MOSES LAKE — No question, wrote attorney Bruce Pinkerton, “Dementia-Alzheimer’s is a life-changing event. However, it does not have to be the end of the world for the family or the caregiving loved ones.”

Pinkerton, a Moses Lake lawyer, was one of the speakers and experts at “Aging Isn’t for Sissies,” sponsored by the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation Thursday. The presentation focused on medical and legal challenges that come with a diagnosis of dementia, and how families can start finding ways to cope with those challenges.

Moses Lake physician Michael Graham said the key to recognizing dementia, whatever its form, is how it affects the ability to function. Problems with recall are normal as people get older, he said, and that’s not dementia. “It’s when you can’t function,” Graham said.

During the question and answer session, Graham was asked if there are ways to avoid or delay the onset of dementia. “That’s the $64,000 question,” he said. “Or maybe it’s a million now.”

There’s “pretty good evidence” that an exercise program helps prevent dementia, he said. “It doesn’t have to be a particular kind of exercise. But it should be regular.” Graham suggested 30 minutes per day, if possible. “Something that gets the heart rate up a little bit.”

There is “some evidence,” he said, that good nutrition helps avoid dementia. He also suggested “cognitive exercise,” where people challenge themselves. “Bridge, not Go Fish.”

A diagnosis of dementia is a scary time, said Tara Zamarron, nurse practitioner at Samaritan Clinic. But there are ways to help families get through it.

Resources are available to help families make those decisions that a dementia diagnosis requires. “The planning can be really complicated, and it can be quite an overwhelming time, but it doesn’t have to be. When you look at it in a systematic way, you can address it.”

Families should sit down and discuss what happens next, and how they plan to deal with the coming changes, she said. She recommended an AARP guide that details some of the steps in the process.

Pinkerton discussed some of the legal issues that come with a dementia diagnosis. “In the legal arena (dementia) causes incapacity.” People should have “good, well-drafted (estate) planning documents,” he said. Those include a will, health care directives, financial and medical powers of attorney. “Plan, plan, plan.”

The most important, he said, is the financial power of attorney. “It’s critical – the most important document. If you don’t have any other document, in my field, a well-drafted financial power of attorney is the best thing to have.” Pinkerton said documents that aren’t drafted properly will make it very challenging for caregivers and families to do what they need to do.

If people need to apply for Medicaid, “the earlier you obtain advice from an experienced elder law attorney, the greater the possibility of preserving some or all the assets,” Pinkerton wrote.

When the dementia patient stays at home, the caregivers need to take care of themselves too, he said. “You only have so much battery life in your emotions and your health when you give care at home.” Very few of his clients, he said, can take care of the patient at home; sooner or later most families will have to start thinking about long-term care options.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.