Before you hire someone to care for your family, try do as much research as you can. The folks at Home Helpers find that the most common question is about cost. After doing some research of our own, we found an annual survey that can help answer a lot of questions before making a phone call:

Nearly two-thirds of people over the age of 65 will need long-term care at home, through adult day health care, care in an assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility. And while most people think of long-term care as impacting only those in senior years, 40 percent of people currently receiving long-term care services are ages 18 to 64.

The Genworth 2011 Cost of Care Survey can help families evaluate options to address the increasing cost of long-term care. For the eighth year, Genworth has surveyed the cost of long-term care across the U.S. to help Americans appropriately plan for the potential cost of this type of care in their preferred location and setting. The most comprehensive study of its kind, Genworth's 2011 Cost of Care Survey covers nearly 15,500 long-term care providers in 437 regions nationwide.

For more information about Genworth or a region, go to www.genworth.com/costofcare. For more information about home care, go to www.CoeurdAleneHomeCare.com or call (208) 769-9560. Let our family help your family.

Connie Clark is a Certified Senior Advisor at Home Helpers/Direct Link. She can be reached at (208) 769-9560 - North Idaho, (509) 999-8440 - Spokane.