By Erin Wood, CFP®, Senior Vice President, Financial Planning and Advanced Solutions, Carson Group
My paternal grandmother was the type of woman who was always bustling with activity, whether it was hosting post-church lunches every Sunday or helping a neighbor in need. So, it was a bit of a shock when, in her 80s, a police officer informed us that she had been found wandering her neighborhood late at night on more than one occasion.
It turned out she was suffering from something called sundowning — a symptom of dementia where someone becomes more agitated or has delusions in the late afternoon or evening. Because she lived alone, her daytime demeanor didn’t give anyone cause for concern.
This discovery sent my family into a tailspin. Aunts and uncles (my father is one of 10) descended on her house and weighed the options: Should they move her to a nursing home? Get her round-the-clock care? Tag team, to make sure she was never alone?
Read the full article on TheStreet.
