Geriatric care managers may provide care for seniors in retirement homes.
Geriatric care is the medical care of senior citizens. This includes health promotion, and the prevention of treatment and disease. Geriatric care managers work closely with families to provide round-the-clock care for their loved ones. Duties range from setting up and monitoring home care, reviewing legal and medical issues, and assisting clients with transitions to and from assisted-living quarters such as nursing and retirement homes. Salaries for geriatric care managers are consistent with other health care workers such as nurses and therapists.
Average Salary
Geriatric care managers are categorized as health care social workers. As such, the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the average salary for health care social workers at $49,200 as of 2010. The bureau also lists California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas as the top five states employing geriatric care managers and other health care social workers. In Pennsylvania, the average annual salary for these workers is lower than the national average at $44,600. It should be noted that the bureau's figures includes the salary of other health care workers.
Who Pays
Whether to save money or because of the inability to pay for a geriatric care manager, often family members will attempt to provide care for their senior family members who may be sick or recovering from an illness or injury. In an article for the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, certified geriatric care manager Linda Fodrini-Johnson says she can simply be paid to assist families in defining the role of a family caregiver. Geriatric care managers can be paid to decide matters such as secondary family caregivers in case the primary caregiver gets sick, setting a salary for the family caregiver and the legal responsibilities that come with the salary such as Social Security contributions and tax liabilities.
A Closer Look
In an October 2008 article for "The New York Times," geriatric care manager Patricia Mulvey explains that geriatric care managers belong to the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. She adds that they are certified by one of three organizations that include the National Association of Social Workers, National Academy of Certified Care Managers or the Commission for Case Managers. Hourly rates can range from $150 to $200 per hour. An initial half-hour assessment fee may be anywhere between $250 and $750. Geriatric care managers must be available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Training
To begin a career as a geriatric care manager, individuals must pass the Certified Geriatric Care Manager exam. Courses in geriatric care management may include the following: communication and geriatric care, legal issues in geriatric care, elderly patient care and pharmocotherapeutics for seniors. In fact, it is common for geriatric care managers to have master's degrees in addition to nursing certifications.
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