My grandmother has alzheimer's and and only has her elderly daughter and myself to care for her. She need at least 12 hours of help mostly using the bathroom and bathing. Her current income is too much to qualify for a nursing home care. Are there any alternatives or ways to help her quality for entry into a nursing home?
You private pay until funds run out then you apply for Medicaid.
And you probably should be looking at Memory Care facilities NOT Skilled Nursing. Unless she actually does need Skilled Nursing (In that case Medicare may cover some)
She may qualify for Hospice. If that is the case she would have a Nurse that would come at least 1 time a week to check her and order any medications.
A CNA would come at least 2 times a week to give her a bath or shower and order any personal supply items.
ALL equipment would be ordered and provided, all incontinent supplies, briefs, wipes, under pads, gloves, ointments would all be delivered.
And you could request a Volunteer to come and sit with her if you have errands to run. This is all covered by Medicare, Medicaid.
In most states a Medicaid room is a shared room, in LTC floor or NH, and usually needs to be assessed as medically necessary by her doctor. It's usually for people who are bedbound and unable to do any ADLs, or required some sort of medical attention/action daily.
If your Grandmother has assets, they will need to be spent down to whatever her states' threshold is before she can apply. It's often around $2K. Then Medicaid covers any medical needs and her SS covers her "custodial" care (room and board).
If you can no longer provide safe care a call to APS to report this may help you to understand how to apply for help. Your local Council on Aging may help as well.