Research from the World Health Organization shows that people are living longer. However, this isn’t all good news, as many people may not recognize the potential for suffering serious medical conditions in their later years. By 2030, one in six people all over the world will be at least 60 years old.
This means that many countries are experiencing a significant surge in older populations, which raises many serious and complex health concerns. These can include things such as higher risk for dementia, overall frailty, urinary incontinence, neck and back pain, hearing loss, cataracts, pressure ulcers, COPD, depression, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. Some individuals will even experience more than one of these at the same time.
If you don’t think you’ll be impacted, you’re wrong: over 70% of people aged 65.6 and above will need some kind of long-term care support in their future. Some may require ongoing care or a permanent stay at a nursing home. If you have not considered the possibility and how you might pay for it, you need to think now about how you might qualify for Medicaid in NH by speaking with an elder lawyer.
Creating a long-term care plan is an important component of establishing your goals for your individual estate. This helps you to articulate the types of medical choices you want made regarding your care and even can appoint other people to help make these decisions on your behalf should you trust them and name them to do so. There are many complicated components to establishing a complete long term care plan, which makes it even more important to identify a lawyer in your region who has the appropriate experience, understanding and compassion to help you craft a plan that is aligned with your individual needs.