A Closer Look: Alzheimer's Care
Senior housing for people with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other cognitive impairment provide a caring home with unique features. These features are designed to enhance resident dignity, minimize confusion and agitation associated with memory loss, and provide safety and socialization within a warm and caring environment.
Alzheimer’s care is supported by an extensive research community. As more is known about the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment on a person’s behaviors and memory, homes incorporate new interventions into their services, activities, or environment. Great care is taken to keep staff and care practices on the leading edge of service delivery.
To take a closer look at Alzheimer's care, choose any category below:
Services
Accommodations
Staff
Building/ Physical Environment
Security
Cost
Checklist
More Information
Services:
Typically, assistance is provided for all areas of personal care, including dressing, bathing, and toileting. Assistance is provided throughout the day and night, with residents on a daily routine to minimize change and more care may be needed as residents change, and this change may occur suddenly. Services should be flexible enough to accommodate immediate needs related to incontinence, eating and behavior management. Residents may require total care in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease, including full-body positioning, transfers and lifting. Some homes may be able to provide care at these later stages, but others may not have the staff available for total care. At this point, the director or clinical manager should be able to make appropriate suggestions for transfer to another facility.
Some homes may provide respite or short-term care that gives caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s some personal time and rest from the emotional and physical rigors of caregiving.
Meals are usually made in a separate kitchen and served in the common dining area. However, some homes are fashioned like a house, with a kitchen in which residents can smell the aromas of meals cooking in their kitchen. Meal preparation should be able to accommodate special diet requirements, such as low sodium or chopped meats.
Activities by trained recreation specialists are integral to resident life. Activities typically are designed to stimulate memory, but should not be too long or disrupt the calm environment or resident routines. Nighttime activities incorporate residents with disorientation and disturbed sleep cycles.
Usually, clinical staff is available for medication administration and/or management. Unless the home is connected to a larger long-term care community, pharmacy services are outsourced but can deliver medications for the residents.
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Accommodations:
Residents can have private or shared rooms, and meals are usually offered in a small dining room with other residents. Bathrooms may be positioned to allow a resident to recall its purpose, thereby promoting independence in toileting. Bathroom facilities should have safety features, such as raised toilets, walk-in showers and grab bars. Residents may be able to furnish their own rooms.
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Staff:
Staff is specially-trained to work with residents experiencing memory-loss and exhibiting common behaviors associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Their patience and gentle encouragement reassure residents who are agitated or restless. Socialization and activities redirect anxieties and provide residents with familiar routines. Optimally, the same staff members should work with the same residents, with a lower staff to resident ratio than what you would find in an assisted living facility.
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Building/ Physical Environment:
The building design comforts residents who feel disoriented and inclined to wander. Often, homes are divided into “pods”, or subsections to create a smaller, home-like environment in which residents feel safer and more at ease. These homes can be stand-alone facilities or connected to a larger long-term care community.
Many memory aids are incorporated into the structural design and environment.
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Security:
Secured entrances protect residents who have a high risk of wandering and to screen guests. Staff may be required to admit visitors. Otherwise, primary caregivers, such as spouses or children, may be given codes, to allow entry. If there is a kitchen, it should be secured to keep residents away from a stove or walk-in refrigerator or freezer. Windows in resident accommodations should be sealed shut or limited to inhibit a resident from climbing out of their window.
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Cost: $2500-3500/month
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Checklist:
- Does your loved one require Assisted Living care?
- Identifying immediate and long-term needs and gettting recommedations through a primary healthcare provider can help determine if assisted living care is the right solution.
- Find a healthcare provider in your area
- Do you know your choice of providers available in your desired area?
- Have you visited the communities you are interested in?
- Taking a personal tour gives you a sense of the environment, staff and residents so you know whether it's a fit.
- Top 10 touring tips
- Are you ready for move-in day?
- What can you do to ease the transition of move-in?
- What can you do to make the stay a success?
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Learn more:
The Alzheimer's Association
The Mayo Clinic Website: Symptoms and Risks
Lumosity.com: "Brain Games" to improve your memory
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