A Family Guide to Specialized Dementia Care

When you or a family member is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, it’s important to prepare for the next steps. For most loved ones with dementia, this looks like planning to move into a memory care community.

Memory care communities are long-term care environments where people with dementia receive specialized dementia care services, personalized care, residential care, and maintain a great quality of life.

As people progress through the stages of dementia, they will have more difficulty navigating their day-to-day tasks and will likely require additional assistance with everyday activities like medication management. In this stage of life, a higher level of care becomes critical.

Trained staff members at memory care communities are qualified to provide this kind of health care and can guide families through this journey together.

By stage five or at moderately severe cognitive decline, it is recommended that the patients move into memory care. At this point, someone with dementia may forget information they never had trouble retaining before such as their phone number or family name.

Request a dementia care guide at each of the memory care communities you visit before moving into one to get a sense of how each community operates.

Transitioning Between Assisted Living to Memory Care

Assisted living communities are like memory care units in the sense that they provide a social living environment and promote an improved quality of life.

Memory care residents are diagnosed with a form of dementia and receive specialized dementia care which can include an emphasis on routines and triggers of familiarity to promote cognitive acuity and retention. The care memory care residents receive is specific to their form of dementia and cognitive impairments.

The differences between memory care and assisted living are the types of care offered and the types of residents who move into these respective communities.

Assisted living residents do not need a specific health condition to qualify. They simply are seniors who would like senior care to make their daily lives that much easier.

Some people with dementia find it easier to start in an assisted living campus and transition to a memory care campus when their dementia symptoms worsen. Thankfully, many senior living communities include both assisted living and memory care services, making this transition seamless. People have a chance to stay in the communities and still be surrounded by familiar faces and places.

Starting in assisted living and moving into memory care also makes it easier for residents to create and maintain routines as they navigate this journey.

Average Costs of Memory Care

While memory care communities fall under the assisted living umbrella, not every assisted living community includes memory care. The cost of memory care vs assisted living will vary, but memory care is oftentimes more expensive as this type of care is more specific and specialized.

To determine what the average cost of senior living is by state, check out Genworth, a great resource that publishes yearly cost-of-care surveys.

Other factors that come into play when calculating the cost of senior communities include the size or floor plan of the apartment, the number of services, the location, and the community itself. Entering your city, state, or zip code in Genworth’s interactive map helps determine what you can expect to pay over time.

Before moving into a memory care community, the staff should walk you through the expected financial costs and figure out how to make it work for you and your family’s budget.

How Chelsea Senior Living Can Help

At Chelsea Senior Living, a loving, caring community awaits.

Our memory care community is known as The Country Cottage. Here, our residents form tight bonds with the memory care specialists and each other. Our communities prioritize specialized care and attention, designed to strengthen our residents’ mental, social, and physical health.

As a community, we come together often to support one another in our pursuit of a more peaceful, relaxing, and socially exciting life.

Come tour our campus and meet us in person today.