What we see on the internet or in the news about preventing or treating dementia isn't always reliable. We help dispel some of the more common myths so you can seperate fact from fiction with answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

1. What is the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia?

Dementia can be caused by a number of different diseases, with Alzheimer's disease the most common. Other diseases that cause dementia include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. Symptoms of the different forms of dementia can vary a great deal and can include memory loss, confusion, and mood and behaviour changes.

2. Are there more women than men with dementia?

Yes. In the UK 61% of people with dementia are female and 39% are male. This is mostly because women tend to live longer than men and as dementia becomes more common as we age, there are more women to develop the condition. Some studies have suggested that other factors may affect the number of women and men with dementia, but there is no firm evidence that women are more likely than men to develop dementia at a particular age.

3. Can aluminium affect the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease?

Despite occasional publicity, there is no convincing evidence that cooking with aluminium saucepans or foil increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's or dementia. During the 1960s and 1970s, aluminium emerged as a possible suspect in Alzheimer's but since then studies have failed to confirm a direct role for aluminium in causing Alzheimer's. Although it is difficult to research as aluminium is common in our environment, exposure to normal sources of aluminium is not thought to pose any threat.

4.Will eating particular foods help reduce my risk?

Maintaining a balanced diet is a good way to help reduce the risk. Oily fish, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, is an important part of a healthy diet. Some studies have linked higher omega-3 intake with a lower risk of dementia but current evidence does not support the use of omega-3 supplements to prevent cognitive decline.

There have been reports that turmeric, 'super foods' like berries, and particular drinks like red wine can lower the risk of dementia but there is no evidence that this is the case.

5. Does drinking alcohol decrease my risk?

Some studies suggest that moderate amounts of alcohol are associated with a lower risk but the research is not conclusive. Very heavy drinking is known to cause alcohol related dementia, also known as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome.

6. Does a head injury increase the risk of dementia?

We don't yet know. Some research has suggested that a serious head injury or trauma could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's and dementia, though other studies have not found this link. Research is ongoing in this area to help us understand more.

7. How do I find out more?

If you are worried about your health or memory, it is a good idea to discuss it with your GP who can give you advice, run tests and refer you to a specialist if necessary.

SOURCE: Alzheimers Research

Grief no one talks about: Here a daughter talks of the agony of mourning the mum she loved – while caring for the broken shell left behind

What happens when you lose the person you love, though they continue to live? How do you manage that grief alongside the responsibility of caring for someone who needs you more than ever?
Six years ago I was catapulted overnight into this cruel scenario when my mum had a devastating stroke.

I had given birth to my third baby just days before, and my glamorous mum — who was very much still mothering me — was helping to care for my other two young children. I spoke to her at teatime on the phone. I was bringing my baby home from hospital the following morning and she told me she loved me, like she had done most days of my life.
It was the last time she would ever say that, or even my name. Two hours later, her brain bled away the life she had known, and she was rendered immediately, and permanently, paralysed and brain-damaged.
For the next five and a half years I cared for my mother. But I lost my mum that night. I’ll never forget walking into her bedroom soon afterwards — a bedroom she would never see again as she would lie downstairs on a pressurised bed in the converted dining room.
By her bedside was a novel, the bookmark showing it was only half read. Her make-up was sprawled across her dressing table, and clothes she had left out to wear for lunch with a friend the next day were hanging up.
I looked at that book she would never finish, make-up she would never clear up and clothes she would never wear, and the immediacy of that loss was shocking.
Although my mother was still alive, ‘mum’ was gone. The woman who had smothered me in love all my life, who was always by my side or on the end of a phone, was no longer able to support me. The searing loss I felt was extraordinary, and yet it was hard to admit to, let alone talk about, because nobody had actually died.

