Susan Schneider, the widow of Robin Williams, has given the insurance agents and brokers participating in this month’s Long-Term Care Awareness Month campaign a new marketing tool.
Schneider went on ABC’s Good Morning America show Monday to explain in an interview that the primary cause of her husband’s death, in August 2014, was Lewy body dementia, a condition that can lead to hallucinations, depression and problems with movement.
Some people with Lewy body dementia have Parkinson’s disease, and Williams also had Parkinson’s disease.
See also: Dementia: It’s more than Alzheimer’s
Some publications reported in November 2014, based on an autopsy report, that Williams had suffered from the condition, but the interview with Schneider has been getting wide coverage, from media organizations such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and many entertainment news providers.
Schneider talked about “living a nightmare” in late 2013 and early 2014, while she and her husband were trying to find out why his behavior had changed, and then trying to cope after May 2014, when they learned he had Parkinson’s disease. Shortly before Williams died, doctors were preparing to test him for Lewy body dementia or other neurological complications of the disease.