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PRESERVING INDEPENDENCE IN THE CASE OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: GIVING UP WORK

on April 2nd, 2009 by admin

Many people who develop dementia do so after they have retired, and therefore don’t have to contemplate giving up their job. When dementia strikes during working life, the situation can be particularly distressing. What to do about it will depend entirely upon the abilities of the sufferer and the nature of the job. One elderly lady who developed dementia was able to carry on her work as a seamstress until she was seventy by being given increasingly simple tasks by an understanding employer. On the other hand a young person in an extremely demanding and complicated job, such as accountancy, or a person who has to make important management decisions that affect others, may have to resign much earlier. If at all practicable this is a decision that should be made tactfully and sympathetically by the sufferer, the sufferer’s family, and the employer, taking into account medical advice. Unfortunately it isn’t always possible to proceed in this way and very often the employer will approach the next of kin, often feeling guilty and apprehensive, to discuss the need for the sufferer to give up work.

There are many problems surrounding early retirement. It is important to take advice about the financial consequences, as being able to retire at sixty rather than fifty-nine may make an important difference. Sometimes extended sick-leave or a change in the nature of the job may make it possible for retirement to be deferred to a time that would be financially advantageous.

Don’t forget that retiring or resigning because of dementia is a matter of ill health, just as if it were the result of a more obvious physical illness.

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