Alzheimer’s: Protecting Your Options With Durable Power Of Attorney And Advanced Health Care Directives

As soon as you are about to care for an elderly person with Alzheimer’s, you should review your loved one’s durable power of attorney for finances and your advanced health care directives. Unfortunately, if that person is not in their right mind or their body (especially if they have intermediate or late Alzheimer’s disease), then it is too late to prepare these important legal documents. However, if you go to court and ask the judge to appoint you a guardian (either full or financial guardianship), then you will be responsible for your elder’s legal and financial decisions.

Lasting Power of Attorney

A permanent power of attorney names you as the person who must pay the elderly person’s bills, collect and deposit their income, and take care of any other financial matters. You will need to find your elder’s legal and financial documents and be comfortable with his or her assets, income, and expenses.

Here is a list of documents you should collect:

o Wills
o Bank and brokerage accounts
o Deeds, loans and declarations of ownership
o Pension and retirement benefits
o Social security information
o Insurance policies

As a caregiver for an Alzheimer’s patient, you should know that Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease and that the level of care can grow and change over time. You will need to consider the cost of long-term care, prescription drugs, and home care services. There are several ways you can cover long-term care costs, including checking your elder’s employer insurance plan (retiree and group coverage), disability insurance, Medicare and Medigap, and care insurance. long-term. Your elder may also qualify for Social Security and / or Medicaid disability. And don’t forget about community programs to help with meals, respite care, and transportation.

Advanced Health Care Guidelines

Advance Health Care Directives ensure that your elder’s health care requests are communicated to health care providers and that you, as a guardian, act on your elder’s behalf. Advanced Health Care Directives also include a Living Will that tells health care providers what your elder prefers if he or she is incapacitated. The living will gives preferences for life-prolonging treatments, such as use of a respirator, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, dialysis, surgery, and antibiotics. The elder and guardian may choose to receive all, some, or none of the life-prolonging treatments. The living will also indicate whether your elder wants artificially administered food and water when near death.

Here is a checklist of other advanced health care directives:

o Name your durable power of attorney for health care that will consent or refuse to consent (who would normally be the guardian). You can also fire and hire medical personnel, gain access to medical records, and obtain court clearance.
o Appoint the physician to supervise the care.
o Identify and specify the treatments administered or withheld (indicated above in the living will)
o Expressing feelings about caring: does the elderly person want full doses of pain medication each time?
o Provide instructions for organ donation

After all the documents have been signed and notarized, be sure to make plenty of copies and keep the originals in a safe, with other copies available at any time. Giving your loved one with Alzheimer’s the details is a lot of work, but it will save a lot of time and agony if financial, legal and health care matters are well planned before your loved one moves into an assisted living facility. or if an additional home care service is needed.

Resources: Alzheimer’s Association 225 N. Michigan Ave. Fl.17 Chicago, IL 60601-7633 1-800-272-3900

Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center PO Box 8250 Silver Spring, MD 20907-8250 1-800-438-4380