Suddenly finding yourself grieving for the living can come about when someone suffers a traumatic brain injury like my mum’s stroke, or due to disorders such as dementia, which cause unpredictable or complete memory loss.
It can also happen with long terminal illnesses such as cancer, where your loved one is reduced to a shadow of themselves before your very eyes.
It can be instant — as in my mum’s case — or be a long agonising drift as a mother or father, husband or wife, brother or sister, slowly changes.
While most people associate grief with the death of a loved one and can seek, or offer, the appropriate support, this sudden loss of a relationship can also trigger a very real and intense mourning which can be just as devastating.
Missing my mum while still caring for her was extremely difficult.
‘When a loved one dies, people rally round. But when a loved one is ill, the sense of loss is often not acknowledged,’ explains Caroline Scates of Dementia UK.
‘Carers are often living with crippling emotions such as guilt, anger and sadness, and yet it is not recognised. Roles and relationships change when someone is seriously ill, and you are grieving for the person they were — families and carers really struggle with that.
 ‘You don’t love that person any less, but you do have to learn to live with the new relationship while mourning what you have lost.’
Maureen Winfield is a glamorous 78 year-old from Huddersfield who grieves daily for a man who still lives.
‘I’ve lost my best friend and my husband,’ she says of Michael, to whom she has been married for more than 56 years.
‘People don’t understand that I am grieving for our relationship. All I see is a shell there. Most of the time he just looks blank, though when I get a smile, it absolutely makes my day.’
The Winfields had a strong marriage and did everything together as a couple, but Mike no longer recognises Maureen as his wife.
‘I think he is looking for the younger me. He knows I’m someone that he knows,’ she tells me, her voice breaking. ‘My face is familiar and there is an emotional connection. But he would say: ‘She’s not my wife,’ and he felt he was having a wrong relationship and was living with the guilt.’
The dark cloud that engulfed their marriage started to form five years ago when Mike became forgetful.
‘It was like living on a knife edge all the time,’ says Maureen.
The eventual diagnosis — Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia — was in some ways a relief, but also, for Maureen, spelt the end of her marriage as she’d known it.
‘It took a while, but I had to realise he was not coming back to me as my husband or my friend. He is still here, and I can’t let go of him, but my relationship has gone.’ After caring for Michael at home for as long as she could, the agonising decision was made last June to move him into a home.
‘It was heartbreaking to leave him there,’ she says. ‘The guilt was terrible. I made my marriage vows to him and I feel like I’m letting him down.’
She has to take two buses to get visit him there, five days a week.
‘I never come away without guilt, and have very much mixed feelings when I leave,’ she says. ‘If I get a smile or some acknowledgement from him, then that for me is a good visit. The difficult ones are when there is little or no positive response or he just looks completely dejected.’
As I discovered when my mum had her stroke, the sudden change this can bring to a relationship can be really debilitating.
Naturally, caring for her became a priority over most things, including at times my own young family. But I felt so angered by the situation. What I wanted, what I ached for, was the support, the humour, the comfort and the wisdom of the very woman I was helping to look after.
For many going through this ambiguous grief, there can be feelings of loss of your own independence, loss of control and of a lost future. For partners, there might also be loss of financial security, loss of freedom, sleep and family harmony.
I needed the support of my mum, but had to manage her care along with all the other demands on my time.
I constantly felt pulled by guilt, anger, grief and frustration. It took me a long time to realise that amid child-care and parent-care, I needed to also focus on self-care.
To get through this tumult of emotions, you have to build a new relationship with your loved one.
Maureen went on a course run by Dementia UK where she was given skills to cope.
‘At first I cut myself off and didn’t want people to know about Michael’s condition,’ she admits.
‘But going on the course gave me confidence when I met other carers like me.
‘One of the most important things I learned is to have access to others who are going through the same experience,’ says Maureen, who has two daughters to whom she is close, but says friends in a similar boat often offer the most comfort.

