Signs It's Time to talk to Allaire

Growing old is never easy, as we all know. During our lives, we take time to evaluate what we can and cannot do for ourselves. When we’re kids, we check who can run the fastest compared to other kids. When we’re teenagers, we start to check how tall we are. When we’re adults, we make sure to not get too ambitious in joining the kids on the trampoline without stretching. But when we’re reaching elderly age, we need to make another checklist to make sure that we’re living at our best, and to help ourselves.

To ensure that you stay at your best, and are able to continue to safely live in the least restrictive environment possible (hopefully at home!), there’s a test on physical ability that can be used to determine if you need some help. These tasks are:

• Walking: Needing supervision or physical assistance
• Bathing: No fear of falling or having an unsteadiness on your feet
• Dressing: Having someone help dress you, even if it’s seasonal/occasional.
• Toileting: Unable to maintain hygiene as well as getting sick due to this. Wearing depends.
• Transfers: Unable to get out of chair/bed alone
• Feeding yourself: Unable to cut food and use eating utensils

But physical tests are not the only possible signs. There are memory risks as well:

• Wandering without any reason
• Getting lost going to a familiar location
• Forgetting names of close family or friends
• Forgetting to change, or looking unkempt
• Putting items in places that are strange or don’t belong
• Leaving the stove on without knowing
• Might not be able to call 911 in an emergency
• Unable to leave home in case of an emergency
• Forgetting to pay the bills leading to utility shutoff

These tests are called the Activities of Daily Living. These are used to help determine whether you or a loved one can apply for free care through Medicaid. If you can check off two of the five physical need boxes for the items above, or just the mental risk box, then it might be a sign that it is time to see an elder law attorney.

Attorney Halley C. Allaire is principal in the law firm of Allaire Elder Law, a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc., with an office at 271 Farmington Avenue, Bristol, (860) 259-1500, or on the web at www.allaireelderlaw.com. If you have a question, send a note to Attorney Halley C. Allaire and your question may be discussed in a future column.