Making the decision to find residential care for mom or another elderly loved one is always a difficult decision for everyone involved. The situation can become exponentially more stressful if your mother is showing the early stages of Alzheimer’s or is having some other type of memory related issue as many people don't realize that not all communities (or memory care programs) are created in quite the same way. Community A and Community B may offer high quality senior care services that are second to none, but only Community B might have what it takes to handle a situation as specific as memory care. The same is absolutely true if you're looking for an in-home care provider.
If you want to guarantee that your mother has access to the right level of care throughout her disease progression, you're going to have to keep a few key things in mind during your search.
Types of Residential Settings
Many people use terms like "retirement housing," "assisted living" and "nursing homes" interchangeably. In reality, however, these are three very separate terms with very unique definitions. Choosing one of the three to provide care for your mother will require you to look at not only her preferences, but the needs that she’ll have both now and in the future.
1. Retirement Communities
Retirement housing is a terrific option for people who are still in the early stages of a disease like Alzheimer’s. They may be able to care for themselves and wish to live independently, but they may not necessarily have the aptitude required to manage an entire house under the safest possible conditions. In a retirement community, your mother will still be able to maintain her independence, but will also have the comfort of having a senior care professional on premises. Retirement housing also presents an excellent opportunity for socialization, transportation assistance and more.
2. Assisted Living
Assisted living, on the other hand, essentially acts as a bridge between those who can still live independently and those who need the deeper level of memory care that a nursing home can provide. One of the biggest assets that you'll find in an assisted living community is a staff who will be available to help your mother throughout the day and typically into the night. These communities also typically offer multiple meals a day and snacks, health care, general supervision, housekeeping, laundry services and more. Before you choose a particular assisted living facility in your area, however, it is hugely important that you make sure that they offer services that were specifically created with conditions like Alzheimer’s in mind.
3. Nursing Care
A nursing home or skilled nursing care center offers the most intensive types of senior care available today. As the name suggests, nursing homes are designed to offer both 24-hour support and the skilled medical care and long term treatment that seniors with chronic conditions require. The vast majority of nursing homes will have dedicated staff members available to help care for issues like unique dietary requirement, medical care and more. Much like assisted living, however, not all nursing homes will have the same level of experience when it comes to diseases like Alzheimer’s.
What to Do When Mom Needs Specialized Memory Support
In the event that your mother has entered the later stages of Alzheimer’s, even the type of care that a specialized long term care facility can offer might not be enough. In these types of situations, you want to find a community that specializes in memory care, offering distinct units that cater to the specific needs of people with Alzheimer’s. In these types of situations, seniors with the disease or other memory care issues typically live together in an enclosed environment where stimuli can be tightly controlled. These memory care units often exist within the infrastructure of an existing long term care facility, so make sure that, as you tour communities, you ask about how the community assists residents with Alzheimer’s.
