Don't be fooled by nice surroundings. doesn't guarantee anything, neither does the claim that the staff are good at redirection if someone gets a to be a handfull. this place in tacoma looked like it belonged on Park Ave. in New York. my mom was remanded to memory care floor on four hour day visits because she was too much work i guess for the assisted living staff, and every time i went to retrieve her she was sitting staring at the wall. she could do that at home for free. and when i questioned why she was down there and not upstairs being kept active, they acted like Jackie Gleason caught red-handed, ablah ablah ablah. without going into a long story of details about it, she would have been fine upstairs if they had enough concern for the actual doing of activities instead of their precious activity schedule, and nothing for her to do when they weren't having an activity, after they assured me they would let her help do things and then did not. bottom line, don't let glitz and glamour and smiles fool you, go in with toes testing the water of any place.
In terms of apartments, there are facilities that have a private bathroom inside the unit, even for a studio. Most facilities have one shared bathroom for the whole "neighborhood." Just ask.
One thing to remember that most places end their activities at 6pm. So, your loved one is left to their own devices after that. Do not think your loved one is always engaged or frequently encouraged to engage in activities.
Thank you for mentioning the names of places where your loved ones got good memory care. I looked up Reminiscence Community and saw a connection to Sunrise Senior Community? Was that your situation or was it an independent place with that name? Memory care means studio apartment - at least I haven't found any that offer bigger spaces than that. However in at least one place I visited, the decor between AL and MC was very similar so anyone transitioning would feel they were in familiar surroundings. They also had public areas besides just the TV room and the staff was visibly engaged with the residents. I've been in group homes before and found the staff transitional and less accountable. That would be my concern with a really small facility.
An addendum to my post....Dad spent his days in the Activity Room. They went to the dining room for entertainment and Bingo etc. His meals were in the dining room, set with silverware and cloth napkins and bibs. The patients were positioned according to their dietary needs. Dad was pudding pureed thickness food and drink, as were his people at his table. Soft music was always playing.
I had a meeting every 3 months about his condition, but I knew that the Unit nurse or Director of Nursing was always available if I had a question. I really cannot say too much negative about the facility. Yes, I was there more days than not and kept close tabs on his care. The total was almost $12,000 a month. All from his savings. Was his care better than a Medicaid patient? No....all patients were treated the same. As it should be, God bless....
One important thing to remember about "Memory Care" is that it is usually a Marketing term. Many states have very loose regulations for Assisted Livings including what type of staff training is required. As it is not a regulated term the definition of Memory care varies from facility to facility. Some programs are wonderful and provide extra staff and an enriching environment specialized for residents with dementia. Others claim to have Memory care because they provide extra locks in one section of their building to justify charging an extra $1000 a month. It is definitely something where I recommend doing your homework.
My mom is in Memory Care in an assisted living facility. In her case, the unit is also locked so folks can't wander (safety). The apartments are just the same as in assisted living, however, most of the residents are urged to spend most of their time in a common room doing activities, watching TV, etc. Dining is also in a common room at sets times as opposed to a dining hall in assisted living that's serves food 24/7. There are also more staff in assisted living 4 staff 15 residents. They check on the residents frequently as opposed to assisted living where they do a check or two a day. Much more hands-on in Memory Care. And of course, more expensive.
My mother will be going into a memory care unit within the next couple of weeks. This unit is in a totally different building than AL; it's more like a studio apartment with 24/7 care if Mom needs help showering, dressing, and eating, etc. There is also a lock on the front entrance. I have done a tour of the place and found it very professional and inviting. They have a small kitchen with a fridge and sink plus a big dining room where they serve the 3 meals per day. I was also impressed that they have a private dining room to use when family comes to visit for meals. Inside the front entrance, there is a community room with a large TV in it and they also have another large room for activities, such as arts and crafts, etc. I am hoping that my mom will be able to adjust to this, since she is a pretty private person but still enjoys talking to people on a smaller scale.
