People who have cognitive deficits from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia may benefit from residing in assisted living facilities that provide memory care support. These facilities provide around-the-clock care for aging adults with dementia by providing a safe and engaging environment that focuses on enhancing the quality of life, promoting memory function, and keeping the residents safe. Here are some services offered by memory care assisted living facilities to consider if your elderly loved one has dementia.
Supportive Therapeutic Activities
Assisted living facilities with memory care units engage their residents with supportive therapeutic activities that can help promote relaxation, enhance the mood, and decrease dementia-related agitation. One such therapeutic activity offered by memory care facilities is music therapy. It is thought that dementia patients can benefit from the calming effects of soothing music. Singing songs may also help improve memory function, decrease acting out and aggressive behaviors, and even help the individuals sleep better at night.
Pet therapy is another therapeutic activity offered by memory care assisted living facilities. Pet companionship may help dementia patients feel calmer and happier, and it may even have the potential to lower the heart rate and decrease blood pressure.
Specially Trained Staff
Memory care staff at assisted living facilities are specially trained to care for elderly residents with memory loss and dementia. This extra training not only benefits the psychological and physical needs of the residents of the facility but also offers an extra layer of comfort to the families of those residents.
The memory care staff is specially trained to meet the needs of those residents who display dementia-related behavioral symptoms such as aggression, combativeness, and wandering behaviors in a gentle and compassionate way. This specialized training involves non-pharmaceutical approaches to behavior management which may help diminish the need for psychotropic drugs that can lead to undesirable side effects and may increase the individual's risk for falls and injuries.
Memory care facilities typically have lower staff-to-patient ratios so that staff members can spend more one-on-one time with the residents while getting to know them better and learning about their individual needs.
If your senior loved one has Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia that is causing cognitive deficits and memory loss, contact an assisted living facility admissions counselor for more information. The admissions counselor will discuss the services offered by the assisted living community and address your inquiries and concerns as they relate to specialized programs offered, medication protocols, meal options, and financial policies.