Resource Tools, Guides, & How-tos

A Family Caregiver Decision Guide: This downloadable or online guide leads you through essential steps to help families make decisions about a family member’s care.

Community Living Connections (website): Washington residents can learn about and access the full range of private and public long-term service and support options. Whether you are looking for help for yourself or help for a loved one, it will be easy to locate services that best fit your needs through the Community Living Connections resource website, “Get Care“.

Family Caregiver Handbook (online pdf) order a free, printed copy This downloadable handbook is specific, detailed, and practical, written for WA State residents by the Aging and Long Term Support Administration at Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Topics include, but aren’t limited to:

• Providing Day to Day Care (how to do caregiving tasks safely for you and your loved one)
• Safety in the Home
• Dealing with Challenging Behaviors
• Emotional Challenges of Caregiving
• Where to Turn When You Need Help
• Paying for Services or a Care Facility

Finding Respite in Washington State (online document)

Hiring an in-home care provider (online documents):

• Potential questions to ask a Respite Provider Agency
• “The ABCs of Respite for Family Caregivers” – The ARCH National Respite Network & Resource Center provides this checklist and narrative to use in locating, interviewing, and hiring a personal care provider to meet family needs.  It may also be of use in maintaining quality care once you have located a provider.

Dementia Road Map-A Guide for Families and Care Partners is produced by Dementia Action Collaborative, WA.

Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit: to help individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia think about the kinds of financial and health care decisions that need to be made. Includes some do-it-yourself legal forms to get started. Produced by Dementia Action Collaborative, WA.

Get it online at WashingtonLawHelp.org: Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit. Free paper copies: Order Form for Paper Version of Dementia Legal Planning Toolkit

“Let’s Talk Dementia“: Six brief videos featuring Washingtonians with dementia and their care partners, talking about the value of early diagnosis and what they suggest for living well with dementia. Courtesy of Dementia Action Collaborative.

How-to Caregiving Videos: Learning Videos for Adult Care at Home

Medicaid or Medicare, Which Covers Long-Term Care? (document): A short and specific comparison for individuals and family caregivers on which services are covered by each program. Courtesy of Pierce County Washington’s Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), part of the Aging and Disability Resource Centers network across WA State. Find your area’s ADRC at Community Living Connections.

Pathways to Respite Toolkit (online document and tool): This online tool offers definitions, information, resources, and check-lists for care givers in WA. The Pathways to Respite Toolkit is a good place to start conversations among families, for care givers, and to support one another. 

Updated Video: Using Respite During Covid