To add to my post earlier on, a lot can be said about environment. When my Dad decided it was time to sell his house and move into senior living, the first place we drove up to he said "where do I sign up?". The place was built like a Victorian hotel which reminded him of a place where my late Mom and he would visit regularly.
The floorplan can make or break how a person feels. Some have super wide hallways which to me felt too much like a nursing home or hospital setting. Some have nice narrower hallways more like one would find in a regular apartment building.
Dining rooms can be different to. Some looked like a cold dorm setting. Others are set like a restaurant with white table cloths and cloth napkins with a menu to choose from.
Another factor, single rooms or rooms with roommates. Pro and cons. My late Mom was in long-term-care and she had a room-mate which was a positive, as Mom was a climber who would fall. Room-mate would buzz the nursing station.
Mom got good care but the floorplan of the building wasn't all that pleasant. We chose that location so that Dad, who was still living at home with caregivers, could visit Mom on regular basis, as the building was less than a mile from his house. His caregiver would take Dad at noon, she would help feed Mom her lunch.
My mother is in what is called an Alzheimer's Assisted Living Facility, where all the 16 residents have some form of dementia. Unfortunately, the caregivers are not even CNA's and have only on-the-job training; are paid very little, and so there is a big turnover, which confuses the residents, I believe. There are not many activities, probably because most of the residents can't do them. Everyday when I arrive, my mother needs changing, so I do it, and then walk her around for exercise, and play games with her, often taking her out. But it's not really enough, and she's gotten violent a few times when they tried to change her, so they threatened to kick her out. So I have managed to arrange for her to move in to the local Veteran's Home, since my father was a veteran. I hope it will be better. I couldn't find any other place for her here in Idaho.
Memory care is assisted living with a higher ratio of caregivers and the caregivers are trained in the pathology of dementias and the skills to kindly work with residents whose brains are changing in this fashion. When I think of memory care, I think of hands on one on one care or activities in a group and the emphasis is not on medications - especially anti-psychotic meds. Caregivers are devoted to their work and residents, and they have back up if something is bothering them. They can easily get time out's too. The two types of memory care in CA, is the free standing or large unit (in an assisted living building) and the benefit of this type of community is that it can be more social and stimulating (in a good way) for the resident. The second type of memory care in CA is the small residential care home with usually 6 residents. They have 2 caregivers for six residents and one awake person at night. Dementia residents are usually more advanced, not exhibiting difficult behaviors other than being up at night or trying to elope - but we often see advanced dementia cases in these homes because the ratio of caregivers is so high - matching the level of acuity. Hope that helps you.
I worked as a caregiver in a facility that had "memory care." What I witnessed was every morning, the residents would sit in the main room and have a trivia type of game where one member of the staff would ask them questions as a group and those who knew got to chime in and answer. The individual leading this would ask questions relevant to their age groups that they would be most likely to know and geographical, historical types of questions. It was very repetitive so the staff member could gage how long they would remember the answers. That was how that one facility did it, not sure about others.
My father-in-law was placed in a MC facility about 2 months ago. He has Alz. Only Nursing home in our area, but 2 hrs north is where a MC facility was available. There are 2 sections in this facility. One for people needing some supervision and another for advanced nursing care. He is in the supervised with some assistance section now and is doing well. I do know his monthly payment is $5700. mo. They are very interactive with their patients, and lots of activities daily. The difference in this facility and nursing home only in our town that I've noticed is: Nursing home, more sedation, and workers gathered at the nurses station only. At this memory care center, workers engaged with patients, keeping them mentally engaged, not huddled at the nurses station. Everyone very friendly and positive. If this helps you get an idea.
