What Is Memory Care?

Memory Care communities are designed to help families find a safe and caring environment for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

What Services Does Memory Care Provide?

Memory Care also provides help with the Activities of Daily Living, and offers luxurious living spaces, fine dining, housekeeping, laundry, hair care services, transportation, and many purposeful events and activities.  

What to Look for In a Memory Care Community

Within Memory Care communities, seniors have access to 24 hour care, and the assistance of a compassionate, professional staff who works to meet each individual’s unique needs. When deciding on a Memory Care Community, look for one that focuses on its residents’ individuality, offers quality services and events, and is dedicated on meeting people’s long-term medical care needs.

How to Know Whether a Loved One Needs Assisted Living or Memory Care

Generally speaking if an older person can no longer live safely at home and requires help with the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Assisted Living is a great care option.

A loved one who needs assistance with ADLs, but is also showing signs of cognitive loss due to Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia would be better served in a Memory Care community.  

The good news is that you do not have to make this decision on your own. There are many professionals in the senior living community field who can help you make an appropriate assessment of your loved one’s situation.

What’s the Difference between Assisted Living & Memory Care?

Assisted Living communities are designed to help residents who need a more formal care setting than Home Care provides. Assisted Living focuses on providing residents assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), which include dressing, bathing, eating, using the washroom and moving about. Medication management is also a big part of Assisted Living services.

Memory Care services are also built around providing assistance with Activities of Daily Living, and medication management, but expands care by specializing in helping residents living with various levels of cognitive decline. Many Memory Care residents have Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

How to Know When It’s Time to Transition to Memory Care

Here are some signs to look for that it might be time for an older person to transition to a Memory Care community.

• They begin wondering aimlessly or get lost.
• Become aggressive.
• Have frequent bouts of forgetfulness.
• Socializing become difficult.
• Eating habits change.

Talk About It   

The first step involves talking to the older person about the need to move to Memory Care community.  

Discussing recent changes or struggles they have been experiencing, and how a Memory Care community can help is beneficial.  

It is important to note however, that based on the level of cognitive deficiency an older person is experiencing, having a conversation about Memory Care may be less effective for some families. Being prepared for possible resistance to the idea will be helpful. All people resist change, so a family’s ability to be patient and understanding with their loved one is important.   

Work with Professionals to Make the Process Easier

Both Assisted Living and Memory Care communities have access to counselors and other professionals who can play a supportive role in helping a loved one move from one community to another.

Families should never feel they need to take the full responsibility for the task of moving a loved one from Assisted Living to Memory Care. Professionals have the training and experience needed to help make the process as smooth as possible.  

Visit the Memory Care Community before the Move

Many families have found it helpful to bring their loved one for a visit to the Memory Care community they will be moving to.  Many people fear change, so giving a loved one a chance to see the community and meet some residents and staff may ease a lot of anxiety.

When moving day comes, the new Memory Care resident will be more familiar with their surroundings and what to expect.

Provide Emotional Support

After the move to Memory Care, families should provide as much hands-on emotional support to their loved one as possible. It will be very reassuring to the older person that their family is there for them and is always accessible.

Visits, phone calls, flowers or other ways to express support will go a long way toward making their loved one feel more comfortable in their new home.

Build Relationships with Community Staff Members

By getting to know the caring staff members at a loved one’s Memory Care community, families are in the best position to ensure they will be getting the best care possible. Being involved with a loved one’s care plan and advocating for them will help the Memory Care experience be more successful.

Difficulty Doing Routine Tasks

People who have dementia often have difficulty performing daily tasks, even those that they have done every day for decades. Look for changes in your loved one’s routines such as eating, bathing, or other activities.

If you see that their daily habits are no longer being followed, have a gentle conversation about it. There could be logical reasons for a change in behavior, but it might also be a sign of a developing cognitive impairment.

Disorientation

People who have dementia can become easily confused about where they are, or how to return home from a trip to the grocery store. In addition, some seniors with cognitive issues might believe that they are currently living in a time from the past.

Should you experience these symptoms with your loved one, be sure to document when and where it occurred. This information will be very helpful to medical professionals in their attempt to diagnose a possible issue.

Language Problems

Everyone experiences from time to time the inability to recall a word during a conversation. However, a person with dementia will tend to forget simple words, lose track of the natural progression of a discussion, or use the wrong word when describing something. Should this occur with your loved one, speak to a doctor to determine next steps.

Rapid Mood Changes

One of the more common symptoms of dementia is a rapid change in mood or personality. Look for patterns of mood swings in your loved one or sudden bouts of anxiety, anger, depression or apathy. Speak with your loved one about what they are feeling, and ask what you can do to help.

If there appears to be no logical explanation for a severe mood swing in a senior, it could be a sign of developing dementia.

Assisted Living

Assisted Living communities offer an active, engaging lifestyle for couples, but also provide assistance to residents who might need some help with what are known as Activities of Daily Living. These include eating, dressing, using the restroom, bathing, and transferring.

Assisted Living provides residents with beautiful living accommodations, restaurant style meals, and a wide range of other amenities, such as medication management, housekeeping, laundry services and more. 

Participating in activities is an important part of the Assisted Living lifestyle. Communities offer a wide range of events for residents, like gardening, reading club, yoga, concerts, lunch outings, bowling trips, and visits with therapy dogs.

Residents enjoy the company of each other, while always having qualified staff members nearby to assist as needed.

Memory Care

A Memory Care community is specifically designed to meet the needs of couples and residents living with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or other memory-related illnesses. Residents have access to a care team that focuses on the specific needs of each individual. The staff is made up of highly experienced Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants.

Memory Care communities inspire autonomy and self-expression in their residents, all based on the specific capabilities of each person.

In addition to wonderful living accommodations, the Memory Care lifestyle offers chef prepared meals, restaurant style dining, elegant common areas and a variety of other amenities such as housekeeping, laundry, spa services and much more.

Because maintaining a sense of purpose and living a meaningful life are important priorities for Memory Care communities, they provide many stimulating and fun activities such as outings, clubs, games, gardening, coloring, music therapy and programs, arts and crafts as well as other stimulating and enjoyable experiences.

Some communities even have activity programs specifically catered to seniors with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Frontier Senior Living communities, for example, feature an award-winning activities program called SPARK™ that focuses on purpose, social roles, and community.”