Sarah Clayton, 51, reflects on the other dark thoughts that cloud your mind when you are grieving the loss of someone still living.
She cared for her mother for nine years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, having already watched her father waste away from lung cancer
‘With both of them, there was a time when I knew there was no longer any quality of life for them, and I began to long for them to be free from the misery of their illness,’ she confides.
‘It’s such a difficult time wishing your loved one’s lives away. You desperately miss the people they once were, you are fearful of what is to come, but you just want their suffering to end.
‘My mother died three years ago and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me. I feel lighter emotionally, but do miss my parents and think about them most days.’
I know with my own mum, I often wished it was over for her, even though I was simultaneously devastated at the thought of losing her.
This issue is explored beautifully in the recent book and movie A Monster Calls, where a young boy whose mother is dying of breast cancer struggles with the torment of wanting the whole scenario to be over, while dreading the final loss of someone he loves so much.
With my mum’s stroke, with dementia, with long terminal illnesses, there is always a terrible conflict of emotions and grief.
‘Grieving for the relationship that has gone or changed is a very sad and difficult situation,’ explains Kathryn Smith, operations director of the Alzheimer’s Society.

‘Your parent or partner are not behaving in the way they used to, and people can feel grief and feelings relating to loss.’
Gemma Little, 33, from Northumberland was only 11 when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
For more than a decade she became her mother’s carer, and lost the loving support that her mother should have provided as she was growing up. ‘My dad had to do all those things I really needed my mum for, like puberty talks and girl stuff. The person I loved and often needed slowly disappeared and you become their carer, leaving you grieving for the person they were.’
 ‘People definitely didn’t recognise what we were going through as grief,’ she adds, tellingly.
‘It was hard at home, but it was hard at school as well because I got bullied. People used to say that my mum was mad because they would see her walking the dog and she would shout random things that she didn’t mean and didn’t understand.’
Sadly, Gemma’s mum died at the age of 64, just before Gemma’s 23rd birthday.
‘I thought it was a relief for her because it meant she wasn’t suffering any more,’ says Gemma.
‘It’s odd as well. You grieve as you go along because you are losing her as the dementia develops. I thought I was OK when she died, but then about a year afterwards I had a breakdown. I think you’re trying to be strong for everyone when it is happening, and all of a sudden what you’ve been through just hits you.’
So for those struggling with an often ambiguous, silent grief, what can they do?
As I discovered, it is really important to acknowledge your loss, identify your feelings and let yourself mourn the changes that have happened in your life.
It took nearly two years of debilitating grief before I realised I had to let go of the relationship with my mum that I so craved and come to terms with the new one.
It was summer and I had woken early so I went out for a run. As I crossed the beautifully deserted beach near my home, I was sobbing.
I realised I couldn’t continue to live life crippled by the grief of missing mum. It was stopping me enjoying every aspect of my life.
It was then I made the decision to let go of the relationship I was mourning for and to try to embrace the one we now had.
Later that day, I visited my mum and kissed her gently on the forehead. I left the house and walked around the park where we had taken endless walks together over the years before the stroke. Then I sat on our bench and looked to the skies and whispered a loving, tearful farewell.
It was agony. But when I returned, I kissed my mum again, knowing now I could carry on with the love and care she needed.
I never stopped missing her, but acknowledging things had changed for good helped me carry on.
‘Do not lock it up,’ advises Kathryn Smith. ‘Recognising and not being ashamed of that grief is important, as is making time for yourself each day.
‘It is not just grief for a relationship, but your own loss and the life you once had, so it’s important to consider your own needs.’
It is also important to focus on positive things you and the person you are caring for can still do together.
Dementia UK’s Admiral nurses can support families through that adjustment. They helped Maureen deal with Michael’s condition and to focus on care for herself.
‘I became aware of the Admiral nurses and attended one of their courses, learning so much about the condition,’ says Maureen. She bonded with others who understood her hidden grief. ‘I set up a private support line on Facebook and we still talk. Every day we pour out our feelings and exchange our personal advice.’
Maureen still visits Michael most days and mourns the loss of her relationship with her husband. But she also acknowledges the need to care for herself.
‘I learnt simple things like making a promise to do something for me. At the age of 78 I went to get my nails done for the first time in my life. I learned I am important, too.’
Gemma fundraises for Alzheimer’s UK and, as a nurse, often looks after dementia patients and can advise their family.
‘Acknowledge that this grief is very real then try to enjoy as much time as you can with your loved one,’ she says.
A year ago, my mum passed away in my arms, with my dad and brother holding her hands, almost six years after her stroke.
I miss her every day, but my grief began a long time ago, when I realised she would never again tell me she loved me.

