Ahead of a Divisive Election, This Penn Doctor Is Working to Ensure People With Dementia Can Vote

Dr. Jason Karlawish's work with the American Bar Association (ABA) on a pilot program in Vermont helped people in long-term care communities with dementia vote, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer . This has led to a new guide from the Penn Memory Center and the ABA Commission on Aging, detailing how caregivers can help voters with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. With a contentious presidential election approaching, the guide is critical for a generation that often considers voting essential. "Persons living with dementia are citizens and they need to have their rights respected just like everyone else's rights," Pennsylvania-based Karlawish said. While many with dementia live at home where loved ones can help them fill out ballots, others reside in long-term care communities ravaged by the first wave of coronavirus in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Although independent residents now have more freedom to come and go and visiting restrictions are relaxed, limitations are still in effect. The new guide offers simple voting rules, and people with cognitive impairment must say they want to vote, and they need to make their own choices. Families cannot discuss politics during the voting, and helpers can only read what is on the ballot, but not describe political positions.