Reasons to Choose Memory Care vs Skilled Nursing
If your loved one has dementia, you understand finding a place that best fits your loved one’s needs is essential. No one solution fits everyone’s dementia care needs, so it’s important to find a place that best matches your loved one’s dementia experience. We wrote this post to list reasons your loved one may be a better fit in one of our memory care homes instead of a skilled nursing facility. If you scroll to the bottom of the post, we list reasons you may want to consider skilled nursing instead.
Social Environment
We make sure each of our homes is conducive to social interaction because we believe this is essential for humans, particularly the elderly. Each home features an open common area where residents are encouraged to eat, hang out, and do activities with other residents.
Home Setting
Our homes feel like homes because they are. Each of our homes is a single-level residence located in quiet residential neighborhoods. We designed and renovated each to be warm, inviting, and functional to elderly persons experiencing memory loss. We find this helps with the transition from their own home and re-orient to their new home.
Caregiver-to-Resident Ratio
Each of our homes takes no more than six residents at a time, so we maintain a higher caregiver-to-resident ratio by default. It also lets our caregivers get to know our residents and their likes and dislikes much better. We feel this is essential in memory care to ensure each resident is receiving the attention they require, and so we can notice changes in behavior and act on them.
Designed for Rest
Facilities with loud alarms, paging systems, and bright lights can make it difficult to get rest. We design our homes to provide safety and security without constant alarms and bright lights. Sleep is essential, so we do all we can to ensure our homes are conducive for rest.
Better Food
We work with a nutritionist to make sure our meals are both nutritious and tasty. We prepare each meal in our homes' kitchens. Sometimes residents help with ingredient preparation, particularly if we are baking a treat.
Enriching Activities
Each day is filled with activities to ensure our residents are getting the social, mental, and fitness stimulation they require. We work with Team Elliot Education to design enriching activities with our residents that you won't find at other facilities. We do classic activities like board games, too, because some of our residents are board game and puzzle enthusiasts.
In-Home Physical Therapy
Our residents can receive visits from their physical therapists for in-home sessions after being discharged from the hospital or skilled nursing. We find it helps the recovery process when they can receive therapy at home.
Conversely, there are reasons to select skilled nursing instead of one of our memory care homes:
Nursing care is required to provide advanced wound care, IV therapy, or other medical care. We can provide medication management and assistance with the application of therapeutics like anti-inflammatory creams. Still, if your loved one requires medical attention, they will want to seek a hospital or skilled nursing.
Mechanical lift needed to get in or out of bed. We can provide a two-person assist to help your loved one get out of a chair, bed, or shower, but if your loved one requires a sizeable mechanical lift like a Hoyer lift to make transitions out of bed, they will want to see skilled nursing.
Extreme behaviors. We work with our incoming residents' care providers to develop a care plan to reduce behaviors caused by drug interactions or the previous care environment. Suppose chemical restraints or specialized behavioral care are required for your loved one not to harm themself or others. In that case, they will need to seek a behavioral health facility or skilled nursing.
Contact us to learn more about our memory care options and to schedule a tour.