ComForCare Brings Federally Funded Dementia Respite Care to Families Through GUIDE Program

As Dementia Awareness Month draws attention to the urgent need for support, ComForCare underscores its role as an early adopter of delivering newly available Medicare-funded services

TROY, Mich., Sept. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, is proud to announce its participation in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) GUIDE Model (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience), adopting the benefit nationwide. This newly launched federal initiative, covered through Medicare Parts A and B, makes dementia care more affordable and accessible for families nationwide.

According to the CMS, dementia affected more than 6.7 million Americans in 2023, with 14 million projected cases by 2060. Despite its growing prevalence, individuals with the diagnosis often do not receive a high quality of care, families lack support, training and access to needed resources, resulting in higher rates of hospitalization and emergency room visits for the person living with dementia and depression impacting the family care partner.

Through the GUIDE Benefit, individuals living with dementia can remain safely at home for longer through funded respite care, enhancing their quality of life while giving caregivers critical resources. Families receive access to counselors, proactive outreach, care coordination and more, all covered under GUIDE, making it a connected benefit that supports both the person living with dementia and their caretaker.

"July 2024 marked a turning point for dementia care, when CMS named 330 GUIDE organizations, allowing ComForCare to become a subcontractor, which allows our franchise locations to bring awareness of the program to our communities and provide the Medicare-funded respite services to families nationwide," said Stephanie Wierzbicka, Director of Strategic Health Programs at ComForCare. "We want to raise awareness that while there is currently no cure for dementia, and only care, programs like GUIDE are making high-quality dementia care affordable to families, easing the journey for both individuals living with dementia and their caregivers."

If approved for GUIDE and its respite benefit, families may receive:

• Care provided in four-hour increments, day or night
• Personalized care plans coordinated with ComForCare
• Support from dementia-trained caregivers through ComForCare's DementiaWise® program
• Assistance with daily needs such as showering, dressing, meal prep, medication reminders, laundry  and companionship

For decades, ComForCare has delivered person-centered dementia care to help families navigate the challenges of a progressive neurological condition that has no cure. Its widely recognized DementiaWise program ensures individuals receive not only specialized care, but also social stimulation, condition monitoring and thoughtful companionship. Now aligned with CMS's GUIDE Benefit, these crucial services are more accessible to the millions of Americans living with dementia.

The early adoption of the GUIDE Benefit underscores ComForCare's dedication to advancing the care and support for individuals living with dementia. To learn more, visit https://www.comforcare.com/dementia-care/guide-benefit/.. To view and apply to open positions, visit ComForCare Career Days.

About ComForCare Home Care:
ComForCare is a premier franchised provider of in-home caregiving services with more than 330 territories independently-owned and operated in Canada and the U.S., helping older adults live independently in their own homes. ComForCare operates as At Your Side in Houston, Texas. ComForCare is committed to helping people live their best lives possible and offers special programs, including fall risk management, dementia care, innovative in-home technology devices, and Joyful Memories music. Founded in 1996, ComForCare was acquired by private equity firm The Riverside Company in 2017 and is now part of Best Life Brands, which has plans for continued expansion of service brands across the continuum of care. ComForCare has earned a ranking of 402 on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 list. For more information, visit www.comforcare.com.

SOURCE ComForCare Home Care