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Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for the loss of memory and other intellectual abilities interfering with everyday life. Today, an estimated 6.2 million people are living with Alzheimer's. Every 65 seconds someone develops Alzheimer's. This disease gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Unless a cure or prevention is found, by 2050 14 million people will have Alzheimer's.

This disease is a brain disorder that affects the neuron transmitters found in the brain. When these neuron transmitters don't function properly, the ability to do daily activities and the thought process is badly affected.

Signs of Alzheimer's

  • Difficulty Performing Familiar Tasks

  • Memory  Loss

  • Problems with Language

  • Disorientation to Time & Place

  • Misplacing Things

  • Changes in Mood or Behavior

  • Changes in Personality

  • Loss of Initiative

Resources

Alzheimer's not only affects the individual, but all loved ones too.

Many families try to take care of the person at home. This can have an enormous physical, emotional and financial impact on caregivers and families. It's essential to get support and plan to manage through the years ahead.

Elder Law

Elder Law

Attorneys who work in the field of elder law bring more to their practice than an expertise in the appropriate area of law. They also have knowledge of the senior population and their unique needs as well as the myths related to competence and aging. They are aware of the physical and mental difficulties that often accompany the aging process. Because of their broad knowledge base they are able to more thoroughly address the legal needs of their clients.

Lavin Law Group, LLC

877-822-6424

​The Lavin Law Group, LLC was started with the goal of representing clients in a way that maximizes their independence and minimizes the stress and burden placed on loved ones. Our clients come to us from all walks of life. We have clients in crisis and some who are just approaching retirement. However, all of our clients have one thing in common: each and every one of them was smart enough to develop a personalized estate plan for the preservation and protection of their wealth. We invite you to explore this site or contact our office if you are in need of assistance in the following areas:

  • Protecting your family in a nursing home crisis situation

  • Estate & Tax Planning

  • Creation of Wills, Trusts, Living Wills, and necessary Powers of Attorney

  • Probate Avoidance

  • Estate Administration

  • Guardianships

  • Medicaid & Veterans Benefit Planning/Eligibility

  • Disability/Special Needs Planning

  • Medicaid Estate Recovery

  • Asset Protection

Recommended Books

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AARP Meditations for Caregivers

Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD & Julia L. Mayer, PsyD

Family caregiving has its challenges: emotional overload, time constraints, anxiety, burnout, missed work, adult sibling conflicts, and marital issues. AARP Meditations for Caregivers blends emotional and spiritual motivation to minimize the strains while helping caregivers view their work as a mission from the heart. Chapters are organized by theme, including topics such as accepting your feelings, knowing your limits, seeking support, and managing stress. Each reading offers a poignant meditation, an anecdote drawn from the author's personal or clinical experience, and hands-on or psychological advice to foster coping skills and a sense of fulfillment.

 

The meditations in this dispensable book will provide you with solutions to typical caregiving challenges, offer relief and renewal through mindfulness, and inspire you to find meaning and value in the work you do.

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The Conscious Caregiver

Linda Abbit

Linda Abbit, founder of Tender Loving Eldercare and a veteran of the caregiving industry, shares her advice on taking care of an older parent or loved one and how to handle everything that goes along with this dramatic life change.

 

Being a caregiver can be a difficult role. It requires patience, tenderness, selflessness, and hard work. Providing care for someone, whether it’s a parent, a loved one, or as a professional requires a high level of self-love and self-care. But while it may be a rewarding experience to care for a loved one, the emotional and physical stress of caregiving can lead to burnout and exhaustion—causing caregivers to put themselves and their own well-being in the background.

 

How can you fulfill your role as a caregiver without losing yourself? Conscious Caregiver teaches you how to navigate caring for your loved one, whether it’s full-time in-house caregiving or hiring support from outside services. With information on how to talk to your loved ones about the situation, handle the emotional stress, stay financially secure, and take the time to care for yourself, this guide can help you care for your loved one and yourself at the same time.

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Learning to Speak Alzheimer's

Joanne Koenig Coste

​More than four million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, and as many as twenty million have close relatives or friends with the disease. Revolutionizing the way we perceive and live with Alzheimer’s, Joanne Koenig Coste offers a practical approach to the emotional well-being of both patients and caregivers that emphasizes relating to patients in their own reality. Her accessible and comprehensive method, which she calls habilitation, works to enhance communication between care partners and patients and has proven successful with thousands of people living with dementia. Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s also offers hundreds of practical tips, including how to

· cope with the diagnosis and adjust to the disease’s progression

· help the patient talk about the illness

· face the issue of driving

· make meals and bath times as pleasant as possible

· adjust room design for the patient’s comfort

· deal with wandering, paranoia, and aggression.

