Thank you Eric for this sharepost. All the points you make are important ones. I was particularly interested in the section on financial abuse of people with Alzheimer's.
There have been a few questions recently about the role of caregivers who look after a close relative with Alzheimer's and who take financial contributions in order to help provide the care they need. It highlights the need to think about planning for future care while people still have the ability to make informed decisions. Legal advice is essential when planning for future care wherever possible.
Caregivers need to be able to take on this valuable role without opening themselves up to accusations of abuse too. Christine
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Thank you for creating this analysis/summary for us. It helps to see the statistics on matters like this, so one doesn't feel quite so alone.
I was particularly struck by the last item in the list - the extent to which palliative care can be overlooked, because a doctor might not convey a sense of the long-term prognosis, thus causing the elder person to undergo extensive and painful surgeries only to die. I recently saw this happen with my sister's mother-in-law. They sought three opinions, and two of the three opinions were that this 88-year-old slightly out of shape, slightly overweight, and diabetic woman *not* undergo open heart surgery. But the family went with the one doctor who offered the surgery, instead, and she died from complications after the surgery. She did not have dementia, so the situation is different from the one described in your message, but it does indicate that sometimes palliative care and non-invasive procedures can be life-enhancing.
Thanks again.