The Long Island Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association hosted a free 2023 Legal and Financial Planning Conference recenlty at the Four Points by Sheraton, Melville in Plainview. The conference featured speakers including Ronald Fatoullah, Esq., Christina Noon, Esq., Jaime Lewis, Esq., and Donna Stefans, Esq.
The conference was intended for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, their care partners, and family members. Topics that were covered included Advance Directives and Guardianships, Medicaid Institutional Medical and Nursing Home Care, Asset Protection Trusts, and Protecting the Family Home. Free Respite care provided by Home Companion Services with activities by Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center (LIADC).
Christina Noon (above) is also on the board of directors for the Alzheimer’s Association. “It is a phenomenal group of people. We vary in our demographics, we’re eclectic, but we are all really united in this cause.”
“It’s a phenomenal opportunity for individuals who just want to get the information and learn, and not have expectations of what they have to do immediately. When you get into this situation,” as Noon can attest from personal experience, “It is a big burden. On both the individual and for health care facilities.” Noon, who witnessed her own family’s care of her grandmother when she developed Alzheimer’s, wants to express the importance of tackling the legal and medical side of the equation as early as possible. This, she notes, will ease some of the burden, and allow families to focus on the emotional side of caring for their loved one(s).
“Care is in crisis right now, in New York, and so many unpaid carers go unnoticed and unsupported.” Noon relayed a recent study which quotes unpaid care somewhere in the ballpark of $3 billion, and 49 billion collective hours. Reports of caregivers having chronic health conditions have also increased by 7 percent in recent years. Projected national costs are expected to reach over $1 trillion by 2050.
This is why Noon supports events like this, where focus is placed not only on the affected individual(s) but also the community of care surrounding them. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re not just focusing on the person who has [the condition], we’re looking at the caregivers, the families. The entire picture. We want to make sure we protect everyone involved.”
The association also has a 24-hour helpline, which is reachable at: 1 (800) 272 – 3900.
About Alzheimer’s Association®
The Alzheimer’s Association is a worldwide voluntary health organization dedicated to Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s and all other dementia®. Visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900.
–Additional information provided by Alzheimer’s Association and Christina Noon
