Living alone with Alzheimer's

[BungleGirl]

I hoped that I wouldn't be having to be posting about this so soon but I need some help.

A family member of mine is developing symptoms of Alzheimer's (we have the Presenelin 1 mutation in our family) in her late 30's. She lives alone and I don't think that she will be able to continue working for much longer. She has a mortgage and other debts and I'm very worried about how she will be able to get by once she is unable to work.

Does anyone have any experience of a loved one in a similar situation - living alone with no partner? I'm thinking that if we get an EPA sorted out we might be able to talk to the credit card companies to see if they will write of her debts as presumably they can't pursue her legally if she is unable to make the payments and has Alzheimer's? Does anyone know if there are any benefits that she could claim to help towards her mortgage payments?

I hate to think that she might lose her home as she feels safe and secure in her own home.

Any experience or thoughts about this would be very much appreciated.

BG x

 

[Tin]

Only a tiny bit of experience and one thought - would be a good idea to talk to Citizens Advice-just amazingly helpful people.

For my mother, 82 with Vascular Dementia, we only managed to get one utility debt disregarded and only after prove of Dementia diagnosis.

That's it, sorry I cannot give you anymore advice but definitely more people on here that have far more knowledge.

 

[malc]

all depending on equity and debt,she might be better off selling the property and getting a sheltered flat/bungalow through the council,if debt small and lots of equity,smi will pay the interest on the mortgage and p.i.p/dla and esa will help with everything else,problem being if you have too much money in the bank your help decreases ie income support.

 

[AlsoConfused]

As your family member lives alone I think it's particularly important she gets onto Social Services "radar" ASAP - care assessment, social worker support etc. Poor her! She must be so frightened.

 

[fizzie]

It might be a good idea to look at extra care or flexicare housing. In our area this is allocated on need. It means that people have their own flat, pay rent which includes utilities apart from phones and there is a care team on site 24 hours a day. It is from 55 plus so there are younger people in the schemes who are still working and there is a lunch club and activities. obviously when her money runs out then normal housing benefit etc will kick in seamlessly. She would be an ideal candidate because it would give her independence without the stress.

 

[danonwheels]

I'm not exactly what you'd call experienced at this having only been diagnosed with young onset Alzheimers in February, but I am also in my late 30s and live alone.

I have a number of other disabilities and health problems as well and use a wheelchair to get around and I live in a ground floor specially built accessible flat belonging to a housing association called Habinteg. They have properties all over the country, if your friend does think of selling her own property and moving it might be useful to get onto their waiting list. I waited just over 2 years for this flat but it was worth the wait as it is fully accessible and has a wet room etc.

Apart from that, she may need some support from others at some point. Someone else has mentioned about getting onto social services' radar, which is a good idea but she might need time to get her head around the idea first.

All the best to you and her.