I recently placed my 94 yr. old mom in MC. A very nice facility (recommended) that was MC specific -- no other level of care (AL, NH, Rehab) associated with this. Mom was completely resistant, wasn't going, very emotional about the thought of moving. She adjusted Day1 and has been really happy there. As others have said; each facility is different. The difference in my mind is the Director and care team, their training and experience. In this MC facility they have "dorms" -- 4 levels; depending on the care, mobility of the residents. My mom so far is in the "high functioning" -- so she is mobile, able to follow instructions with little supv, able to dress, toilet, bath and feed herself. They have lots of activities for all levels -- appropriate to abilities to ensure the residents can live their best quality life. So for mom, for example, she goes on outings (ice cream, dining) and Montessori school visits monthly to interact with the kids. So far so good (and she is most stubborn and ornery). I get regular updates from Director and care team. I would rate the facility as "outstanding" because I know how mom can be and in 6 months I haven't had a stressful call or incident on her behavior or health. The cost is $7900/mo. Its high, but luckily mom has savings and assets that afford her this care level. I know if she has to have extra care or skilled care to stay with her overnight etc. that would be extra. I had a friend who had to hire 24/7 nursing care on top of the AL their mom was in and the total monthly bill ran $20K! This went on for 3 yrs.
My mom was admitted to the "Memory Care" unit of her nursing home after she'd spent 2 years on the skilled care floor. What was it like? Well, their were less patients and more aides, plus 2 RNs instead of one. It was a lockdown unit and one needed codes to get in and out. The patients all had some form of dementia. It was a sad place although the nurses, aides and therapists did their best to brighten the atmosphere. No one there was going to get better.
Memory care facilities train their staff on what to expect from memory impaired patients and how to deal with them. In my experience, regular nursing homes do not bother with this training thus resulting in things like leaving the patient on the toilet for a long, long time because the patient doesn't remember to pull the call cord when they are done or saying "You've already asked me that 3 times now". Memory care facilities cost more but they will hone in on what calms your loved one or what makes them happy. It is usually very loving care and those workers who don't get with the program, don't last long. One other thing, regular nursing homes that have a "Memory Care Wing" are simply putting the wanderers behind locked doors and nothing more. Of course this is my own opinion based on what I have observed.
My mother, 96, has been in MemoryCare (an excellent one) for over 2.5 years. She had been in Assisted/Independent Living for 2 years prior, and before that I retired and bought a condo right next door to her for several years to help her. She was fairly "High Functioning" when the ALF asked me to move her out because she was now "wandering", and the ALF was not secured for residents to wander out the front door.
When she went into MemoryCare, she really was higher functioning than most of the people there (but still delusional with memory loss and struggling in many ways). In MemoryCare if you have a wonderful staff, each resident has their level of care (and activities) adjusted according to how they are doing month by month. The monthly fee goes up as more services are needed. My mother is no longer high functioning; she is blind, wheelchair bound, and with severe dementia, but this wonderful memorycare (Reminiscence Community) has continued to take care of her health, happiness, safety according to her declining health.
I am in continual touch with her (in person, on phone) and am close to all the staff so we have an excellent communication team - that helps a lot. Like most of us, the money will not sustain her at this wonderful facility forever - and she may live to 100, so I live with a deep heart that this care will not be forever. I am grateful to her Memorycare beyond words.
what I know is if we would all invest in shares to start a "new" type of affordable quality care for elderly that is so homey and wonderful no one would have to grieve with guilt or worry over their loved ones we would be wealthy & have peace of mind! we need smaller facilities home like setting care givers that care separate areas for "screamers" that is soothing & loving. we can do better & should w should not have this burden to the point we are on here asking what do we do? There are so many of us, our kids will be going though this some day, too. we need to vote in congress a better system for so called nursing homes & assisted living. It's a money scheme that is making people rich except we all suffer, ok let me jump off my soap box :)
Dad passed on Sept 1 in his sleep. He was in the long term unit of a NH. He spent his days in the Activity Room. They were wonderful. Since he was an elected official of his county, they printed out papers for him to sign and although his writing was pretty much illegible, he would always do his "work" until Dementia robbed him of that. Up until 3 days before he passed, he tried to do his best. They tried to bring out the best in each of the patients. His unit was mostly Dementia patients. If I were to do it again, I would make sure that a facility had the locked unit and an Activity Room. It does so much to make the patients the best they can be. God bless...
