My father had me at a rather old age and has recently been showing strong signs of dementia. I know it's been very difficult for my mother as she is his only caretaker and I live far away. I have asked her sisters in Japan to take her in for a bit to help her reset, so I'm now taking care of him, and plan to live in both cities when Mum returns. Does anyone know of any good resources for help that don't cost a lot, or are maybe even free? Are there any good websites to help him engage in games to help his memory? I know my questions are a bit vague, but this is a new thing for me. I feel like I always have an answer for everything, but this is a new world! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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there is a brilliant website that will give you answers to ANYTHING you need regarding dementia. its members are either people caring for dementia afflicted or else are actually people who have the disease themselves; its called TALKING POINT ands its run by the alzheimers society in the u.k. there is one in the u.s.a but the u.k. one is better, in my opinion. members come from EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY. so you will get the help and advice you need. trust me. ive been there.....
there is a brilliant website that will give you answers to ANYTHING you need regarding dementia. its members are either people caring for dementia afflicted or else are actually people who have the disease themselves; its called TALKING POINT ands its run by the alzheimers society in the u.k.
Please take your father to his physician to verify the diagnosis of dementia. There are many health conditions which can present with signs similar to dementia, which might be treatable. Ask for a neuropsychiatric evaluation to verify dementia. A good book resource is "The 36 hour day" that will give you information on how to deal with dementia. Another resource would be to ask your father's physician if there is a care manager available to help you with resources. Does the local community/county have a "commission on aging"? Also a good resource. Check with his health insurance, they may have case managers that can be of assistance. One helpful website is Caregiver.com.
I don't have any answers for you, but one piece of advice learned the hard way because of my mom's dementia. Get a power of attorney drawn up asap. You may not need to enact it for years (I did not), but you should have it ready so you can use it when you need to. Also, you should keep track of what is going on with your parents' finances. Be snoopy and, if necessary, bossy.
Thank you SO much for your pieces of information. Both so very useful. I'm on the Talking Point website right now and am going to look into power of attorney. I suppose there are so many angles to this and can be a very touchy subject.
You are right! Elderly people do not like to give up any of their resources. I learned that power of attorney stops at the time of death. You can't use it to go to their bank or anything!
Dementia is the most common problem among elders of age between 60 to 80's years. One should take personal care of their aging parents during this phase, and never leave them alone as they can forget the road or the address of the home. I remember my grandmother also had similar disease and thus, due to this problem she wanted to make a will and distribution of her estate among children.
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