They go by many names – Geriatric Care manager , Elder Care manager, or Aging Care manager. They represent a growing trend to help full time, employed family caregivers provide care for loved ones living close by or living far away. Care managers are also particularly useful in helping caregivers at home find the right services and cope with their burden.

Services from care managers should be something of which every family takes advantage. In reality, very few families use them. Care managers go a long way toward helping families find better and more efficient ways of providing care for loved ones.

The concept is simple. The family hires a professional adviser to act as a guide through the maze of long-term care services and providers. The care manager has been there many times. The family is experiencing it usually for the first time.

Hiring a care manager should be no different than hiring an attorney to help with legal problems or a CPA to help with tax problems. Most people don't attempt to solve legal problems on their own. The use of professional tax advice can be an invaluable investment. The same is true of using a care manager.

The irony of not using a care manager is that most families, given the opportunity to use the care manager, think they can do it themselves and will not pay the money. Yet the services of a care manager will probably save them considerably more money then doing it yourself. The cost of the care manager might be only a fraction of the savings the care manager could produce. Care manager services can also greatly reduce family and caregiver stress and help eliminate family disputes and disagreements.