What Is Memory Care? A Guide to Alzheimer's and Dementia Care

What Is Memory Care?

Memory care refers to specialized senior care dedicated solely to patients with memory disorders and diseases, typically dementia. Patients in memory care have a much lower staff-to-resident ratio than those in other types of senior housing, and they enjoy unique memory-boosting activities and therapies meant to stimulate different cognitive abilities. Monitored 24/7, memory care units keep residents safe and secure by ensuring any entrances and exits remain locked at all times.

Memory care units may stand alone or serve as part of an existing nursing home or assisted living community. They primarily house individuals in the middle or late stages of their disease. Most of these centers only employ staff who have completed ample training specific to working with dementia patients, so they can respond appropriately to common symptoms of the disease, such as aggression, agitation, repetition, and wandering.

Many units are often designed in the shape of a loop with distinctive landmarks and labels, making it easier for your loved ones to find their way back if they’ve been wandering. Some homes feature enclosed courtyards, which allow residents to spend time outside without the fear of getting lost while other facilities use themed wings and stations meant to help trigger residents’ memories.

Memory Care vs. Nursing Homes

How Much Does Memory Care Cost?

Paying for Memory Care

Memory care is expensive. There’s no doubt about it. Fortunately, there are a variety of means in which you might find the funds to cover the cost of your loved one’s stay. Keep reading to learn more about each method.

• Government Programs
  • Medicare Medicare does not usually cover long-term care, such as assisted living or nursing home facilities. However, Medicare will cover some physician and prescription fees for dementia patients, and it will pay for a short-term stay in a skilled nursing facility, less than 100 days. Additionally, Medicare can help with costs near the end of your loved one’s life by covering hospice care.
  • Medicaid For Alzheimer’s/dementia patients residing in nursing homes, Medicaid will pay 100 percent of the cost, including room and board. Unfortunately, In assisted living memory care, Medicaid typically only pays for the cost of care, as it is legally prohibited from covering the cost of room and board. If your loved one is still living at home and qualifies for Medicaid, you may want to consider adult daycare, as many Medicaid plans will also fully cover this type of care.
  • Social Security You can apply your loved one’s monthly Social Security check toward their memory care costs. If they have early-onset dementia, Social Security Disability is another option. In fact, the Social Security Administration uses a system called compassionate allowances to quickly identify people with certain conditions, like dementia and other adult brain disorders, and fast-track their access to benefits.
• Personal Assets
  • Reverse Mortgages Not only can a reverse mortgage help pay for your loved one’s residential memory care, but it will enable you to continue living in the home. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners who are 62 and older to take advantage of the equity they have in their homes. A reverse mortgage takes that equity and turns it into a non-taxable cash income. Bonus: You no longer have to pay any monthly mortgage payments either. If you choose this route, make sure the lender you work with is federally insured.
  • Personal Savings and Investments Your loved one’s savings accounts are one of the first places you should look for money to pay memory care bills. The sale of valuable assets, such as cars or jewelry, can also make a dent in your family member’s memory care bill.
  • Retirement Accounts If your loved one has amassed a healthy retirement fund, this is an ideal way to pay for memory care. Plus, with a qualifying reason, such as paying for Alzheimer’s or dementia care, they won’t be penalized if they remove funds before reaching retirement age. Pension plan benefits typically work the same way and often take considerable stress off families worried about having enough to pay for their loved one’s memory care home.
  • Trusts Trusts are used to transfer assets from one person to another. Typically trusts provide valuable tax benefits for the trustee. For those with disabilities, like dementia, you can use certain types of trusts to help pay for long-term services. These include Medicaid disability trusts and charitable remainder trusts. Medicaid trusts are irrevocable legal agreements that hold your assets and money for your beneficiaries and, in turn, qualify you (or your loved one) for Medicaid coverage. Another positive point, Medicaid trusts are protected from Medicaid estate recovery.
• Life or Long-Term Care Insurance If your loved one has a life insurance policy, take advantage of it! There are several ways their life insurance can help pay for their memory care home services while they’re still alive. These include accelerated death benefits, selling the policy for a lump sum, or exchanging the policy with the company that issued it for care services equal to the policy’s current value. Additionally, speak to your family member about whether or not they purchased long-term care insurance. If they did, it will likely reduce the costs you and your loved one are responsible for significantly, as this insurance pays out specifically for this type of need.

For more information about other state and federal benefits, visit the National Council on Aging’s website and select Benefits Check-Up.

When Should You Put Someone in Memory Care?

