Dementia on the Rise

Dementia is a word that most of us push away unless we know someone close to us who is exhibiting the symptoms.  From this chart you can see that the red bars are almost doubling every two decades.  We are smack in the middle of this chart, at the end of 2020.  

My parents began to exhibit symptoms of dementia in their 70s, which was also early 90s. However, as I share in my guide and the book, Done With Dementia: Keeping Your Parents Together, we didn't look at the statistics.  We were just living life and checking in with Mom and Dad once in awhile, mostly for social visits.  

Dementia is on the rise because the population of those labelled 'seniors' and the 'elderly' is also on the rise.  We are the baby-boomers, in North America.  We have also been privileged to see three or more generations escape the ravages of war, that reduce populations.  

Unfortunately in our Western culture, we tend to see the path ahead to getting older in terms of government sponsored or private commercial facilities offering different levels of care, and for very different costs as well.  For some reason other cultures don't think of placing their parents in facilities when they can no longer safe to be left alone.  In those cultures there are already multi-generations living in the same home or community.   

Wen we took our parents out of Assisted Living after seven months, found a home for them, and began the journey of their care, we discovered it was rare for any family to do that.  I was traveling corporately in the beginning of our journey with Mom and Dad and has opportunity to have discussions with many who were also in this 'sandwich' generation.  

For some the sandwich was between adult children still at home and their parents needs, or between successful or demanding careers and checking on their parents regularly.  This was our fate too until something in me snapped and I decided my parents were a priority in my life.  I closed down my 18 year consulting business and managed their care 24/7 in the last five years.  

We were totally done with their dementia when they passed away seven years ago, right about this time of year.  Add to that the current crisis with the virus, lock-downs, and seniors inaccessible to family and friends, I can only imagine the number of people who may want to explore options for their parents. The challenge accepted made way for my book, this blog, and the website because it's become even more necessary to have more options as the cases of dementia rise.