a 2 minute read…
I don’t think the WHY one needs to properly plan for this devastating disease is any longer debated or doubted, rather the HOW becomes the central hub of both debate and action around this topic.
However if you are still questioning why you may need to prepare for future Alzheimer’s care here are some hair-raising stats:
- In 2016, the Alzheimer’s Association projects that about 5.4 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s Disease.
- 5.2 million Alzheimer’s Disease sufferers are 65 years of age of older.
- By 2050, someone in the US will develop Alzheimer’s every 30 seconds and the number of sufferers will increase to 13.8 million Americans.
- The Alzheimer’s Association reports that 61 percent of the nation’s 70-year old Alzheimer’s sufferers will die before age 80. That figure amounts to twice the fatality rate by age 80 for non-Alzheimer’s patients (30 percent).
This is pretty much a runaway train my friends… the best way to fight it from where most of us are standing is to get ready for in a way that the impact is minimized as much as possible, but there will be impact.
The other front where this disease is been fought is at the molecular biology and genetic level, a slow but promising outcome, yet it’s not where most of us can make a direct contribution.
So we are left with educating ourselves about it and taking the necessary steps to minimize the impact.
I wanna give you a quick blueprint you can use to start preparing for an Alzheimer’s condition event you may find yourself in with a loved one.
First:
Create a list of local and national support groups you can get help from. Here, here and here are 3 posts where we list these support groups.
Read these books, they will give you the foundation and mindset to deal with aging in general, and caregiving specifics:
- How To Care for Aging Parents,
- Disrupt Aging
Download our 35 page FREE Guide – “How To Get Help At Home For An Elderly Parent Without Going Broke in the Process” – and learn about current programs and strategies you didn’t know existed to help you pay for senior care expenses at home.
This is a solid start and then you can build from here by leaning more about building your team and anticipating potential issues that you’ve learned to identify before they become bigger problems.
As always if you found these tips useful, please share 🙂
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