November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Sharon Oakes, volunteer manager at Covenant Hospice, facilitates two monthly Alzheimer’s support groups, one in Santa Rosa County, the other in Pensacola. Thursday, her SRC group met at the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce. Oakes said the group varies from people new to dealing with dementia suffered by family members to those who have lost loved ones but still attend to help others. Speaking of caregivers, Oakes said everyone thinks, “I’m not equal to the task.” One of the difficult parts for caregivers, Oakes said, is victims of Alzheimer’s can be perfectly healthy, otherwise, yet still need constant care for decades. “They’re your child for 25 years,” she said.
Alzheimer’s, Oakes said, is a form of dementia typified by memory loss, the inability to handle money or read clocks, and walking and pacing throughout the night. Ultimately, she said, the body shuts down and victims may forget how to swallow. Because Alzheimer’s leaves the body vulnerable, Oakes said, patients often have dual diagnoses, Alzheimer’s and another disease.
During Thursday’s meeting, Donna Potts, a Geriatric Care Manager and National Certified Guardian discussed guardianship. A guardian, she said, monitors finances and healthcare of an individual, with the recent development of guardians being able to act as proxies for healthcare decisions. Potts said the cost of filing for guardianship can start at $2,500 for attorney retainer fees. However, she said, “A $10,000 bill is not uncommon,” with money generally coming from the family assets. “The best long term care,” Potts said, “is to have a trusted family member or friend be a guardian.” With the great cost of guardianship and the difficulty of attaining it through the court system, Oakes stressed the importance of setting up durable power of attorney. She said it allows an advocate to make decisions for another, but signing has to take place before dementia settles. She said if a person cannot sign for him or herself, no attorney would accept the document and guardianship would be the next step.
To contact Sharon Oakes, email at Sharon.oakes@covenanthospice.org or call 202-5930. Donna Potts can be reached at gccaringsolutions@gmail.com or call 512-1805.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Alzheimer’s group provides support, understanding