SOURCE: Alana Kirk, Daily Mail

Scottish care home residents get a 'wee dram' on Burns night

Staff at a care home in Bo’ness in the central lowlands of Scotland, got out a drop of the hard stuff to get its residents in the party mood to celebrate the birth of poet Robert Burns on 25 January.

The Burns night in Woodlands care home dished up an evening with a truly Scottish flavour, with residents in high spirits enjoying sing-a-longs and a patriotic feast.

Scotch broth for party-goers was followed by a main course of haggis, neeps and tatties or square sausage stovies. For dessert, Scottish tablet ice cream, with shortbread and even a "wee dram" was on offer.

Senior care assistant, Jill Moffat believes said the importance of celebrating Burns Night at the care home, run by Bield Housing & Care, can be beneficial for residents.

She said: "Events like these give the tenants the chance to do something out of their normal routine and everyone thoroughly enjoyed celebrating such a patriotic event.

“And the tenants all got to sing a song or two.”

After the meal, residents took part in a Scottish-themed quiz followed a lively sing song of Auld Lang Syne.

SOURCE: Angeline Albert

Care home hits out at councils who provide 15-minute home care visits to people in need

A care home for the disabled which helps people in Burton and South Derbyshire has hit out at councils who provide 15-minute home care visits to people in need, amid concerns that the vulnerable are being deprived of 'appropriate and compassionate' care.

Leonard Cheshire Disability, which has a base in Netherseal named Newlands House, wants to put a stop to 'undignified and unsafe' care visits after it was revealed that at least 2,703 people in West Midlands received 15 minute care visits in 2015 and 2016.

Of these, 1,429 people live in areas where councils admit to still using 'flying' visits for personal care to support people with intimate needs such as washing, dressing and eating. More than 3,069 people in the East Midlands also received the short care visits.

In April 2015, the Government signed up to new statutory guidance from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nce) after it concluded compassionate and appropriate home care could not adequately be provided in less than 30 minutes. However, at least 34 out of 152 councils across England admit they still commission 15-minute visits to provide personal care to disabled and older people.

Leonard Cheshire Disability started campaigning to end these flying care visits through its Make Care Fair campaign, which started in 2013.

Neil Heslop, chief executive of Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: "We should not accept that disabled and older people are still having to endure the indignity and disrespect of receiving flying personal care visits.

"All of us need time to wash, eat and drink for ourselves, and 15 minutes is nowhere near enough to do these essential tasks if you need support. The reality is thousands of disabled people have to choose whether to go thirsty, go without a hot meal, or go without the toilet during these rushed visits.

"Councils should be observing official guidance and putting an end to 15 minute personal care visits for good. None of us would want our family and friends to receive personal care visits as short as 15 minutes, so we should not accept this happening across the country to anyone else."

Authorities covering the area have insisted that the length of social care visits in Burton and South Derbyshire depends on the needs of the person, with both Staffordshire and Derbyshire County Councils revealing that they only tend to use 15-minute visits for safe and well checks on the patient and time depends on the needs of that person and what they require help with.

Alan White, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for health, care and wellbeing, said: "We don't have a policy that insists on 15 minute calls. Instead our aim is to provide people with the right care that best suits their needs and ambitions, and allows them to live as independently as they wish for as long as possible. We work with the person to assess their needs and those of their carers, and what would be the best outcomes for them. This is then used to determine their personal budget, and the detailed package of care that this budget is spent on.

"As part of a wider package of care some people have a combination of shorter and longer visits depending on each particular task, for example, putting someone to bed would take longer than a simple safe and well check. These will always be tailored to the needs of the person receiving the care. We also use an electronic care monitoring system which enables us to monitor the amount of time care agencies are with people in their own homes, to ensure people are receiving the care they should."

A Derbyshire County Council spokesman said: "Fifteen minute calls are predominantly 'safe and well' checks and to remind people to take their medication, not to provide personal care. In many cases they are part of a wider package of support, and allow enough time to complete specific, time-limited tasks.

