Increasing rates of dementia are creating unique challenges when it comes to aging in the United States. Currently, there are 5.7 million people living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. It is expected that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men living past the age of 55 will develop the disease at some point. Between 2000-20015 deaths from Alzheimer’s increased 123%!
Our Elder Care Advisors work with families every day who are facing the challenges of living with dementia or living with loved ones suffering from dementia. We encourage you to give them a call at 217-726-9200 if you are struggling with an aging loved one.
10 Early Warning Signs of Dementia
The Alzheimer’s Association is a great organization providing research and support. They’ve released a checklist that details the early warning signs of dementia (and compares them with what are “normal” age-related changes):
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgement
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood and personality
Download the checklist here
Legal Planning Tools That Can Help When Someone Develops Dementia
Comprehensive and effective legal planning for families dealing with dementia is vitally important. Living with the challenges of dementia is hard, but without proper planning life is EVEN HARDER. And nobody wants to make things harder. At the very least, effective legal planning should include these three things:
- Making plans for healthcare and long-term care. Oftentimes, people with dementia get to the point where they can no longer safely live at home. At that point, expensive memory care is needed. Planning ahead for this massive cost can make things a little easier when the time comes.
- Making plans for finances and property. People with dementia often begin to have trouble with numbers, so it is very important that plans are put in place to protect them from the financial difficulties that can occur. These difficulties can arise from them being unable to properly handle their own finances or from others trying to manipulate them and gain access to things like bank accounts. (Read our series on Elder Fraud here.)
- Naming another person to make decisions on behalf of the person with dementia. Getting a Power of Attorney in place is an incredibly important first step in protecting the person and the finances of the one developing dementia. Read more on the topic here: 9 Issues to Consider When Choosing Your Healthcare Power of Attorney.
Edwards Group Elder Care Advisors Are Here to Help
Our firm has watched as a growing number of families we know struggle with the challenges of aging. That’s why we created the Elder Care part of the firm. As we encountered more and more families who were stressed to their max, overwhelmed with the decisions that come with this time of life, and plagued by the guilt of “Am I doing the right thing for my loved one?” we knew there had to be a better way. We also saw tangible ways that our team, with their unique mix of experiences, could help make life a little easier for these families.
You can read more about what our Elder Care Advisors can help with here. If you’d like to speak to one of them, we encourage you to call 217-726-9200 to find out more about how they might be able to help your family.