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Publication Date

2001

Abstract

With the rise in dementia, 2nd and 3rd party disputes will be more frequent. The elderly population with cognitive impairments is growing rapidly. By 2030, the population aged 65 years and older is expected to reach 70 million, more than double the number in 1998.1 Moreover, the older population itself is getting older. While a decline in mental function is not an inevitable part of the normal aging process, the likelihood of dementia or related brain disorders increases with advancing age. The prevalence of dementia doubles every five years in the elderly, growing from a disorder that affects one percent of sixty year-olds to a condition afflicting approximately thirty to forty-five percent of eighty-five year-olds.' According to the Alzheimer's Association, one in ten persons over sixty-five and nearly half of those over eighty-five have Alzheimer's disease. Today, four million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and by the year 2050, this number is expected to grow to fourteen million, unless a cure or prevention is found.8 Conflicts in which one or more parties has some degree of cognitive impairment might be parent-grown child, spouse-spouse, sibling-sibling, neighbor-neighbor, caregiver-recipient, resident-staff, resident/family-staff or resident-family/staff These wrenching conflicts might lock families in larger battles over how to proceed and often are longstanding familial disputes masquerading in a new form. They might pit individuals at risk against powerful institutions. They frequently focus on everyday struggles for autonomy, but sometimes involve key life decisions.

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