"We commission calls based on the assessed needs of clients and they are at the forefront of deciding when and how long calls should be and what tasks should be carried out within their available personal budget. Clients are involved in deciding what length of call they think is necessary to meet their care needs and this is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that people's needs and circumstances haven't changed.

"The council carries out hundreds of thousands of hours of high quality care to older and vulnerable people across the county every year, with some people receiving up to four visits per day. Running alongside home care, there are a number of other services including befriending, which can help people to combat loneliness and isolation and get out and about in their communities."

SOURCE: Burton Mail, Rhea Turner

Dementia 'smell test': Scientists develop an effective means of diagnosing the disease through a special scan involving the nose

A test for people who lose their sense of smell in the early stages of Alzheimer's could diagnose the condition before it strikes.

Scientists have developed a simple scan which may be able to pinpoint dementia before memory loss even begins.

The key is in someone's sense of smell, which starts to deteriorate in many neurological conditions, from Down's syndrome and schizophrenia to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

It is why there is a so-called 'peanut butter test' for people with Alzheimer's who are less able to sniff out the spread from a distance.

Scientists have developed a simple scan which may be able to pinpoint dementia before memory loss even begins. The key is in someone's sense of smell, which starts to deteriorate in many neurological conditions

However simple smell tests, according to a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, offer an incomplete picture, monitoring the sense of smell only after it is detected by the brain.

They have developed a PET scan, called Neuroflux, which avoids the need for a painful biopsy, and picks up the early signs of Alzheimer's in the nose.

The breakthrough, found to work effectively in mice, is hoped to lead to a test for all kinds of memory loss in adults, and not just Alzheimer's.

Lead author Dr Jacob Hooker said: 'I heard about the peanut test for Alzheimer's years ago. 

'A lot of beautiful research with smell tests has been published with many geared towards making them more robust, but there are lots of reasons that might not work very well, for example if someone has sinus inflammation due to a cold.

'By looking more directly at olfactory sensory neurons between the nose and brain, we can learn more about the health of the cells that are responsible for smell and extend into the brain. 

The breakthrough, found to work effectively in mice, is hoped to lead to a test for all kinds of memory loss in adults, and not just Alzheimer's

'This may provide a window into the brain and we hope this will ultimately help with early diagnosis.'

The link between the nose and the brain explains why people's memories are more strongly triggered by a smell, like an ex-partner's perfume, than by a photograph. 

Previous studies have shown smell tests can flag up everything from very mild memory loss to full-blown Alzheimer's disease.

That is because in many people hyposmia or anosmia – a partial or complete loss of the sense of smell – happens before cognitive problems in Alzheimer's and years before the tremors and loss of motor function caused by Parkinson's disease.

Charity Parkinson's UK said a new test could be a 'significant step forward' in diagnosing the condition earlier when people are most likely to benefit from treatment.

A PET scan is said by the researchers, whose study is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, to be better than sniff tests. 

Noisy hospitals can accelerate the course of dementia in elderly patients, experts found last week.

The confusion of busy waiting rooms or seeing different doctors and nurses can send patients into a rapid decline, according to a major study.

The research, led by University College London and the University of Cambridge, is the first to show that becoming acutely confused and disorientated - a condition known as delirium - can accelerate cognitive decline among patients with dementia. 

That is because it finds initial problems with odour detection and not just the higher-level processing of smells in the brain.

Biopsies work better by showing if olfactory sensory neurons have been lost, but are painful and technically difficult. 

MRI scans, also used to check for these neurons, can be challenging because they detect water and there is very little in the nose.

The new scan, which tracks a radioactive molecule injected into the body which flows through the nose, is hoped to hold the answer. 

If its signal reduces a few months between scans, this is a sign that there are fewer olfactory neurons. 

Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'There is evidence to suggest that someone's sense of smell could be impacted in the early stages of dementia. 

'This study looks at a new technique for detecting changes in the brain cells that are important for our sense of smell, and could help to explore this link further.

'However, because this method has only been tested in animals and not humans, it is too early to tell if this test could help improve diagnosis.'

