You suspect that your parent may show beginning symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. How do you convince him/her to see a physician, if he/she?

Fortunately, there is a great deal of information out there to help with this very thing. Here is an example, called "How to Get a Parent With Alzheimer's to Accept Care," which offers a list of helpful tips when it comes to supporting the parent and not stirring up unnecessary embarrassment or defensiveness: ehow.com/how_2295100_get-parent-alzheime... If people absolutely refuse help and cannot be reasoned with whatsoever despite the concerns of family members, but are truly endangering themselves, then I am of the attitude that I'll manipulate or take action whether they like it or not. For example, I might go so far as to make an appointment with a good physician and pretend the appointment is for me, and tell the person that I really need him or her to come with me for support.

Then, preferably with the help of additional family members, I'd sit with the doctor in a safe, welcoming environment to talk about the situation. If you find your parent wandering off, then he or she might not even know who you are at the time. As quesera mentioned, it may be necessary to call 911.

There's no shame in enlisting the help of the local hospital, mental hospital or police when it comes to the protection of loved ones, even when you are protecting a person from herself/himself. If the parent does recognize you and cooperates enough to get into the car with you to go for a ride, that can be handy because you can drive them to a hospital or other safe place before they've even realized what's happening. Here is a solid piece of advice from one helpful article: "Join support groups and learn all you can about Alzheimer’s and new treatments to better help your loved one.

Let them know they are loved and cared for while you still can then make them as comfortable and safe as possible as the disease progresses. Know ahead of time that the day will come when they will no longer recognize you and other family members but don’t let that stop you from visiting and caring for them. " essortment.com/all/expectparentde_tvyl.htm Denial, anger and fear are all part of the process, so it's important to stay focused on what you can actually do about it.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/Guide-to-Caring-for-a-Parent-with-Alzheimers.aspx The more assistance, information and coping strategies you can gain from support groups, the Internet, your own doctor or any other resource you can come up with, the better off you'll be in remaining calm yourself and finding solutions to problems that come up. Here is an interesting article on "Brain-Stretching Activities for a Parent with Alzheimer's," which mentions things to avoid, such as "talking down" to the parent or pushing him/her too hard when he/she is feeling overwhelmed or mixed-up. http://health.msn.com/health-topics/alzheimers-disease/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100230450 Ultimately, the diagnosis and ongoing medical care is so very important, because it could be Alzheimer's or something completely different.

Knowledge is power in these situations.

That's tricky. Even though you see a serious safety risk, and there are some objective facts, such as "you WERE disoriented and wandering around LOST," they are not going to listen no matter how much evidence there is. If I thought it would work to say something like "I know you don't think there's anything wrong, and you're probably right, but if you would go for my peace of mind, I would appreciate it.

Please just humor me. " then I would try that. If that wouldn't work, I might try something like explaining to them that I'm worried it could be a blood pressure issue, signs of a stroke, or something that didn't involve actually saying Alzheimer's (I think some people associate that with being called crazy or incompetent).

Then I would call the doctor ahead of time and explain the situation. If they just didn't want to go to a doctor at all, I would call 911 the next time they were completely disoriented and just get them into an evaluation while they were still unable to process the situation. That would probably piss them off, but I think I would just put my foot down and explain that I was scared for them, no medical care was not an option, and so long as I'm worried they could be having a serious emergency, I will call help.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.