Moving A Parent With Dementia into Assisted Living

If you are searching for “how to move a parent with dementia into assisted living“, this post should help!

While there aren’t any correct guidelines for when it is time to move a loved one into an assisted living community, however, you can be looking for signs that it is time to move them to assisted living or memory care facility.

One of the main issues is that people set tough guidelines. You may have to move a loved one if they start to forgetting their name or if they forget how to use the bathroom, but it is feasible that your loved one will not experience those changes. In the mean time, you and your loved ones can be hanging in there trying to care for someone who has dementia and they may benefit by moving to an assisted living facility.

Indications That It’s Time For Assisted Living

It is imperative to be looking out for any of these signs that it is time to move your loved one to a assisted living facility:

1. Your loved one with dementia is not safe in their home.

One of the main reasons that you need to move your loved one into assisted living is when there isn’t adequate resources to safely care for a loved one who has dementia. It is suggested that you take a look at these safety concerns to help gauge your loved one’s circumstances:

• Has your loved one fallen down lately? Has it occurred more than once?
• Have they become physical combative to others or yourself?
• Are they having trouble when they try to cook?
• Are they capable to make meals and store them safely?
• Are they eating normally? Are they gaining/ losing abnormal amounts of weight?
• Are they forgetting their medication doses? Are they taking too much of their medication?
• Are they starting to lose track of where they are when they are not at home?
• Are they driving, when they are not supposed to?
• Are they susceptible to a financial scam or have been deceived by one?

2. You are starting to get drained.

Getting burned out is basically a blanket term that means a lot of circumstances are challenging for a caregiver. Some can become physically drained because of the needs of their loved one, and then it takes a toll on their health. Others can get emotionally exhausted, feel that they need to escape themselves, or get socially inaccessible. Try not to get angry, it can only make the circumstances worse.

Guilt also fits into burn out. If you have been locked into constantly being stressed, inadequately equipped to care for your loved one, or flustered. If you have feeling of guilt for having those thoughts or feeling, then it is time to begin to look into dementia care. Guilt is what you feel if you think you have done something wrong. Being frustrated that a loved one was diagnosed with dementia or just hoping that you had more free time to care for them, is not something you should feel guilty over.

3. Your loved one who is diagnosed dementia is disinterested.

Whenever your loved one is starts asking what you are doing, tagging you around, they most likely bored. Assisted living communities have events that are specifically designed for people who have dementia and it also allows people to be with others who are in the same situation.

It is about giving them reason and purpose in their day. Don’t feel bad if you stopped meeting these needs. Caregivers can be hampered that they forget that the person that has dementia isn’t getting the stimulus they need and decline may come faster.

Do your Assisted Living Homework

Accepting that you will have to start looking for dementia care is the first step in a lengthy process. To help find a community near you that specializes in assisted living, Caring.com will provide a large directory of assisted living communities all over the nation. There you will be able to find information about the care provided as well as consumer reviews.

Here Are Some Other Steps To Help You In Your Research:

1. Get in touch with the Alzheimer’s Association.

You can reach out to your local Alzheimer’s Association who can give you with crucial information about resources and even more the emotional and social reinforcement that you will need as you go through the process.

2. Begin looking into dementia care sooner than later.

Take time and research facilities in your area early on, so there’s not a need to make a careless decision during a bad situation. Understanding whenever you pick assisted living that doesn’t have memory care, there may be additional costs.

Ensure that you access the activity programs as it will help to provide enough stimulation for the brain of your loved one for a better quality of life.

3. Hire a Geriatric Care specialist.

There are professionals who specialize in advising caregivers’ research options for assisted living. The advantage of hiring these professionals is to help you locate a great match for your loved one which will make the conversations much easier, because they are able to help with discussions about the move.

4. Consult with an attorney.

Optimally, you, your loved one and family will take care of the financial and legal arrangement issues after they are diagnosed. Your loved one who has dementia can and should be included in outlining their care choices as dementia beings to progress.

This process needs to give caregivers the power of attorney and health mandates which can help when it is time to move. If you don’t have these in place, and your loved one is refusing the much needed move, you have 2 alternatives:

• You could establish a web of volunteer and paid care at home as well as daily itineraries.
• You can also hire an attorney to deal with the legalities that are needed to give you the power to make the choices for them.

5. Do your research so you can better understand dementia.

There are specific things that will develop with the disease; it doesn’t matter where your loved one is living. Accepting how dementia will alter your loved one can help you to know how you, your loved one and family can handle the situation you are in as a group.

Tips To Make The Move To Assisted Living Notably Easier

Tip 1. Invite them to lunch

If your loved one is still a bit hesitant about moving into an assisted living community, invite them to make a couple lunch visits or attend planned activities at some of the places that you have been looking at. Make these activities social and fun which can increase the warm friendliness within the communities.

Tip 2. Get paired up with other residents

Ask the staff to pair you up with 1 or 2 other tenants who are social and friendly. Don’t discuss with your loved one that you are arranging for them to live there. Instead introduce them to the tenants. Take this for instance: “This is my dad, Freddie. He loves to cook.” After you have stepped in a couple of more times, propose that they spend a bit more time there with their new found friends. Later, give them the great news that there is a great room available where he can stay for a couple of days.

Tip 3. Tell them it’s just a brief stay

Those who have dementia that may not want to move, but you can make the change much easier if you tell them that it is just momentary and for a realistic reason. For example, you could tell them that they need to be out of the house so that you can have the roof looked at, or that they need to go a place where their health can be taken care of for a little bit.

Tip 4. Help make preparations

Families will often prepare the apartment, by picking and decorating it in the facility and then cooperate with staff so that everyone will know what the reason for this move is. Once they are involved in the community, they will accept their permanent circumstances.

You will want to keep your tone as upbeat as possible; it will be hard, and bury the guilty feelings that you may have. It will be hard to lie to your loved one, but you need to understand that telling the truth could in reality, harm them.

Tip 5. Don’t make your first visit long and drawn out

Once your loved one has finally moved in, make sure to keep your first visit short and sweet. Be sure and keep the conversation positive as can be. They will most likely ask when they will be going home. Refrain from telling your loved that they are living there now, and just deflect the conversation by talking about like new friends, and what they are eating. Keep in contact with the facility staff. If they report that your loved one was agitated after the visit, you may want to give them a little more time to adjust to their new home before you start regularly visiting.

The decision about your moving your loved one to dementia care needs to be a family choice. The only guideline is to make the decision with your team, which involves your loved one with dementia, you, your family and the doctor.

Sedona Winds Offers Assisted Living In Sedona, Arizona

Sedona Winds Retirement Community is an assisted living facility in Sedona, Arizona. For more information about our assisted living facility, contact SLS Communities or to schedule a tour, please call us today at 928-985-6259.