Step 1: Consult your doctor
Get a diagnosis as early as possible based on a thorough memory assessment or cognitive evaluation. Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease to delay the process of progression is available and is most effective early in the disease process.
Step 2: Educate yourself and others about Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease can bring new and unfamiliar challenges for you and your family. Learning about it can help you prepare for the future and can help your loved ones with effective caregiving skills providing a better quality of life for all of you.
Step 3: Get support from others
Support can come from various sources not only your family. Your friends and neighbors can help you too. Community services and care providers are likewise available too. To know more about care providers/centers you may visit We Can Help You section of this website.
Step 4: Plan your future
In the early stages, you can still be actively involved in making decisions for the future, these may lessen confusion and disagreements when plans need to be implemented. Hold a family meeting, set up clear lines of communication and be empathetic with each other. To know more about how you can plan your future you may visit Financial and Legal Matters section of this website.
Step 5: Stay Positive, take care of yourself
Accept your changing feelings and be easy on yourself. Stay active, get involved, laugh as much as possible and enjoy more time with family and friends. You may visit Living Well with Dementia section of this website for more information on how to take good care of yourself.