I have an excellent friend that recently, her father, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and regretfully is experiencing a rapid decline. She called me looking for guidance and relief as she was looking for care options for her father in the community. The sad truth is that the help I could provide was minimal. Alzheimer’s is a hard diagnosis from every angle you look at it.
Emotionally is very challenging, you are looking at the person you love, and physically it seems like their old self; you forget about the diagnoses, and then it comes, you try to have a normal conversation, and the answers remind you of your new reality, your loved one has Alzheimer’s.
Accommodating the living arrangement to this new reality is not any easier, you want to keep your loved one at home, you feel obligated, you feel the weight of the responsibility and the desire to give back to that person by caring for them, but there is a point in which keeping them at home is not an option any longer.
Looking for a memory care program that the family can afford and that they feel comfortable with can be daunting. Here we share a few tips of things to look at when you are in the process of looking for memory care program for your loved one:
- Visit more than once at different times.
- Pay close attention to the dynamics during mealtime; do they consider their opinion on what they are going to eat? Are they describing what they are going to eat? Are they opening containers for them? Are they offered the right utensil?
- Do they offer the residents choices regarding activities, bathing, and other daily activities?
- Do they call the residents by their names?
- Do they communicate clearly and break it down step by step to enable the resident to understand?
Be a keen observer and your loved one fiercest advocate.
Residential Plaza’s Memory Care Program provides an affordable 24-hour specialized care, based on the Montessori for Aging and Dementia Program, in a home-like environment for adults with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia-related disorders.
Our residents enjoy living in a home-like environment, surrounded by a safe and caring atmosphere; our personalized approach helps our residents to stay physically and socially engaged, improving their confidence and self-esteem.
For more information, visit www.residentialplaza.com.