Loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Moving into Memory Care Feb 2021. How to have a smooth transition?

Have her room set up in the Memory Care just like it is at home, as much as you possibly can. Have IT feel just as homey as it does where she's coming from. Get her introduced around to the other residents and try to arrange her arrival at a meal time, preferably lunch, so she can sit with others (hopefully, with covid) and interact. In a Memory Care setting, it's more likely they can congregate than it is in a regular Assisted Living setting. It's harder to keep MC residents in their rooms, so they tend to allow more interaction, even when masks are necessary.

When my mother went into Memory Care from the rehab SNF, she was happy as a clam and holding court with the staff and residents for a week afterward. I had her room all set up, tv installed, bed made with bedspread, etc., clothes hanging in the closet......it was like she'd always lived there. Her transition was super smooth and she didn't start complaining at all until a few months in.

Make sure you call Rosa (my mother has a landline in her room which I also set up) and remind her you're thinking of her, and then go to visit or window visit (or whatever) as often as possible.

Good luck!

What are your specific concerns? Placing someone in MC is an emotional experience for the caregiver and could be a traumatic frightening experience for your LO. A smooth transition is what we all hope for but your LO may feel abandoned, fearful of the new surroundings, confused, or angry. These emotions can play out in difficult behavior by your LO.

Interview the director. There are a million questions you can ask the director to satisfy yourself that this will be as smooth as possible of a transition. Google “memory care questions to ask”. Keep your eyes open. Observe how the residents are being cared for. Does the staff seem like they relate to the residents?

Furnish your LOs room with familiar things. Bring things from home like pictures. Once this covid crisis is over visit a lot. Ask what the covid visiting policy is. Although you're passing her primary care responsibilty to the facility's staff, don't think your job is over. You are still her advocate.

Would need to know what specific question you have. Do not understand who Rosa is, and what your relationship to her is. Are you POA for Rose? Does Rosa have involved family?