@lacyjeans1 My husband ran into the same problem. He had to have his sister placed in a long term care home. And he was stressed out because she had zero money and neither did we as we were in the middle of a move. He met with the social workers at the home and explained how she could qualify for Medicaid. She would need to spend down her assets. Of course, she was in Massachusetts and he was in Colorado, but he had to take on her care and financial issues. Find a good social worker!

@lacyjeans1 understood, and hello fellow Seattleite. I no longer live in Seattle actually, but grew up there (Kent-Renton area) and my family still lives in Kirkland. To your question, 'overseas' includes a lot of options, which is great but can also be a bit overwhelming... but hell, what isn't overwhelming these days?! Let me give you a little pre-amble and then give you my pros and cons.

I'm a scientist by training, so when I looked at the science of what actually matters to people with dementia I came across two reoccurring themes. The first was 'specialized dementia training', as opposed to generalized clinical training. The best specialized training comes from something called "Person Centered Dementia Care", created by Dr. Tom Kitwood's, a UK gerontologist from the 80's that researched and wrote extensively about specialized dementia training and care. In principle it's the best research and practicum we have available, however, in practice it takes 1:1 carer to "patient" (person) ratios to execute. So the real metric, which was also the second recurring theme, is actually the carer-to-person ratio.

So I used that as my primary filter when looking for the best care in the world, and that single filter helped me cut through the hype, marketing and gimmicks, and my two bullshit-filtering questions became:

1. "What is your current carer ratio for each shift (two day, and one night)?"
2. "What specialized training do your care staff have?"

Everything else was downstream of those two questions.

My pros are pretty easy:
1. Best care available in the world today. (I genuinely challenge someone to try to prove me wrong.)
2. Way cheaper than the US.
3. Much friendlier culture: a care / hospitality-based culture, especially towards elderly and kids.
4. Much safer than the US.
5. Much better and cheaper medical care, even taking into account Medicare/Medicaid.
6. Door-to-door relocation assistance.

My cons, that's harder. The time zone differences could be a bit challenging for family video calls. Absorbing all the praise from my family, that's challenging, I don't accept praise very well. Hmmm... honestly, there aren't many cons at this point. Figuring out what to worry about instead? That could be a con I suppose! I jest of course. Living in the US there's an unending supply of things to worry about.

I know you're stressed Lacy Jeans, I can feel it through your writing. You're a strong woman. You're a powerful woman and a force of nature. Fear is not a true obstacle for you, it's an opportunity. I believe in you. You are going to make it work, and it's going to be awesome. In a year you'll look back and thank yourself, and all the naysayers be damned they will either be sucking on their sour grapes, or calling you a genius!