Long-Term Care Planning Goes Digital With Gilbert Guide Online

San Francisco, CA - Gilbert Guide, a provider of comprehensive regional senior care reference books and online resources, recently announced the launch of Gilbert Guide Online, a new Web-based subscription service. According to Gilbert Guide, the comprehensive and highly personalized search portal is the first resource of its kind within the long-term care planning arena. With the introduction of Gilbert Guide Online, family and professional caregivers now have convenient, real-time access to the entire spectrum of Gilbert Guide's trusted, expert-reviewed information on the best long-term care facilities and services in regional areas throughout the U.S.

"The process of locating quality long-term care solutions is often a race against the clock," said Karen Grimisch, founder and Executive Director of Alzheimer's Services of the East Bay. "This is especially true for families that are geographically scattered, with adult children living hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from their parents and elders. Gilbert Guide Online is an indispensable resource for local and long-distance caregivers alike."

Recognizing that a growing number of consumers rely on the Internet for instant access to reliable health information, Gilbert Guide Online meets the unique technology needs of family caregivers faced with the challenge of making life-altering decisions on behalf of their senior loved ones. Gilbert Guide Online offers a flexible and time-saving resource for subscribers who now have the option of being able to conveniently conduct their long-term care search from home, work, or in tandem with the printed guide. Key features and benefits of the online subscription service include:

• Enhanced Searchable Database—Allows subscribers to customize their search based on a host of specific long-term care criteria, including geography, cost/reimbursement, specialized scope of care (Alzheimer's/dementia), type of facility (skilled nursing home, assisted living, et al.), languages spoken, dietary needs, and pet accommodations.
• Interactive Digital Map—This navigation tool enables subscribers to identify facilities based upon preferred geographic locations that are close to home, friends and familiar surroundings.
• Facility Updates and Images—Provides subscribers with the most up-to-date information on Gilbert Guide-reviewed facilities, including significant service upgrades and pricing changes. Another feature will allow facilities to upload photos to Gilbert Guide Online, which will be available exclusively to online subscribers.
• Favorites Page—Subscribers can easily bookmark selected facilities to create updated customized lists that they can return to later.

Gilbert Guide Online is the latest offering within the company's evolving suite of Web-based services designed to support consumers through the emotional process of finding the best long-term care solutions for their needs. The free interactive care assessment tool featured on Gilbert Guide.com eliminates the guesswork for consumers seeking a short-list of the best available long-term care solutions. This tool guides users through a series of targeted questions about their senior loved ones. Based on their responses, users receive a tailored care-planning report with key recommendations. Armed with this personalized report, users can fully maximize the extensive search capabilities of Gilbert Guide Online.

Harnessing the power of emerging Web 2.0 technologies, Gilbert Guide.com also promotes dialogue around relevant senior issues and trends through its blog. Seniors, caregivers and members of the Gilbert Guide team collaborate to explore topics such as long-term care strategies and geriatric mental health, as well as more controversial subjects like senior driving and sexuality. Future Web 2.0 enhancements to the site will also include a user-generated feedback forum that will allow consumers to connect and share their thoughts about the best resources for long-term care facilities and services.

"With the launch of Gilbert Guide Online, we are extending a lifeline to families near and far who are dealing with the stress of finding outside care assistance for their aging parents and loved ones," commented Jill Gilbert, CEO of Gilbert Guide. "Equally important is empowering geriatric care professionals with time-saving resources that allow them to better serve families in crisis. As we continue to grow, we remain highly focused on integrating new technologies that optimize the process of finding long-term care on behalf of our extended community of seniors, family caregivers, and geriatric care professionals."

Print editions of Gilbert Guide are available for New York City: the 5 Boroughs, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and Northern California-East Bay. The guides may be purchased online at www.gilbertguide.com, and in local bookstores.

SOURCE: Gilbert Guide, Inc.