If you are thinking about finding a community that can better care for your loved one, then it is important for you to fully understand what a Memory Care community is. This article aims to walk you through some of the aspects of Memory Care and explain why it is such a beneficial thing for your loved one so that you can make this difficult decision with a good understanding of what memory care has to offer.
A Matter of Time
Try as you might, you are unlikely to be able to spend as much time caring for your loved ones as they might need. Providing proper care for someone, even with mild cognitive impairment, can be difficult and is often extremely time-consuming. Unfortunately, unless you are lucky enough to have a high-earning partner who is willing to support both you and your loved one, then you will likely have to work a significant portion of the time. Sadly, working at all will make it extremely hard to make sure you engage in every aspect of care needed for someone with cognitive impairment.
Routine is vitally important to mental health, even for a healthy mind, and this goes double for someone with cognitive impairment, for whom the increased stress of a lack of routine may be extremely damaging. The difficulty with memory that often comes with cognitive impairment often makes it challenging for these people to maintain a routine on their own, meaning that the care you offer your loved one is so important. Sadly, unless you can be there for your loved one around the clock, they will at some point or another experience the stress of an unstable routine, which is the last thing you want. There have been studies to suggest that stress has an impact on the development of dementia and generally worsens cognitive health.
A Wealth of Professional Knowledge
Fortunately, one of the many benefits that Memory Care communities offer is a commitment to day-to-day wellbeing, often including a detailed and enjoyable routine to help your loved one live life to the fullest. Facilities such as The Auberge memory care sugarland even offer a variety of daily exercise programs, from yoga to weight lifting, which will help to keep your loved one in good shape both physically and mentally.
If your loved one is struggling with severe cognitive impairment, then the likelihood is that they are going to need more than just a good routine. Most of the time, people with such issues need special care, which includes supervision, measures to limit difficult behaviors, and special communication techniques. These measures can be overwhelming and often impossible for you to implement on your own, necessitating additional care for your loved one. Memory Care facilities have trained staff who are well suited to giving excellent care to your loved ones, including special care for those with difficult or advanced conditions. This allows you to spend the time you can with your loved one in a positive environment, one where you can focus on time spent with them, rather than time spent looking after them.
Alongside regular general care measures, Memory Care communities may offer useful additional care, such as speech therapy to help your loved one to keep communicating as well as they possibly can. There are also religious services to help your loved ones stay in touch with their beliefs. These extra facilities can help to keep your loved one calm, grounded, and healthy, as they are cared for by professionals who are trained to offer the best quality care possible, allowing you to spend the time that you can with them in a positive and memorable way.
Next Steps
If you have made a choice to, or are thinking you may need to, move your loved one into a Memory Care community, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure this move goes as smoothly as possible.
The first thing you should do is to research possible Memory Care communities in areas that you think would be best for your loved one. Whether that is nearby, in a sunny retirement area, or near to more members of your family, you should always consider what your loved one would want most out of their new community. Perhaps you could even help them into a state that they’ve always wanted to live in. The key to this is to deeply research and consider the location that you decide on for your loved one.
Next, you need to consider how to discuss the transition with your loved one. It will be an understandably difficult subject for both you and your loved one, but having an open and honest conversation about it will make sure they are prepared to move to their new community. Including your loved one in these discussions means that they won’t be suddenly and stressfully thrust into the community without their knowledge, which could cause them to associate negative feelings towards the community that they would otherwise not. It might be hard, but if you can help them see how the move to a Memory Care Community will be good for both you and them, they will be able to properly integrate and form positive attachments to the staff and facility. This will help them immeasurably in terms of their quality of life and enjoyment of the available facilities in their new home.
Finally, you should consider when your loved one needs to be moved to the community. As with many things, sooner is likely better as a faster transition will afford your loved one the best quality care for the most time. It also means that they spend less time anticipating the move to their new community and more time enjoying the benefits of a caring and dedicated staff.