SOURCE: Mail Online, Victoria Allen

Report calls for dementia-friendly care for people with a learning disability

People with learning disabilities - who are five times more likely than the general population to develop dementia - do not always have access to appropriate health and social care services, a new report has warned today.

A partnership of voluntary sector organisations have launched a new report calling for the early diagnosis of dementia in people with learning disabilities.

It also calls for improvements in policy and research in relation to people with learning disabilities and dementia.

Alzheimer’s Society chief executive, Jeremy Hughes, said: ‘We know that a timely diagnosis is essential for anyone who has dementia. For people with a learning disability, who are at higher risk of developing dementia at a much younger age, there is an even greater need and services have a responsibility to develop their knowledge and awareness of dementia to ensure they can recognise it, diagnose it and put in place the support and services that people with learning disabilities and their families have a right to expect in order to help them live well.’

Executive director of the National Care Forum, Vic Rayner, added: ‘It is critical that we broaden our understanding of how dementia affects people with learning disabilities, and this report provides valuable insight into the importance of existing and future research in this area.

'In addition, it provides a vital contribution to helping understand how delivery can be developed to offer more appropriate and effective support.’

The partnership of organisations include VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group), Alzheimer’s Society, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, MacIntyre and the National Care Forum (NCF).

SOURCE: localgov, Laura Sharman

Urgent need to help younger people tackle dementia as number of under-65s in Scotland being treated soars

The number of people under 65 being treated for dementia in Scotland has risen by a third in the past six years.

New figures show the number of Scots under 65 who are being treated for dementia is up from 777 in 2014/15 to 808 in 2015/16.

SCOTTISH NEWS AND SPORT

Former Dundee United star Frank Kopel died aged 65 after battling dementia

And the rise has led to further calls for a new law to widen free care services for younger patients.

The Frank’s Law campaign is named after former Dundee United footballer Frank Kopel, who died aged 65 six years after being diagnosed with dementia but did not qualify for free personal care due to his age.

His widow Amanda set up the campaign in a bid to ensure other families avoid facing financial hardships in addition to coping with the effect of the disease on loved ones.

Among those treated in 2015/16 were four patients aged between 15 and 29, nine between 30 and 39 and a total of 43 aged between 40 and 49. 

SCOTTISH NEWS AND SPORT

In addition, there were 85 patients aged between 50 and 54, 228 between 55 and 59 and 439 between 60 and 65.

The Scottish Conservatives said the figures show a change is needed in the care of younger dementia patients and are backing the Frank’s Law campaign.

Scottish Conservative mental health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “It’s understandable that dementia is an illness still very much associated with the older generation but these figures show that it’s becoming increasingly prevalent in those below that age and we can’t afford to be blindsided by that.

Miles Briggs wants to see laws introduced to help treat younger sufferers of dementia

“Even though people in those age groups make up a minority of the total cases, we are still talking about hundreds of people receiving treatment each year, and that number is rising.

“Frank’s Law campaigners have worked hard to ensure politicians are acutely aware of the challenges faced by those who are struck by dementia at an unusually young age.

What is dementia and how does it affect the brain?

"We now need to take that on and ensure this is put into legislation, and I hope the Scottish Government enables that to happen."

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "The Scottish Government is committed to protecting free personal and nursing care, and to examining the extension of free personal and nursing care to those under 65.

ALAMY

Shona Robison says the SNP are working to improve the way they treat dementia

"We have already invested £6million to increase the income threshold at which someone becomes liable for charges and we will continue to take action to make the system fairer still.

"From April 1 2017, armed forces veterans will have income from war pensions disregarded from social care financial assessments.

"We are transforming the way we treat dementia so more people have their independence for longer and working towards greater supported self-management at home."

SOURCE: Scottish Sun, Laura Paterson

Tips on how to make organizing your personal, financial affairs easy

Organizing your key information and getting your personal and financial affairs in order is a great gift to your loved ones.

To help you get started, your first step is to gather up all of your important personal, financial and legal information so you can arrange it in a format that will benefit you now, and your loved ones later.

