• Plan for your future while you're still healthy and independent.

• Don't rely solely on family members for your social life and care.

• Stay active in the community, and don't let yourself become isolated.

• Seek professional health help for substance abuse and depression.

• Don't enable family members addicted to alcohol or drugs.

• Carefully consider allowing adult children to move back home.

• Don't be too proud to ask for help.

• Take care of your health.

• Seek regular medical care.

TO PREVENT PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL ABUSE:

• Talk to someone trusted, a health-care provider, social worker, or law enforcement officer.

• Make a safety plan, including escape routes, what you need to bring and temporary shelter.

TO PREVENT SELF-NEGLECT:

• Seek help. The problem won't go away by itself.

• For hoarding, make a plan and take small steps.

TO PROTECT YOUR ASSETS:

• At the bank, fill out a form called an Advanced Bank Order that instructs personnel to alert someone about suspicious transactions.

• Be careful about creating joint checking accounts.

• Have your pension or other checks deposited directly to your bank account.

• Keep detailed records.

• If possible, speak to a lawyer before giving someone legal power of attorney.

• Consider a voluntary conservatorship, which defers certain financial powers to a third party to help handle financial affairs. You can define the rules.

• Do a background check on any caregiver or "new friend" on the state's automated court reporting system, CCAP: www.wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl.

• Make a will and review it annually, but be cautious about making changes.

• Don't deed your home to someone who promises to care for you there or keep you out of a nursing home.

• Ask questions and closely check the credentials of anyone who wants to invest your money.

• Be cautious about donating money to charities, especially over the phone.

• Be cautious hiring a contractor. Check with the Wisconsin Builder's Association, 800-362-9066, or Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin, 414-302-0355.

• Be careful with your trash — use a shredder for items that have bank or charge account numbers.

• Be careful about giving out your Social Security number.

• Don't buy annuities or life insurance that have little prospect of a return on investment during your lifetime.

• Obtain a copy of your credit report every year.

• Be wary of requests for information or money to win a prize.

• If you suspect fraud, contact police.

FOR IN-HOME CARE:

• If possible, hire from an agency that does criminal background checks.

• Make sure you have unannounced visitors.

FOR LONG-TERM CARE:

• Choose carefully. Check www.madison.com/wsj/spe/elder for links to Web pages that detail nursing home and assisted living inspection reports, or check the state Department of Health and Family Services Web site, www.dhfs.wisconsin.gov/rl_DSL/bqa.htm.

• Welcome visitors.

• Know your rights. You should voice preferences and concerns.

TO HELP OTHERS:

• Stay in touch with aging family and close friends and check if they're taking medications, have adequate nutrition and decent housing, or are showing signs of poor mental or physical health. Ask about caregivers.

• Don't treat suspected abuse and neglect as a private matter.

• Donate. Dane County Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, for example, needs money to provide victims with new door locks, transportation, copying documents, security deposits.

• Volunteer at a senior center or support other services such as Meals on Wheels.

• If you're a family caregiver, get educated about cognitive illnesses such as dementia, and seek out respite. Understand what someone with Alzheimer's is and isn't capable of doing.