With a diagnosis of dementia and seeking information about that illness, it can be both overwhelming and emotional. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed early, there is hope. You can plan for your care before your symptoms prevent you from having the sound mind necessary to request what you want and what you need and figure out how to afford it. This can be a scary situation at a time when you or those in your inner circle confront what having dementia means for you. We don’t seek to minimize your sadness, anger, pain, or other emotions as you navigate having this disease, nor contribute to any additional negative feelings of being understandably overwhelmed.
Let’s get real, when you think of all of the ways of aging and some of its accompanying physical and emotional diagnoses, you definitely would not wish for this. Dementia is like the erasure of all of the memories that you have made and especially losing the recognition of those loved ones that were featured in those memories. With many physical ailments, you can learn how to exist without or adjust to a physical loss of an ability. Losing the chapters in your book of life experiences and the disappearance of the ability to remember and to recognize and socialize with those near and dear to you that come with dementia is difficult to accept. Beyond your control, it’s like dementia over time will rob you of the time it took to give your life meaning, purpose, and joy. As memories fade, sorrow, confusion, and frustration are what will remain. You want someone or something to take dementia away.
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If you are just being diagnosed with dementia, check out the Veteran’s Health Library for this health issue. It has information that is helpful for all, not just veterans. An official website of the United States government, it offers an excellent article entitled “Coping with Your Dementia Diagnosis”. This article is on point. It breaks things down from how you might feel and how you can cope to actions you should take. It offers suggestions for keeping healthy and active, planning for safety, planning for living arrangements and care, planning for medical choices, and planning for financial and legal issues. It also includes links to making decisions for long-term services and an advance directive for to compare other state and area agencies on aging forms if you are not a veteran. It covers the basics and supplies a resource list of agencies, phone numbers, and websites that give more information. It provides a good foundation for dementia planning in easy-to-understand language. This is what you need to understand so you can take care of it.
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Part of the advantage of planning (early) for dementia, if you can, is that much of the stress and pressure around this health matter you can’t control is decreased and you can feel like you are doing what you can to prepare for it as things change in the future. When it comes to paying for care for dementia, it’s important to examine all of the resources at your disposal, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Options to consider include insurance (Medicare or private insurance if you are still working); personal assets (stocks, investments, and personal property); employee benefits (like paid sick leave, short-term disability, and a flexible spending account); government assistance (such as Medicare, Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), Supplemental Security (SSI); Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, tax deductions and credits); retirement benefits (for example, individual retirement accounts (IRA) or annuities); and community support (which might include respite care, support groups, transportation, and home-delivered meals or even services from your personal community of friends and family, neighbors or even paid professional in-home care and homemaking services).
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