Dementia is often categorized as a part of aging, which means the financial costs associated with dementia care are not protected as “essential” or “necessary”. Care facilities are often bound by law to charge fees that they know are higher than the patient’s family can afford, yet they must cover high costs themselves that can only be lowered by legislation. While hospitals may receive tax breaks, private care facilities receive no “cushion”, thus denying care to too many people who desperately need professional care.

Even the elderly who have family members to look after them require help to cover some of their basic living needs: getting dressed, bathed, fed, etc. But it’s unfair and unreasonable to expect family members to address all these needs simply because they are younger or have some sort of blood connection – these two conditions, after all, have no bearing on whether they’re qualified to administer medical treatment. Imagine how much more difficult life would be for the elderly who have dementia and no family members to care for them.

Adding insult to injury, people with dementia are “clearly” at the end of their lives, which means they no longer have the time or ability to earn the money they need to pay for their very necessary care. Adding more insult, the “end” of their lives could stretch on for years, perhaps even decades – dementia, after all, is not a terminal disease.

Although the legal system essentially punishes the elderly for having dementia, it does have room for change and improvement. But the change requires people to commit to raising awareness of a system that is dysfunctional. Exposing the limits of a flawed system, then fighting to end the punishment of the elderly will eventually lead to people with dementia being a protected class in the eyes of the law. This can be done by supporting legal campaigns by organizations that support the care of dementia, whether through sharing on social media or directly writing to elected officials with a call for change.