facilities to pay us, we can help our clients no matter what their situation and preferences dictate. What would a placement agency do if you wanted to stay home? What if you need skilled nursing recommendations? (Medicare prohibits referral fee payments for placement in skilled nursing facilities.) We aren’t limited in the way those placement agencies are, so we can help you no matter what your need may be.

At Lighthouse Placement & Caregivers, we take pride in providing excellent customer service to our clients. Whether we give just a little bit of guidance or walk you through the entire process of finding the right care for your loved one, we will be objective advocates for you and your family.