Dementia is not a disease, but rather a term used to describe a variety of symptoms. Mostly involving impairments to cognitive function like memory, speech, visual perception, and judgement, symptoms like these are indicative of some common forms of dementia like Alzheimer’s or Vascular dementia. In the US, 5.5 million people live with dementia.
Diagnosing dementia isn’t always easy, due to the varied nature of the symptoms and even diagnosing the type of dementia is a real challenge. Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia diagnoses, though postmortem neuropathological diagnoses of 176 dementia patients revealed that the clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease was only correct in 49%.
In addition to the physical and mental health care that dementia patients require, working with the financial and legal care for patients is essential. Though these conversations are never simple, having a solid plan in place for leaving a will, gathering and maintaining documents, and power of attorney often fall on the shoulders of loved ones. Working with an executor can help ease the transition and boost the quality of life for not only dementia patients, but also their family and friends. An executor’s role is to settle the estate, regardless of the condition, and carry out the last will and testament of the deceased, crucially important steps to avoid legal issues and even family disagreements.
The cure to dementia is yet to be discovered, but the leaps and bounds of advancement in dementia care technology is bringing us closer. Take a look at this infographic from Executor for more on understanding dementia, its treatments, and legal options for family.
Infographic Courtesy of Executor https://executor.org/blog/understanding-dementia-infographic/