The Dementia and Life Care Planning Center
Assisting with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diagnoses
What is a Life Care Plan?
A Life Care Plan is a holistic, elder-centered approach to the practice of law that helps families respond to every challenge caused by chronic illness or disability of an elderly loved one. The goal is to promote and maintain the good health, safety, well-being, and quality of life of elders and their families. Our inter-disciplinary team works to identify present and potential future care needs, locate appropriate care, and ensure high-quality care.
Planning Goals:
Appropriate Care: We provide care assessments and referrals, assistance locating and coordinating in-home help and services, crisis intervention, family education and decision making support, and advocacy services. Asset Protection Solutions: A Life Care Plan helps you resolve the legal and financial problems associated with the high cost of long-term care. It includes elder law services such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advanced directives, Medicaid qualification, VA benefit qualification, asset protection. Peace of Mind: Our goal is to provide you peace of mind as the trusted guide for you and your family. You will know that your loved one is well cared for and safe with our staff.
Care Planning
A Crisis Care Plan is a Life Care Plan specifically created to address crisis situations. This type of plan is appropriate for situations in which a person can no longer live safely at home without assistance or where the person has already or will soon transition to some type of assisted living or nursing home. Crisis Care Planning is for families feeling overwhelmed by the decisions being made, whether it be financial, healthcare or estate planning.
Taking the guesswork out of the caring
- Comprehensive Individual Assessment
- Home Safety Assessment
- Create and help implement a Life Care Plan
- Advocacy
- Discharge Planning
- Home repair/Home modifications
- Medical appointment assistance
- Medical equipment assistance
- Medicare/Medicaid
- Money management/financial planning assistance
- Moving Services
Why Shields & Boris?
- Our attorneys have experience helping clients with a dementia diagnosis or chronic illness, and the firm has the particular knowledge needed to address issues and concerns in this area. In 2019, our firm became a founding member of the National Alliance of Attorneys for Alzheimer’s Planning, (N3AP), a national association for member attorneys who focus on Alzheimer’s Planning. We can help you:
- Plan ahead for long-term care expenses
- Estimate the cost of care and provide asset protection from the cost of nursing home or in-home care
- Prepare legal documents
- Explore available resources in your community
- Provide care planning to help caregivers manage the disease stages
- Provide disease education on:
- Stages of the disease
- Communication needs
- Behavior interventions
- Avoiding caregiver stress
The Dementia and Life Care Planning Center Virtual Support Group
We also provide a private caregiver and family support group on Facebook to help when a loved one has dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other debilitating diagnosis.
We know that support is limited and it’s hard to find a group at the right location at the right time, so we wanted to create a place where you can come and ask questions to the group and we do our best to get you answers or connect you with someone who can help. We also post helpful resources and information that you can browse.
If you would like to reach us directly/privately, you can email us at: lifecare@sblegacy.com
The Team
Stephanie Boris, Attorney
Stephanie is an attorney at the Elder Law Offices of Shields & Boris. She graduated from the Duquesne University School of Law in 2000. In 2019, Stephanie became a founding member of the National Alliance of Attorneys for Alzheimer’s Planning, (N3AP), a national association for member attorneys who focus on Alzheimer’s Planning. Additionally, she became a Certified Dementia Practitioner and Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer through the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners during her attendance at the 2nd annual N3AP conference. She would be happy to help you navigate through the maze of concerns in this area.
Sommer Temple,
Specialized Care Planner
Sommer joined the firm in 2021 with over 20 years of experience serving the aging community. Sommer has her Doctorate in Physical Therapy and is a Certified Dementia Practitioner. Sommer works closely with clients with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diagnosis to provide education and service coordination to meet their physical, social, and financial needs.
Mindy Webb,
Medicaid Coordinator
Mindy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with over 15 years of experience as a social worker in the community and nursing home setting, providing services to meet the needs of a diverse community. As the Medicaid Coordinator, Mindy will work closely with families to navigate the Medicaid process from the beginning through the end and a million questions in between.