I write and talk a lot about planning ahead for medical decisions, about how to think through and document your medical wishes, but what about planning and decision making in the context of dementia? Maybe you have a new diagnosis of some kind of dementia and are considering your own future, or maybe you are caring for someone with dementia who no longer has capacity to make medical decisions for themselves. Either way, there is so much to consider! Either way, it requires some thoughtful planning and possibly difficult conversations.

I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on the podcast Life on Repeat. This is a great podcast for caregivers of people with dementia. In this episode, Laura Vaillancourt and I discuss this topic in detail. We talk about the medical decisions that might come up for a person with dementia, how to plan for them, how to document wishes, how to think through decisions for someone who can no longer speak for themselves. We explain the services of palliative care and hospice, and the difference between the two. And finally, we talk about how to navigate all of this if you are the caregiver.

These are not easy issues, but this podcast offers some guidance. I hope you’ll listen: lifeonrepeatpodcast.com/decision-making