Today, I am continuing this series on senior housing options with memory care options what they are and when you might need them. You can find the first in the series called “HOME HEALTHCARE WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?” and the second one “WHEN TO CHOOSE ASSISTED LIVING AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”. I really hope they have been helpful to you!

What is MEMORY CARE?

According to SeniorAdvice.com memory care is: Memory care services provide facilities similar to those that are available in standard nursing homes, but also provide availability to a nursing staff that specializes in memory disorders, and who can provide individuals with the care that they need to live comfortably despite their disease. These facilities benefit from additional security to help ensure the safety of residents and to prevent them from wandering or otherwise harming themselves.

Memory care facilities are popping up everywhere and finding the right place to care for your loved one who had been diagnosed with Alz/dementia has never been more important. Once again research is everything. Checking out reviews, talking to other family members and hearing their experiences, touring these facilities and not being afraid to ask the “tough questions” will assure that you find the most loving environment for your loved one.

When looking for any kind of senior housing options I always suggest heading to senioradvice.com first. Their senior housing search engine just can’t be beat when it comes to gathering all of the information that you need to make the best decision possible. After putting in your zip code only you will pull up a list of memory care facilities in your communities. Everything from how many patients they can hold to how many complaints they’ve had.

Their article “SELECTING THE RIGHT MEMORY CARE COMMUNITY” has so much valuable information when it comes to choosing the community that fits your families needs. The first thing you have to do is to properly assess your families’ needs. There are also a lot of other things to consider like:

• Expense
• Location
• Services available
• Living arrangements
• Staff to patient ratio

These are very important questions that need to be asked. Not only providing a loving, caring environment, but also keeping your loved one active both physically and mentally is so important at this stage. It can make all of the difference in the world when it comes to transitioning your senior to this new environment.

We all have those memories of visiting a nursing home as a child. When I was 11 I went with my best friend and her mother to visit her grandmother and I can still remember the horrible stench, the older people sitting in wheelchairs in the hallway just begging for attention and stimulation. It’s something I have never forgotten and probably the #1 reason I opted for home care. Things have changed and today as we learn more about Alz and dementia we know that mental stimulation is so vital.

For years, it was thought that medicating our seniors was the best thing for them, but what it taught that while that may make the life of the caregiver easy it was definitely not in the best interest of the patient. For some like my mother, for instance, she is in almost perfect health except for her mind so keeping her activity level up along with the mental stimulation it provides will keep her healthier and more engaged for a lot longer than what would have been possible not even 10 years ago.

I think that as more and more communities come on board it will provide a healthy way of weeding out the bad and highlighting the good and places like Senioradvvice.com with their senior housing search engine are providing families with real-time information that will allow them to make safe and loving decisions which will ultimately improve the life of their loved ones.

Once again if follow these steps making a decision on memory care just might be a little easier.

• Decide what your family needs first. Narrow down exactly what you are looking for and exactly what you don’t want.
• Research! Start at senioradvice.com and get a list of memory care facilities in your community.
• Read reviews
• Visit the community more than once on different days at different times. Stay for lunch try the food, look at the faces of the other residents.
• Talk to other residents and their family members because they will tell you exactly what they like and don’t like and they have the least to gain from giving an honest opinion.

I hope these tips have allowed you to start your search with a leg up. I’d love to hear your experiences with memory care! Was it a good experience or maybe not. Let’s hear it!

This has been a compensated post, but all opinions and ideas are as always completely my own.