Acquiring a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can be overwhelming, both for the person diagnosed and their loved ones. While the journey ahead may seem uncertain, it is important to take proactive steps to ensure that your needs will be met in the future. Planning early can significantly improve your quality of life and reduce the… Read More »
Posts Categorized: Dementia
A Family Member Was Diagnosed with Dementia, Can They Sign Legal Documents?
Many people have questions around important legal planning issues after someone’s been diagnosed with dementia. Working with someone who has familiarity with dementia estate planning and other elder law concerns may help you and your family members navigate this new terrain. In Massachusetts, as in many other states, a person’s ability to sign legal documents… Read More »
What To Know About Caregiver Communication For Someone With Dementia
As we approach the estate planning process for someone who may have been recently diagnosed with dementia, it is extremely important to think about caregiver communication. Estate Planning Documents The appropriate estate planning documents including powers of attorney can appoint authorized individuals to make decisions and speak on your behalf. Many different documents may be… Read More »
What to Know About Vascular Dementia in a Loved One
Vascular dementia symptoms are most easy to identify when they occur immediately following a stroke. When someone’s cognitive decline is severe enough that it could impair them from understanding the impacts of their decisions, they may no longer be able to sign important legal documents, such as a power of attorney. What is Vascular Dementia?… Read More »
Do I Need to Choose a Specific Nursing Home with Dementia Care?
If you are helping a loved one make the difficult transition into a dementia care facility or a nursing home, there are many questions that must be answered early on in the process. It can be difficult to educate yourself about all of these key issues, but it is important to think about how the… Read More »
What Dementia Caregivers Should Know About Burnout
When your family member is diagnosed with dementia, there are many considerations and questions that must be answered as soon as possible. When immediate nursing care in the home or elsewhere isn’t an option, it’s family caregivers who fill the gap for dementia patients. Providing care for a loved one is an overwhelming experience no… Read More »
What Is a Dementia Health Care Directive?
Durable powers of attorney for health care are an important component of your estate plan and can be very useful. However, the unique impacts of brain decay associated with dementia can make it all the more important to specifically consider a health care directive for this purpose. Someone who is non-responsive and completely bed ridden,… Read More »
When Does My Loved One with Dementia Need Memory Care?
When most family members are diagnosed with dementia, the symptoms are mild to moderate. Spouses, children, grandchildren, and other family might step in to help support the overall safety and health of the loved one at that point. But there might also come a time when the dementia diagnosis is so serious that it requires… Read More »
Tips for Advanced Planning for a Person with Dementia
The rate of decline in dementia can make it very difficult to accomplish your estate planning outline and strategies once your diagnosis has already progressed. The tips in this article should give you some insight over how you can plan well and advance in the early stages of when someone appears to be showing the… Read More »
What Are the Three Stages of Dementia?
A dementia diagnosis might look different from one person to another, including the progression to various stages. There are three primary stages of Alzheimer’s and this is important for you as a family member to recognize the early signs and symptoms and to understand the value of incorporating appropriate estate planning when you can. The… Read More »