My mother was recently moved from Assisted Living into a Memory Care Unit in the facility she is in, The transition was a difficult one for myself and siblings to accept but felt it was necessary for her socialization. The assisted living apartment she was in made her feel very secluded, especially after dinner time because many of the residents would go to their apartments and she felt very alone. The memory care offered her more socialization with the residents there and more caregivers to be able to keep an eye on her so the idea of moving her was in her best interest. The transition was difficult on her because she was in a smaller space (only 1 room w/ a bedroom) and new staff so it was like starting all over. She often becomes very agitated and non-cooperative with the staff and it causes her a lot of distress. She's been there about 2 months now and some things have improved and the level of care and attention from staff is better than in the assisted living but the disease has made her very confrontational and stubborn, not at all her normal personality. This has created problems for the staff dealing with her and other residents don't want to associate with her as much. She is very especially uncooperative with taking showers so the staff has asked myself and my sister to take on the task of bathing her. She resists and fights us about it too but we usually get the task done. I don't mind and if she is less agitated with us doing it ourselves then we are willing. We are fortunate to live nearby to visit weekly and assist when needed. We feel the need to possibly use medication to try to relax her more and keep her more calm but haven't started that yet. She is on depression meds but that does not seem to help the anxiety she experiences. I have found it best to remain calm and playful during my visits and treat her almost like a child. The behavior can be very frustrating at times but in the end it is THE DISEASE and not her. All we can do as children is show them kindness, caring, compassion and love to help her be happy and as healthy as we can.

I think so many assisted living facilities are not equipped with trained staff to help people with dementia. My mom has it and the assisted living facility she was in was not equipped to help her. Her anxiety resulted in the need to get 24 by 7 aides to help walk and bathe her. Other than the dementia, she was physically very healthy which made a nursing home not the next move.
It's amazing how there is a big wide gap between assisted living and a nursing home for dementia patients. When we did explore assisted living facilities in Florida that claimed they were expert in dementia, we found so many of them would just line the patients up in a row and turn on a very loud TV. Absolutely awful!
We finally had to move our mom back home and get medicine to calm her down and continue with 24 by 7 aides. I truly don't know how people do this without financial rewsources. I really feel for them.