Sometimes we forget about Group Home Care. Anyone seeking to place a loved one with Alzheimers or PD with LewyBody dementia Could find comfort in researching group home placement. The aides and owners have few enough residents so they can pay good attention, play games and offer a home atmosphere for you and your loved one. But no matter where your loved one is, the main responsibility to watch out for them, provide stimulation, visits, snackfoods, outings, even around the block, remains with the family or someone the family hires to do this visiting .
Commutergirl, you're quite right that Memory Care should include a therapeutic approach. The best do. I worked for a group that recruited "Locksmiths" - nothing to do with maintenance men (!), these were specialist support workers who were trained in helping residents to retrieve memories and use what cognition they still had effectively. It is highly skilled work, indeed.
Sadly, though, all too often Memory Care is a euphemism for secure facility.
My dad was in the same MC chain as Freqs,, they monitored him, but they also DID things with him! They had activities to help him feel comfortable, like giving him the paper (even if he could not really understand it he liked to "read"it) They had a better staff to pt ratio, so he was always in someone's view. He had company and someone to talk to. My MIL is in another place, and I kinda think they just babysit.. MIL is clean and fed, but seems like the Pts are sort of "parked". So take a good look around.
I'm asking because it comes up a lot. Knew about AL and NH but never heard of MC. My parents are both gone and my mom was in AL for a short while before I lost her. So now I read this stuff because I figure some day I'll be in one. Not really worried about it, have had long talks with my son so he knows if it happens he's not to feel guilt no matter how ugly I get about it. :-) Figure at age 72 I have years yet but you just never know. My mom was in her mid 70's when she started to show signs. I do know that when she kept her mind busy it really slowed down the process.
My dad couldn't perform ADLs (physically) well enough for AL; nor could he always determine (due to dementia) when to ask for help, nor even remember at all times how to ask for help. So Memory Care staff assists him in toileting, dressing, meal reminders, meds, and provides safe movement reminders (keeping a watchful eye & offering assistance), as well as social interactions with other residents. (He's wheel-chair bound, 10 yrs with PD. He is quite cognizant much of the time.) So you see, he's not a wandering risk; he just needs help getting thru the day, but not enough for f/t SNF. Cost is around $5k where we live, & Medicaid does not pay.
commutergirl, some Memory Care places do have activities that help jump start one's brain, making the residents doing some thinking. It all depends on if the facility can afford to do that.
The larger places offer such activities. The small off the beaten track places just cannot afford or don't have enough volunteers to help with such projects :(
I'm confused. I would think memory care would place emphasis on the loved one's memory to slow down Alzheimers or dementia. My mother asks questions when we watch tv. I research on my cell. I ask her questions all day long to make her think. It seems she gets mentally sharper.
whaleyf, my Dad was in Assisted Living/Memory Care in a wonderful facility. One floor was for just Memory Care, the other floors were for Assisted Living. The whole building was locked at night, as CountryMouse above had mentioned, with Staff just have the code to get in and out of the building. It gave everyone who lived there a sense of security. During the day, the Receptionist would monitor the front door.
A nursing home is for a skilled care, where a resident would need a higher degree of care. Some Assisted Living facilities also offer that type of care.
Cost wise, Assisted Living is around $5k to $6k per month, usually self-pay. Some facilities will take a Medicaid waiver, it depends on the State Medicaid program. Nursing homes are more expensive, $10k to $12k per month, and many nursing homes will take Medicaid residents. Now prices do vary depending on location.
Sometimes the words Assisted Living and Nursing Homes are interchangeable, but there is a difference between the two.
