With the growing demand for memory care centers, we have seen a surge in several communities that offer high end services to Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Navigating among the vast options is complicated and tricky. From dementia homes to assisted living centers, one can see the unending possibilities of facilities. Many people consider assisted living centers as one of the options for Alzheimer’s care. However, there might occur more truth to it than it seems to.
The Several Therapy Offerings
Assisted living centers aim at providing services to active seniors who need help with everyday tasks. Since assisted living communities concern themselves mostly with this demographic, it becomes difficult to recommend these centers for people suffering from late or mid-stage Alzheimer’s or other forms of memory loss.
These living centers provide plenty of opportunities with the goal of socialization for its residents. The staff from an assisted living facility plan a wide range of available activities for the patients, such as outings, exercises, book clubs, games, karaoke, apart from the support activities. In Alzheimer’s patients, a continuous set of stimulation and mind exercises is crucial to maintain the person’s cognitive rate. The typical assisted living centers do not detail this area, and it acts as a con.
A Personalized Plan
Most assisted living facilities to support the fundamental activities of the older adult. Unlike memory care centers, they do not focus on tailoring specialized activities according to the residents’ needs. For memory loss patients, one has to provide more than physical support and cross their walls to offer mental and spiritual wellbeing. Find memory care communities in your locality by simply browsing on the search engines and reviewing their amenities and services.
The Hybrids
With increasing incidence and prevalence rates of Alzheimer’s disease across the world, care communities are trying to bundle their services to maximize reach and support the older adults. Nursing homes are adopting activities to help people with memory loss, while assisted living facilities incorporate memory care activities in their schedules to help more people. The memory care assisted living in Wyoming provides excellent services with round the clock care for dementia patients.
A Well Trained Staff
Staff members at assisted living centers are well trained to take care for seniors with their daily tasks. However, if the patient suffers from Alzheimer’s, it can become difficult for the caregiver to understand and support the patient without the necessary training. Even though people debate that not all staff is ill-trained, but it is always better to get on a safer side and choose a facility where the staff has adequate training in memory care activities. On the contrary, the staff in dementia homes and memory care centers receive regular and thorough training on how to provide person centered care to the patient 24 hours. They often obtain training on understanding Alzheimer’s patients’ mental state and how to manage their difficulties and offer them support compassionately. Alzheimer’s patients are prone to aggression and wandering, and thus, staff that has adequate experience in handling such patients is a substantial element. Assisted living centers provide a high staff to resident ratio in comparison to memory care centers and other senior care types. This prevents the person from getting one on one attention that they need.
The Safety Measures
Assisted living centers offer safety features, such as room emergency alert systems and daily check-ins. On the other hand, older adults suffering from memory loss need more than the basic safety amenities surrounding them. Since they tend to wander and get lost, memory care centers equip themselves with cutting edge safety measures, such as obscured exits, keypad entries, and doorbells in all corners of the room, and offer supervision at all times. Increased safety is at the apex for a memory care center, whereas the assisted living center might not provide benefits at such levels. The hybrid assisted memory centers to offer all such services, so you can easily rely on these to take care of your loved ones.
The Lack of Memory Activities
Centers that are focused on memory care offer to calm therapies to decrease agitation and confusion that can lead to self injury in memory loss patients. The lack of such activities in the standard assisted living centers is a drawback.
Wrapping Things Up
Assisted living facilities do well for patients who are suffering from early and mid-stages of memory loss. Since Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, the symptoms worsen over time. Every year, there is a diagnosis of approximately ten million cases. Such threatening statistics push for providing our aging adults with extra attention, care, and support to improve their quality of life. It is wise for families to opt for memory care centers, dementia homes, or the assisted memory living centers in such situations.