Five Signs It’s Time to Move From Assisted Living to Memory Care

Assisted living is a wonderful option for seniors who need a bit of extra help yet remain mostly independent. It may even work well for your loved one through the early stages of Alzheimer’s or dementia. However, as time goes on, your family member will start to exhibit signs that indicate the progression of their disease, and it will become more difficult for them to function without more significant help. Of course, if your loved one is already in assisted living, it may be challenging to discern when it’s the appropriate time to move them to memory care. Here are five signs to look for that indicate it may be time to move to an area with more intensive care.

1. Safety concerns

For memory patients, safety issues often arise with everyday tasks or situations that you and I wouldn’t give a second thought. For example, your loved one might start to struggle with medication management and accidentally take their morning medications two or three times. If their assisted living residence includes a kitchen, they might forget to turn burners off or not remember that substances like aluminum foil start a fire if put in the microwave. In other cases, you might notice that they have cuts, scrapes, bruises, or even more severe injuries that they don’t remember getting. We all have incidents like these every now and then, but when your loved one’s safety is repeatedly put into question, it might be time to search for a memory care facility.

2. Changes in mood/behavior

If your loved one has become increasingly anxious, agitated, and/or prone to aggressive or violent behaviors, this is a surefire sign that it might be time for memory care. Keep in mind that aggressive doesn’t always mean physical. In addition to kicking, hitting, and biting, verbal abuse, manipulation, and threats are all common among progressing memory diseases.

3. Severe disorientation

Has your family member started to wander more frequently? When they wander, do they end up very disoriented and/or in dangerous situations, such as the middle of a busy intersection or highway? If so, this indicates they should be living somewhere with more supervision where they can wander safely inside the facility.

4. Unhealthy living environment

When an assisted living residence that was once well kept is overrun with dirty laundry, trash, and the scent of soiled kitty litter, that’s a clear indication something is wrong. Alternatively, it may be less obvious, such as a mini-fridge full of expired food, a newly developed hoarding habit, or simply an extreme level of disorganization. Healthy living conditions are essential for your loved one’s well-being. When these start to deteriorate with an Alzheimer’s or dementia patient, it’s likely time for memory care.

5. A decline in personal hygiene

Forgetting daily hygiene routines can have a negative impact on your loved one’s physical and mental health. They may not remember what hygiene steps they missed, but they’ll probably recognize that some things are off, especially if they used to be rather well-groomed and put together. The most obvious and concerning hygiene issue is more serious than one or two missed showers or going without deodorant.

If your loved one is afflicted with frequent incontinence and has trouble cleaning themselves afterward, this poses a serious health risk. Not only might they feel embarrassed or ashamed, but they will also smell, and/or likely develop skin problems, urinary tract infections, or worse. If your loved one frequently fails to meet basic hygiene standards or commonly experiences Incontinence, memory care is probably the best next step.

Transitioning a Loved One Into Memory Care

Making the transition into memory care can be challenging for residents as well as their families. Luckily, experts have determined a number of steps and strategies you can take to help make the transition easier for both you and your loved one. Read on for details about six of these tactics.

• Take your loved one to events at the memory care facility several times prior to their move-in day. Even if they don’t remember much, the place will still feel familiar.
• Spend some time in your family member’s new room before the move, and try to make it as similar to their current home environment as possible. This will help minimize their anxiety. Additionally, if the facility allows, decorate your loved one’s door with their name and things they enjoy, so they can always identify which room is theirs.
• Fill an iPod or CD player with your loved one’s favorite tunes. Allowing memory care patients this luxury has been shown to help decrease stress, something they’re sure to experience during their transition to memory care.
• Pack for your loved one, and don’t be afraid to get a bit wild with the permanent marker. Label everything, especially basics, such as sweaters, towels, pants, etc., that could easily be mistaken as someone else’s. This will help your loved one feel confident about what items belong to them and help them avoid accidental losses.
• Don’t let your loved one see you being emotional about their move. It’s entirely normal for you to feel a whole range of emotions about moving your loved one into a memory care facility, from grief and sadness to relief. Nevertheless, you should avoid letting your loved one see how difficult the experience may be for you, as it can make it that much harder on them during a crucial transition period. Try your best to appear as upbeat and optimistic about the move as possible.
• Visiting your loved one at their new home is a great idea, but be sure you give them time to get to know their new surroundings on their own as well. Additionally, try to wait a while before you take your loved one on an outing. Call and check in with the staff and make sure your loved one has established new routines and gotten involved in some aspects of the community before you take them on your next mini-adventure.

Conclusion

Making the choice to move a loved one to memory care can be one of the more difficult decisions of our adult lives. Even so, providing them with a secure facility and expertly trained staff who know how to effectively respond to behaviors common to those with memory disorders may also be one of the best choices we can make for their well-being. Memory care may come with a hefty price tag, but with a range of funding methods available, setting aside a few hours, or days, to consider whether memory care is the most loving choice we can make for our dementia-afflicted loved one is certainly time well spent.