RespiteMatch.com Health Blog

1. Make sure you understand the legal and medical powers process. If a competent adult does not yet have the powers, do this today.

2. Become informed about Medicare and Medicaid. Consult with a lawyer who specializes in Elder Law regarding legal and financial questions.

3. Be involved with your parent’s physician while educating yourself about the disease. Be aware of the later stages.

4. Appreciate your Alzheimer’s parent the way he or she is now. The patient is declining. Allow for recurring periods of grieving for yourself and the caregiver as each new level evolves.

5. Unless you’ve been trained as a nurse, you cannot expect to be one simply because the needs is there.

6. Be nice to the caregiver. If you are the caregiver, do nice things for yourself.

7. Conduct a family meeting with the immediate family, either in person or by telephone. Include a frank discussion of finances. Do not be afraid to assign jobs to your siblings.

8. Remember that each of us reacts differently to an Alzheimer’s victim. Some people take longer to recognize the diagnosis. Denial is part of our coping mechanism.

9. Contact your local Alzheimer’s chapter and the AD association closest to your parents. (Your chapter can help you find the number.) Attend support group meetings and encourage other family members to do so also.

10. Research and investigate adult day care centers and nursing homes as early as possible. They may become part of the solution.

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