SeniorTruth

Question: I am a 63 year-old woman and a successful business owner.  As an only child without family, I am concerned about who will be there for me in my old age?   I already have a durable power of attorney for health care but feel that is not sufficient.  I’ve been reluctant to address [...]

Question: I’ve been very ill for quite some time. Should I experience another serious episode, I do not want to receive emergency life support. How can I make sure that my wishes will be respected?

Question: The doctor informed me that Mom’s illness is terminal and that, if she would like, Medicare will cover her hospice care needs. How is hospice care coverage different from other Medicare?

The Alzheimer’s Association has created a helpful website that it calls “Carefinder” — providing information on planning ahead, care options, care coordination and support and resources.
Take a look at Carefinder, and also at H.E.L.P.’s free online Home Care Toolkit and other publications available through our Publications Catalog.

Question: When my Mom died, my sisters-in-law and I got into a big argument about the funeral arrangements. I think everyone was trying to do the right thing, but we disagreed and there’s still anger about this. What can my family do so this won’t happen to us again?
Answer:

The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, yet it ranks poorly on nearly every measure of health status. How can this be? What explains this apparent paradox?
Dr. Steven A. Schroeder says that the two-part answer is deceptively simple

A recently-published paper by the Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison questions whether older adults truly know their spouses’ end-of-life treatment preferences.
The authors conclude that: