How do I know if assisted living or a higher level of care facility is the right decision for my mother?

Good evening, Angie

One important skill needed to qualify for assisted living in my area is the ability to “transfer”. I had to have someone explain this to me. A resident could be in a wheelchair but is able to stand with some help and pivot in order to sit on toilet or get in bed. When we first started looking into Assisted Living for my parents, my father was already ineligible because he had to be hoisted in and out of bed with a Hoyer lift. My mother was fast needing a two person assist for the same skills.

Based on your description, it sounds like your mother is at nursing home level. A doctor or nurse can do a needs assessment and give you more information.

In all honesty, she sounds like she is beyond Assisted Living and needs to be in Skilled Nursing. It’s easier to do it this way than move her to AL for a few months and then have to uproot her again. That’s very upsetting for people with dementia.

I have not gone through this yet (dad still lives at home with care coming in) but I believe in my area they do an assessment that determines what level of care you need. I was instructed last year that when it becomes 'time' to select a facility, I should choose one that has both assisted living and memory care to make the move from assisted to memory care easier on him. When I did my initial research, however, I found that placing someone with diabetes, like my dad, can be difficult. Some of the locations I talked to would not take diabetic patients.