" Getting an initial diagnosis is shocking. It's frightening. But once the news has sunk in a little bit, I highly advocate for preparing a care plan as soon as possible … You would like to build a team that is going to be able to support you throughout this entire process. That's true for both the person who is living with dementia, and the family, or loved ones. Engaging with an aging life care manager is a good way to start. A care manager will do an assessment and help you build the team that will be needed for support.  It's very important especially in early stages to think about financial and legal matters while the person still has the capacity to make decisions about that, and getting advanced directives squared away.  "