Where I live (a rural area) there is no dedicated memory care, all those with needs higher than an AL can handle are in nursing homes. I imagine the benefit of memory care is that staff should be better trained to understand dementia and activities and programs are more appropriately geared toward those who suffer from it. I feel sad visiting my mother in the NH and seeing residents in their 60s wandering aimlessly among all the people confined to wheelchairs, surely a dedicated facility would be better.
It varies, of course. But in general the distinction is to do with the level of supervision and security in the facility - the premises will be locked, usually with a door code that residents are not given; and the staff should be well trained in managing the challenging behaviours that dementia can cause.
I've managed to make it sound like a cross between a prison and a boot camp. It isn't. The locks are so that disoriented residents cannot wander dangerously and get lost or injured. Those "challenging behaviours" might include violence towards other people, but they can also include a resident experiencing terrible fear and needing advanced skills in redirection and reassurance to calm her, for example.
If you don't mind my asking, what sort of facility are you looking for for your loved one, and what are the person's needs?
I had a meeting every 3 months about his condition, but I knew that the Unit nurse or Director of Nursing was always available if I had a question. I really cannot say too much negative about the facility. Yes, I was there more days than not and kept close tabs on his care. The total was almost $12,000 a month. All from his savings. Was his care better than a Medicaid patient? No....all patients were treated the same. As it should be, God bless....
The floorplan can make or break how a person feels. Some have super wide hallways which to me felt too much like a nursing home or hospital setting. Some have nice narrower hallways more like one would find in a regular apartment building.
Dining rooms can be different to. Some looked like a cold dorm setting. Others are set like a restaurant with white table cloths and cloth napkins with a menu to choose from.
Another factor, single rooms or rooms with roommates. Pro and cons. My late Mom was in long-term-care and she had a room-mate which was a positive, as Mom was a climber who would fall. Room-mate would buzz the nursing station.
Mom got good care but the floorplan of the building wasn't all that pleasant. We chose that location so that Dad, who was still living at home with caregivers, could visit Mom on regular basis, as the building was less than a mile from his house. His caregiver would take Dad at noon, she would help feed Mom her lunch.
When she went into MemoryCare, she really was higher functioning than most of the people there (but still delusional with memory loss and struggling in many ways). In MemoryCare if you have a wonderful staff, each resident has their level of care (and activities) adjusted according to how they are doing month by month. The monthly fee goes up as more services are needed. My mother is no longer high functioning; she is blind, wheelchair bound, and with severe dementia, but this wonderful memorycare (Reminiscence Community) has continued to take care of her health, happiness, safety according to her declining health.
I am in continual touch with her (in person, on phone) and am close to all the staff so we have an excellent communication team - that helps a lot. Like most of us, the money will not sustain her at this wonderful facility forever - and she may live to 100, so I live with a deep heart that this care will not be forever. I am grateful to her Memorycare beyond words.
Sadly, though, all too often Memory Care is a euphemism for secure facility.
The larger places offer such activities. The small off the beaten track places just cannot afford or don't have enough volunteers to help with such projects :(
A nursing home is for a skilled care, where a resident would need a higher degree of care. Some Assisted Living facilities also offer that type of care.
Cost wise, Assisted Living is around $5k to $6k per month, usually self-pay. Some facilities will take a Medicaid waiver, it depends on the State Medicaid program. Nursing homes are more expensive, $10k to $12k per month, and many nursing homes will take Medicaid residents. Now prices do vary depending on location.
Sometimes the words Assisted Living and Nursing Homes are interchangeable, but there is a difference between the two.
I've managed to make it sound like a cross between a prison and a boot camp. It isn't. The locks are so that disoriented residents cannot wander dangerously and get lost or injured. Those "challenging behaviours" might include violence towards other people, but they can also include a resident experiencing terrible fear and needing advanced skills in redirection and reassurance to calm her, for example.
If you don't mind my asking, what sort of facility are you looking for for your loved one, and what are the person's needs?