Then you’ll need to sit down and create various lists of important information and instructions of how you want certain things handled when you die or if you become incapacitated. Here’s a checklist of areas you need to focus on.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Contacts: Make a master list of names and phone numbers of close friends, clergy, doctors, and professional advisers such as your lawyer, accountant, broker and insurance agent.

Medical information: Include a list of medications you and your spouse take, along with any allergies and illnesses.

Personal documents: Include such items as your birth certificates, Social Security cards, marriage license, military discharge papers, etc.

Secured places: List all the places you keep under lock and key, or protected by password, such as safe deposit boxes, safe combination, security alarms, etc.

Service providers: Provide contact information of the companies or people who provide you regular services such as utility companies, lawn service, etc.

Pets: If you have a pet, give instructions for the care of the animal.

End of life: Indicate your wishes for organ and tissue donation (see organdonor.gov), and write out your funeral instructions. If you’ve made pre-arrangements with a funeral home include a copy of agreement, their contact information and whether you’ve prepaid or not.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Will, trust and estate plan: Include the original copy of your will and other estate planning documents you’ve made.

Financial power of attorney: This document names someone you trust to handle money matters if you’re incapacitated.

Advance health care directives: These documents (see caringinfo.org) — a living will and medical power of attorney — spell out your wishes regarding your end-of-life medical treatment when you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

FINANCIAL RECORDS

Financial accounts: Make a list of all your bank accounts, brokerage and mutual fund accounts, and any other financial assets you have.

Debts and liabilities: Make a list of any loans, leases or debt you have — mortgages owed, car loans, student loans, medical bills, credit card debts. Also, make a list of all credit and charge cards, including the card numbers and contact information.

Company benefits: List any retirement plans, pensions or health benefits from your current or former employer including the contact information of the benefits administrator.

Insurance: List the insurance policies you have (life, long-term care, home, auto, Medicare, Medigap, prescription drug, etc.) including the policy numbers, agents and phone numbers.

Property: List real estate, vehicles and other properties you own, rent or lease and include documents such as deeds, titles, and loan or lease agreements.

Taxes: Include the location of your tax records and your tax preparer’s contact information.

Keep all your organized information and files together in one convenient location, ideally in a fireproof filing cabinet or safe in your home. Also be sure to review and update it every year, and don’t forget to tell your loved ones where they can find it.

SOURCE: News Tribune, Jim Miller

Care home has blood on its hands over my mother's death: Daughter accuses staff after her mum died eight weeks after being evicted over complaints about her treatment

A retired nurse has accused care home staff of having 'blood on their hands' after her mother was evicted and later died following complaints over her treatment.

Marjorie Pitman, 96, who had dementia, was served notice to leave the luxury £1,000-a-week Avon Reach Care Home after her daughters accused carers of 'unsafe' practice.

Maggie Pitman, 71, claimed the home, in Mudeford, Dorset, had a huge turnover of staff.

She said staff took too long to change her mother's soiled underwear, would not give her enough water to drink, and increased the dosage of her medication unnecessarily, leaving her drowsy.

But owners Colten Care dismissed the concerns as 'unfounded' and gave the 96-year-old 28 days to leave the home, where she had lived for three years.

Miss Pitman claims the stress of the move to another home caused her mother to die eight weeks later.

'For some reason they just weren't prepared to take on board our concerns and do much about them and it was easier for them to give the resident notice because they don't want the aggro,' she said.

'She was so distraught, she couldn't work out why we had moved her.

'Everyone said she would live to 100. They have blood on their hands. We're left with the guilt because we brought complaints and, because of that, they gave her notice. We had to raise the concerns because it was unsafe.'

Mrs Pitman, a widow, entered Avon Reach in August 2012. She had been suffering from mild vascular dementia and mobility problems, and her daughters, Miss Pitman and Pauline Darley, thought it would best if she was in care. The home was rated 'good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

But Miss Pitman, of Hordle, Hampshire, claimed the poor care at the home forced her to care for her mother every day. In summer 2015, Mrs Pitman was transferred to the Ocean Breeze home, in nearby Barton on Sea, where she died.

