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Endurance Home CareCareers
CT / NY (203) 936-6847NJ (973) 315-5323
An open care journal, reading glasses and house keys on a hall table under a brass lamp.

A guide for families and the professionals who advise them

Seven professionals, one aging parent, and nobody explaining who does what.

Most families meet this system one crisis at a time and never see the shape of it. Here is each role, how it's paid, and what to ask.

Start a private referralCall (203) 936-6847

The map

Read it in the order a family meets it

This isn't a wheel with us in the middle. Three bands: who plans, where somebody might live, and the clinical settings you pass through on the way home.

Who plans and protects

Where somebody might live

Clinical settings and the way home

Endurance runs underneath all three.

Every role above owns a decision, a building or a plan. What none of them owns is the ordinary Tuesday in between: the hours in the house, the drive to the appointment, the person who is there at 7pm. That is the part we carry, in whichever of those settings somebody happens to be, and it is why we are usually the constant while the rest of the map changes around a family.

The part these guides usually leave out

Every role in this system is paid by somebody, and it isn’t always the family. A care manager and an elder law attorney work for you and bill you directly. A placement advisor is usually paid by the community you move into. A community is paid by the resident. We’re paid by the family, for hours of care, and we neither pay nor accept a referral fee in either direction.

None of that makes anyone less trustworthy. It helps to know whose interests line up most closely with yours, and each of the seven comes with one question worth asking.

The seven roles

What each one does, how each one is paid, what to ask

Endurance provides companion care and personal care alongside these roles, by the hour, overnight, live-in or around the clock. We provide personal care in Connecticut and New Jersey. In New York we provide companion care, by the hour, overnight, live-in or around the clock.

Geriatric care managers

Often called Aging Life Care Professionals. Usually a nurse, a social worker or a gerontologist. They assess the situation, write a long-term care plan, coordinate medical appointments, manage a crisis when one arrives, and represent the older adult's interests across every setting. They're the only one of the seven whose job covers the whole picture instead of one part of it.

How they’re paid

Privately, by the family, usually hourly or on a retainer. They don't take a commission from providers they recommend, and it's fair to ask directly if one does.

Ask them

Who do you work for, and does anyone pay you a referral fee?

Where Endurance fits

  • They write the plan; our care professionals carry it out day to day.
  • Our caregivers send visit notes and observations back to the care manager, on the cadence the care manager sets, with the family's consent.
  • They coordinate the clinical calendar; we handle the transport, walk the person in, take notes in the room, and report back.
  • A change that touches the care plan comes to them before it goes to the family.

The full guide to geriatric care managers

How we work with care managers

Placement advisors

Also called senior advisors or placement agents. They narrow a long list of assisted living, memory care and independent living communities to a short one, arrange tours, and match care needs and budget to a community.

How they’re paid

The community pays them when a move-in happens; the family usually doesn't. That's a normal arrangement, and it doesn't disqualify an advisor. It does mean their list is limited to the communities they hold agreements with, so ask how wide that list really is.

Ask them

Are you paid by the communities you show me, and which ones are missing from your list?

Where Endurance fits

  • When a family has chosen a community but the apartment isn't ready yet, we cover the gap at home so nobody moves before it's safe.
  • We can send a familiar caregiver into the first weeks in a new community, for unpacking, routine and company while everything is unfamiliar.
  • If a resident's needs rise after a fall or an illness, one-to-one support can provide stability while the family and community decide what comes next.

The full guide to placement advisors

Elder law attorneys

Draft powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, living wills and trusts. Advise on asset protection, Medicaid planning, veterans' benefits and long-term care insurance. They are usually the first professional a family should see and often the last one they think of.

How they’re paid

Privately, by the family, hourly or on a flat fee for a defined set of documents.

Ask them

What happens to this plan if the person loses capacity next month rather than next year?

Where Endurance fits

  • Long-term care insurance claims run on paperwork. We supply the daily care notes, the plan of care and the itemised invoices a carrier asks for.
  • Where an attorney or a court-appointed guardian has established that someone needs supervision or hands-on support to stay safe at home, we staff it.
  • Transparent, itemised billing, so an attorney or a professional trustee can account for what was spent and on what.

The full guide to elder law attorneys

Paying with long-term care insurance

Independent living communities

Maintenance-free apartments or cottages for active older adults, built around dining, social life and security. They generally don't help with the activities of daily living: no bathing support, no dressing, no medication help. That surprises families, and it's the single most common misunderstanding about senior housing.

How they’re paid

Monthly rent or a fee paid by the resident, sometimes with a buy-in.

