Doctors, attorneys to host Alzheimer’s symposium

Families dealing with Alzheimer’s and similar diseases often need more than a good doctor for proper testing and the latest treatments. They also may need an attorney to make sure their end-of-life care wishes are honored and guide their estate planning, experts say.

So the Broward County Bar Association and the Broward County Medical Association are, for the first time, jointly hosting a dementia education symposium on Saturday, where leaders from both professions will share the stage. The program, at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, is aimed at giving caregivers and patients upto-date information, research and tips in a layperson’s language, said Arlene Lakin, a board-certified elder law attorney behind the symposium.

“I want to reach the families, not just offer training for professionals,” said Lakin, of Margate, who does volunteer advocacy work for people with developmental disabilities. “The medical people are the ones who can help through the medical process. The lawyers can help with preserving assets and dealing with costs.”

The “Dementia Symposium: Medical and Legal Perspectives” will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and costs $25. Topics include: applying for veterans’ benefits that can help pay for dementia care; whether to purchase longterm care insurance; the symptoms of different types of dementias; and donating organs to Florida brain banks.

Lakin’s personal experience prompted her to approach the two associations last year about organizing a co-conference. Her late husband, Dr. Clifford Lakin, was a Fort Lauderdale trauma surgeon when he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2010 at age 67. She said his co-workers realized something was wrong when he could not find the operating room one day.

After her husband died in October, Lakin discovered the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Bank, which furthers research on the mysterious disease, and donated his brain. “I want people to learn more about these things,” she said. “I wanted to put on [the symposium] as a tribute to my husband, that his suffering was not for naught.”

Lakin said understanding dementia, for which there is no cure, can help people make plans while there is time.

When it comes to seeking an attorney’s help, for example, people often wait until the patient is no longer legally competent to make decisions, she said.

Cynthia Peterson, the medical association’s executive vice president, said Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are an important topic, as the numbers of those affected rise.

By 2025, the state’s Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative projects that 720,000 Floridians will be living with the disorder, compared with about a half-million now.

“We are very excited to be co-sponsoring this event with the bar association,” Peterson said. “It’s something we all need to think about.”