Colten Care said Mrs Pitman died 'some time' after she left Avon Reach. Mark Aitchison, chief executive of Colten Care, said: 'The decision to serve notice was a last resort and not taken lightly. It followed a continual succession of unfounded complaints from Marjorie Pitman's daughters over a number of years.

'We investigated and acted upon each complaint but once one concern was addressed, another would be raised by the family, and then another, and so on. Frankly the situation had become untenable.

'We invited the CQC into Avon Reach to review our policies and procedures. They requested an investigation, which revealed no concerns over care. Likewise, Mrs Pitman's GP found nothing untoward. Complaints by the daughters against specific nurses were made to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, fully investigated and again found to have no substance.'

SOURCE: Mail Online, Tom Payne

Elderly couple who fled Australia for Scotland to stay together could be torn apart after heartless officials reject wife's visa

An elderly couple who fled Australia because social ­workers wanted to put them in separate homes face being torn apart again after Home Office bosses knocked back the wife’s visa application.

Frail John Cruickshank, 81, and his wife Cheryl, 66, moved to Scotland when local authorities said they weren’t ­capable of living unsupervised.

Despite their ruling, the couple were able to travel round the world, spending some of their life savings and cash from the sale of their home in ­Maryborough, Queensland. They live unaided because they fear authorities here might move John into a care home.

John, who was born in Rathven, near Buckie, Banffshire, and who emigrated in 1964, has been with Aussie Cheryl for more than 20 years.

The couple decided to flee the country in 2012 and moved to ­Forres, Moray.

The couple initially managed to get round Home Office red tape by flying to Cyprus and renewing Cheryl’s visitors’ visa every few months.

They tied the knot in Paphos in 2015. It was hoped their ­wedding would boost Cheryl’s chances of remaining in the UK ­permanently.

But officials have refused her bid to stay on compassionate grounds and she was told to make arrangements to have left the country by the end of December.

Cheryl, who is also John’s carer, says they face an uncertain future.

They claim they’ve already paid ­Manchester firm Immigration Advice Service £2000 to lodge an appeal.

Cheryl said: “I don’t know how John would cope if I have to leave. I’m his sole carer. We don’t want him to go into a home.

 “I dress him, wash him, give him his medication and even have to cut all of his food up and put it in the blender.

“I have to put him to bed and dress and undress him.”

Housebound John was cared for by a neighbour while Cheryl was hospitalised for six weeks in 2015. The dad of four has had a series of strokes since he returned to Scotland.

Cheryl, who has had epilepsy since her teens, added: “We came back to ­Scotland because they were going to put John in a home and me in a women’s hostel. They said we couldn’t look after each other.

“He used to care for me when I had bad seizures and now the roles are reversed and I care for John. We don’t want to be apart and we can’t go back to Australia. We’ve got great neighbours and we have support – John has children and grandchildren in Fife and Aberdeenshire.”

John said: “I need Cheryl, she looks after me, she’s my carer. We don’t know what we will do if she goes.”

Cheryl said she can stay in the UK while her appeal is processed although the Home Office say they have yet to receive any paperwork. She added: “I’ve been told I can stay here for around six to eight months while it’s dealt with.

 “I bring money into the ­country because of my pension from Australia. We don’t know where to turn for help, we just want to be together.”

The SNP’s Angus Robertson, the pair’s ­constituency MP, is asking the Home Office to grant Cheryl’s visa.

He said: “It seems to me that Cheryl’s application to reside in Scotland is ­perfectly reasonable. They married relatively recently but have been together for many years. This is good reason in itself to be able to live in Scotland.

“Over and above this, Mr Cruickshank has unfortunately suffered significant ill health and, as a result, Cheryl is his carer. This is a deserving case and I’m ­urging the Home Office to take a ­sympathetic view of their case.”

The Home Office said: “All applications are considered on their individual ­merits, including any ­exceptional or compassionate circumstances, and in line with the Immigration Rules.”

SOURCE: Daily Record, Lynn Mc Pherson