Hi everyone! My mom is still in the early stage of Alzheimer's so she can still live independently. However, I am still not comfortable with the idea of her living alone since I live a few hours away from her. I was thinking of moving her to memory care, but she refused since she could still do chores and other things on her own and suggested a retirement home instead. I know the difference between long term care and retirement home since I read it in an article on the Seasons Retirement website. However, even if she's still independent, I think moving her into memory care is the best option since she'll get the care she needs. Or is it too early to move her into memory care? Is it better to move her into a retirement home first? Any advice?
I think the retirement homes in the article are more for people with an active lifestyle, providing amenities rather than support.
My aunt was having trouble being alone in her condo so we helped her find a nice independent living place. It was a one bedroom unit that offered a nice variety of support features including meals, linen service, medic alert pulls and pendant, wireless internet and cable, scheduled shuttle service and group activities. No caregiving was included but individuals could hire their own and the staff were a reassuring presence. The unit had a small kitchenette, mostly for snacks or preprepared meals, and the on site laundry rooms were complimentary. For a while, dropping in with the echo show device was good enough for medication reminders and she made friends there. Then caregiver visits were needed.
When she got worse, she moved to a studio unit in memory care, where she was safe but not happy, because she couldn’t come and go freely. They would have moved her to Medicaid if necessary after a period of self pay, but it wasn’t necessary.
Are there any facilities nearby that offer the continuum from independent living through assisted living and memory care on the same campus?
Best of luck.
She can’t use these but The place where she is now at actually has dementia homes! People in early dementia move in, think they are living independently but they are closely monitored. So, as their skills slip with cooking, eating, cleaning, etc care is provided until they have to move to long term care. Maybe there is something like this in your area? They are provided by Shepherds Care Foundation. In Canada.
In independent living, it is like living in a hotel suite that contains an efficiency kitchen. Basically, you don't want to do yardwork any more and you can cook your own meals, if you want to.
In assisted living, you can come and go as you please, ride the elevator to other floors, choose to go out if you want to, own and drive a car and be expected to follow instructions. However, you might need help preparing your own meals and making sure that you take the right pills at the right time. You may not have a efficiency kitchen in your "room".
Memory Care is for individuals who can no longer live without someone to watch over them. They cannot remember to take their medications, need help going to the bathroom and keeping up with hygiene. MC is a much more structured living program as people who have memory issues, need routine and repetition and consistency. The activities in MC are more geared toward keeping their memory exercised, whereas in assisted living and independent living, the activities are more geared to learn and accomplish.
When my Mom was borderline AL and MC, it was really up to the nurse who evaluated my Mom to determine whether she went into AL or MC. It was very hard to place her.
I would start interviewing. I would look for places that have both AL and MC. Ask them how they would place your Mom. AL is usually less expensive. However, as you add on the services like medication management, laundry management, how much time they perceive they will have to watch your Mom (fall risk), it becomes more economically feasible to be classified in Memory Care. However, the activities are very different and the food is very different. I would not put your Mom into an MC environment unless she needs to be. It would be similar to a middle school child being in the same class as a bunch of 1,2 and 3 year olds. Yes, you can do that, however, the middle school child will not be in a healthy living environment.
After interviewing a few of them, you will start to understand the difference between MC and AL. I would also find out whether they can stay in the facility until end-of-life or whether she will have to move out. Do you have to pay in, then pay a monthly maintenance fee (like a timeshare), or do you pay a monthly rental fee?
I think it is too early to move her into Memory Care. However, the nurse that evaluates new residents, will tell you which he/she thinks is better for your situation.
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