ROANOKE, Va. – When you lose a loved one to Alzheimer’s, you often have to lose them twice.
“You have to deal with losing the loved one they once were, and then you have to lose them again ultimately to the disease at the end. So, you have to go through the grief process in two different situations,” caretaker Casey Halstead said.
Casey Halstead has worked with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s for years — but knows firsthand the struggles.
She sat down with us to talk about her personal experience as a caretaker for her grandfather.
“All along, my grandma was there every single day. Between work, my mom and I and my aunt, we were all there as additional support for him and to help her help him,” Halstead said.
This disease takes more than lives — according to Halstead, it takes a lot of money.
“The cost for people to stay at home and get that home care, you know things are anywhere from $30-$50 an hour to have someone come into your home. And for that generation, that’s a really big thing,” she said.
And if you don’t want to do home care? Memory care facilities can often cost even more.
“I know of some families paying up to $10,000 a month,” Halstead said.
After hearing this, we looked for the numbers ourselves.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2022, the lifetime cost for someone with Alzheimer’s was nearly $400,000.
10 News spoke with the Community Programs manager for the Southeastern Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, Douglas Panto.
He tells us it’s a sad reality.
“Especially with this tax season coming up, plan early, if you know you’re having to provide care,” Panto said.
Another cost to worry about? Fraud.
“There’s abuse that can happen with individuals with dementia because they may not understand, ‘Oh, I already paid that bill,’” Panto said.
Halstead says there are ways to find support both emotionally and financially.
“It’s a whole community of people out there,” she said.
10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman knows firsthand the impact of Alzheimer’s on a family.
Her grandmother, Margaret Coleman, had early-onset Alzheimer’s, and passed away just a couple of years ago.
She watched her grandfather, Tate Coleman, become her best friend and caretaker right until the end — showing her the cost is well worth it.
You can find the Alzheimer’s Association’s financial education program Managing Money: A Caregiver’s Guide to Finances here.
