When to Move From Assisted Living to Memory Care

Vivant Senior Living resident exercising with bike.

Vivant Senior Living receives a lot of inbound inquiries from families who are contemplating moving their family members from assisted living to memory care. We know it is a big decision, so we want to provide a post with essential items to consider when deciding so you land in the best possible care environment for your loved one. Some of the things we will cover in this post are design differences, level of care differences, and the impact of a dementia diagnosis.

Design differences

There are many different care environments for families to choose from. A common large facility offers both assisted living and memory care under the same roof. Sometimes large facilities will also offer independent living and assisted living and memory care options.

It is important to note that large facilities that offer multiple services as your family member needs more hands-on care will also move your family member to a different area within the facility. Typically, memory care wings will have dedicated space away from the common areas frequented by the independent and assisted living residents. This is simply because they require a higher level of monitoring. They also need entrances and exits with delayed egress locks to keep them safe. Many memory care residents like to go on walks, but it can be unsafe if they walk out the front door without someone to accompany them. Hence, memory care wings will have monitored entrances and exits with locks that release after you push on the door for 15 or 30 seconds. The reason for the release is that if there is a fire, all people must be able to leave the premises of their own free will, whether they have dementia.

The memory care area of the larger facility will also sometimes have subtle design changes to assist the memory care residents. These design choices may include colors and materials that provide contrast for a resident that has difficulty with visual-spatial ability. This could consist of simple things we take for granted, like deciphering the positioning of a urinal or toilet from the flooring.

Suppose you are touring a facility that offers many senior living options like independent living, assisted living, and memory care under one roof. In that case, it’s vital to tour the area where your loved one will be spending the majority of their day. The common areas where independent and assisted living can blow your socks off with their overall luxury design and amenities, but sometimes the memory care areas are distinct and separated.

Vivant Senior Living specializes in memory care. We have designed each memory care home for elderly residents experiencing dementia. It’s all we do, so we have put a lot of effort and focus on being a good fit for memory care residents.

Level of care differences

Suppose your loved one is currently residing in an assisted living facility. In that case, you may find that the facility can no longer provide your family member with the level of care they require. Dementia is difficult, mainly as it develops and changes. If your family member is starting to show behaviors and changes that you haven’t seen before, it may be time to look into care options that may be a better fit.

It is vital to find a memory care option trained in working with behaviors and changes that dementia residents experience. Sometimes it can be as simple as communicating better with your loved one. There may be some medication conflict that accentuates the behavior in other cases. Whatever the change, maybe you want to have a caregiving team experienced with providing the best possible care to an elderly resident experiencing dementia.

Vivant Senior Living specializes in providing care to elderly residents experiencing memory loss. One of our strong suits is helping residents experiencing recent changes caused by dementia progression, or medication conflicts find their way back to a manageable baseline. Dementia is a complex group of conditions, so we find it helps to have an experienced, communicative, and adaptive team when new changes happen.

Dementia diagnosis

When your family member receives a dementia diagnosis from the primary care provider, such as their doctor, it will be time to start looking into memory care options. Many assisted living facilities do not have dedicated memory care areas under their roof. These facilities may find themselves taking care of your loved one with a team that is not best suited to provide care for dementia. One reason they have not brought this to your attention is that it can be a financial impact to have a resident move out of their facility. If your loved one has not received a dementia diagnosis, the assisted living facility may not be required to move them out. When your family member does receive a dementia diagnosis, the assisted living facility may be necessary to let the family know they can no longer provide the level of care your family member needs.

Vivant Senior Living is experienced at working with the family of our residents and their primary care providers on developing the optimal care plan for their loved one experiencing memory loss. We find that a dementia diagnosis can be helpful, particularly when we know what type of dementia. We have experience providing care for residents with Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson’s disease dementia, to name a few.

If you are still considering if now is the right to move your loved one from assisted living to memory care, we’d be happy to provide you consult on the matter. You can contact us with questions or schedule a tour of one of our memory care homes located in Maitland, Florida, anytime.