Ask them

What exactly happens here on the day I need help getting dressed?

Where Endurance fits

  • Residents age in place inside the community. We bring private support into the apartment, from a few hours a week upward, without anybody moving.
  • Personal care, medication reminders and help at mealtimes are usually what lets somebody stay in independent living, instead of moving to a higher level of care sooner than they need to.

The full guide to independent living communities

Assisted living communities

Combine housing and meals with support for daily tasks such as dressing, bathing, mobility and medication, delivered by community staff on a schedule. They aren't built for continuous one-to-one attention, and their staffing ratios say so.

How they’re paid

A monthly fee paid by the resident, usually a base rate plus a care level that rises as needs rise.

Ask them

How many residents does one caregiver cover on the overnight shift?

Where Endurance fits

  • One-to-one support inside the suite, alongside community staff, when somebody needs continuous attention that a scheduled model isn't designed to give.
  • Common reasons: a high fall risk, the weeks after a hospital stay, or a period when a family just wants somebody in the room.
  • Our caregivers report what they see to the community's wellness team and to the family. They observe and describe. They don't assess, diagnose, or name a condition.

The full guide to assisted living communities

One-to-one support inside a facility

Memory care communities

Secure residential environments for people living with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, with trained staff, a structured routine and a layout designed to reduce agitation and make wandering harder.

How they’re paid

A monthly fee paid by the resident, usually higher than standard assisted living.

Ask them

What does your evening routine look like, and who is here at 7pm?

Where Endurance fits

  • One-to-one engagement inside the community: redirection, company, and a familiar face for someone who is anxious or resisting care.
  • During the first weeks after a move, a caregiver the person already knows can provide continuity at the difficult hours of the day.

The full guide to memory care communities

Memory support at home

Skilled nursing and rehab

Provide 24-hour nursing alongside physical, occupational and speech therapy after a major surgery, a stroke, a fracture or an acute hospital stay. Most stays are short and end with a discharge home.

How they’re paid

Often through Medicare for a qualifying short rehabilitation stay, then privately or through Medicaid for a longer one. The rules are specific and worth asking about early.

Ask them

What has to be true at home before this discharge is safe?

Where Endurance fits

  • We work with discharge planners and social workers to build the home plan well before the discharge date, never on the morning of it.
  • The move from 24-hour supervision to an empty house is the riskiest window in the whole sequence. We cover it: mobility support, meals, the prescription pickup, the follow-up appointment, and somebody in the house.

The full guide to skilled nursing and rehab

Hospital to home

Trusted partners

The people we refer families to

Independent care managers, placement advisors and physicians who make house calls. Each has a profile, and none is employed by Endurance.

Geriatric care managers

Senior placement advisors

Physicians who make house calls

The full partner network, with a card for each

Questions

What families and professionals ask about this

Who should a family call first?

If the situation is complicated, call a geriatric care manager first: they're the only role whose job covers the whole picture instead of one part of it. If the legal documents aren't in place, call an elder law attorney, because that gets harder the longer it waits and becomes impossible once capacity is lost. The rest of these seven roles are easier to choose once one of those two has looked at your situation.

Do placement advisors charge families?

Usually not. They're typically paid by the community when a move-in happens. That's a normal arrangement. It doesn't mean you should avoid one, but it does mean you're shown the list they hold agreements with. Ask how wide it is, and which communities are missing from it.

What is the difference between independent living and assisted living?

Independent living is housing and lifestyle: maintenance-free apartments, dining and social life, with generally no help for bathing, dressing or medication. Assisted living adds scheduled support for those daily tasks. The most common surprise families hit is discovering that independent living doesn't include care.

Can Endurance provide care inside a facility?

Yes. Endurance can provide one-to-one support inside an independent living apartment, an assisted living suite or a memory care community, alongside the staff already there. In New York, that support is companion care.

Does Endurance pay or receive referral fees?

No. There's no fee and no commission in either direction, so there's nothing your client would need explained.

Is Endurance a medical provider?

No. Endurance Home Care helps with daily life at home and works alongside the clinical providers already involved. In Connecticut, our separate company, Endurance Home Health, provides skilled nursing, home health aides and physical therapy.

If you’re one of these seven

We work alongside all of them across Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. The commitment is the same in every direction: your client hears advice from you, never from us. Scope, coverage and the handoff are set out on our referral page, and care managers have a page of their own.

Call (203) 936-6847 for Connecticut or New York, or (973) 315-5323 for New Jersey, and say which of the seven you are.