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I'll Have Some of Yours

Annette Januzzi Wick

Annette Januzzi Wick longs to find the perfect care home for her proud, Italian mother, who is slipping further into dementia. In her memoir, Annette shares gripping truths about the mistakes she makes before ultimately finding a place where her mother develops a crush, heckles an Elvis impersonator, and magically bonds with her daughter through Frank Sinatra’s songs. Whether she is breaking up a fight between her mother and the Easter Bunny, advocating for her mother to avoid a tracheotomy, or struggling to duplicate her mother’s cookie recipes, Annette tries to balance the trials with the triumphs of being a daughter—and caregiver. But can she and her mother love without memory—or regret? I’ll Have Some of Yours is for anyone who longs to move past being a caregiver to find a deeply human and humane connection with someone you love.

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Creating Moments of Joy

Jolene Brackey

The beloved best seller has been revised and expanded for the fifth edition. Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger. The new edition of Creating Moments of Joy is filled with more practical advice sprinkled with hope, encouragement, new stories, and generous helpings of humor. In this volume, Brackey reveals that our greatest teacher is having cared for and loved someone with Alzheimer's and that often what we have most to learn about is ourselves.

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The 36-Hour Day

Nancy Mace, M.A & Peter Rabins, M.D., M.P.H.

​Through five editions, The 36-Hour Day has been an essential resource for families who love and care for people with Alzheimer disease. Whether a person has Alzheimer disease or another form of dementia, he or she will face a host of problems. The 36-Hour Day will help family members and caregivers address these challenges and simultaneously cope with their own emotions and needs.

Featuring useful takeaway messages and informed by recent research into the causes of and the search for therapies to prevent or cure dementia, this edition includes new information on:

• devices to make life simpler and safer for people who have dementia

• strategies for delaying behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms

• changes in Medicare and other health care insurance laws

• palliative care, hospice care, durable power of attorney, and guardianship

• dementia due to traumatic brain injury

• choosing a residential care facility

• support groups for caregivers, friends, and family members

The central idea underlying the book―that much can be done to improve the lives of people with dementia and of those caring for them―remains the same. The 36-Hour Day is the definitive dementia care guide.

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Mom's OK, She Just Forgets

Evelyn McLay & Ellen Young

​Denial may seem to be an acceptable coping mechanism when faced with a disease that has no cure. But in fact the failure to accept reality can work against the welfare of the person suffering from a disease that causes dementia, making a bad situation worse for the whole family.


In this reassuring and very helpful handbook for families, experienced caregivers Evelyn D. McLay and Ellen P. Young suggest various behaviors, tools, and techniques for moving beyond denial. Real people who have faced the many problems brought about by Alzheimer’s speak out, with hope, from these pages. They share their journeys from denial to loving action and an improved attitude that helps them deal with their personal plights. Separate chapters address the issues of caregiver burnout, developing communication skills, challenging behaviors that "push your buttons," when to remove driving privileges, day care for the elderly, deciding on long-term care, and the need for acceptance.


Without minimizing the daunting challenges of Alzheimer’s and dementia, the authors stress the importance of remaining positive and appreciating the moment while acting in the best interests of loved ones.

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Alzheimer's for Dummies

Patricia B. Smith, Mary Mitchell Kenan, PsyD, & Mark Edwin Kunik, M.D., M.P.H

​An estimated 4 million people are living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in America today, with approximately 370,000 new cases diagnosed every year. AD patients live anywhere from 5 to 20 years after their diagnosis; and their inability to care for themselves grows more dramatic as the disease progresses, creating profound implications for their families and healthcare providers. Its impact on families during the caregiving years is overwhelming.

If you have a family member or close friend who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and you’re looking for current, useful information, then Alzheimer’s For Dummies is for you. This reference guide also is helpful if you:

  • Need to know more about its diagnosis and treatment

  • Want to take care of yourself while taking care of your loved one

  • Are not the primary caregiver but want to know how to help

  • Want to know how Alzheimer’s Disease is going to affect you and your loved one

 

Alzheimer’s For Dummies takes a realistic look at Alzheimer’s Disease, what it is and what it isn’t.

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