The elderly population is in continuous growth and so is the number of elderly people who need to move to a memory care facility because they are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, from some other type of dementia or of mental impairment that compromises their ability to live alone safely. There are many types of care homes available for those who have become frail or ill to the extent that living alone is no longer a good option – here are some issues to indicate that Alzheimers Care Facilities would be the best option for your loved one.
What Is, in fact, a Memory Care Facility?
Memory care is a type of intensive, specialized care dedicated to sufferers of Alzheimer’s or of other forms of dementia, available either in stand-alone facilities or in the memory-care units of assisted living facilities. These units only accept people suffering from memory impairment, usually based on the person’s medical records or based on a recent evaluation by a specialist.
The care that residents benefit from in Alzheimers Care Facilities include the services provided by assisted living facilities, such as meals and help with daily chores, such as dressing, bathing and taking medications as well as care services dedicated especially to dementia sufferers, developed to keep residents happy and independent as much as possible and to keep up their quality of life. The staff working in these facilities are qualified to provide specialized care to these residents with special needs and the environment in these homes is also developed to provide maximum safety to the residents. People suffering from dementia have a tendency to wander and they often get confused about their surroundings and the people around them – the care stuff receive special training to be able to handle such issues and the spaces in memory facilities are all developed in a way to provide the highest level of comfort to frail residents.
How to Determine Whether Your Loved One Needs Memory Care?
Most memory care facilities accept people based on a medical diagnosis, but it is very important for caregivers to be aware of the early signs that their loved one needs a thorough medical check-up and that it is probably a good idea to start searching for a suitable care facility. Here are some signs that indicate your loved one’s mental and cognitive status has started changing:
- Changes in behavior – many people with dementia start acting differently as their disease progresses. In many cases, those changes include withdrawal from activities previously enjoyed, verbal or even physical aggression towards their caregivers as well as changes at the level of personal hygiene, such as neglecting bathing;
- Confusion and disorientation – dementia sufferers might forget the rules of the road and they might lose their ability to navigate even familiar areas, such as the neighborhood;
- Physical changes – deteriorating general health is often another sign of progressing dementia. The problem is sometimes caused by the dementia sufferer forgetting to take their medication as they should or forgetting having taken their meds and taking too much, in other cases, the problem is caused by a loss of appetite and by the progression of comorbidities.