Options for specific help

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Sometimes you may need help with specific issues. Perhaps your loved one is experiencing some signs of memory loss. Maybe you are a caregiver and need extra support. Or you may need legal help to prevent elder abuse or stand up for someone in a facility.

Here are the options you can learn more about in this section:

• Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementiaaffect people in different ways. However, all involve memory loss, challenges in planning or solving problems, and difficulty in completing familiar tasks. Services for those touched by dementia include learning about the disease, help in the home and support for family caregivers. Many community services can often be helpful for people to stay safe and as independent as possible.


• Caregiver support programs help those who provide support to a family member or friend. Services include education, community support groups and in-home help. Respite services give caregivers a break from their role.


• Legal assistance can be critical to planning for and solving problems with long-term services and supports. Oregon private and Legal Aid attorneys can help you establish your legal rights, interests and care choices. Lawyers can also address care-related problems; examples are helping someone whose public benefits have been denied or who has landlord or utility issues.


• Preventing elder abuse includes keeping it from happening in the first place. It also means keeping it from continuing. Immediately contact Adult Protective Services or law enforcement if you suspect elder abuse.


• Long-term Care Insurance, people don't want to think that they may someday need long-term care and they don't plan for it. Others assume, incorrectly, that Medicare or their health insurance policies will cover the costs. But every year, this failure to plan for the future costs thousands of American families their life savings. The best time to plan for long-term care is before it becomes necessary.


• Area Agencies on Aging contract with public agencies and/or private businesses to provide services to elderly residents in their communities. In some cases, the AAA acts as the service provider if no local contractor is available