Today I was a guest on CBC Radio One's "Wild Rose" show out of Calgary. Listeners phoned in to ask me questions about dealing with ageing family members. The phone lines lit up with one caller after another right to the very end of the program.
The response to the program certainly illustrates how many of us are dealing with family, economic, medical and legal issues that arise when a parent begins to lose mental capacity. It was encouraging that so many people are willing to help and are actively looking for information about what they can do.
Most of the topics covered in the program are also covered in my book "Protect Your Elderly Parents". That is a good starting place if you want to know more about incapacity, what you can do to help and how to stay out of legal trouble once you are acting for an ageing parent.
Another place to ask for help and information is at your bank. Most people wouldn't think to ask their banker about planning for incapacity, but all personal banking officers, customer service managers and branch managers are trained in how to respond to questions about where to get information on Wills, Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives. For example, I work in-house for the Scotiabank group (but that doesn't mean you have to be a Scotiabank customer to access my services!).
If any of you were among today's callers, thanks for listening to the program and sharing your family stories.
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