With a family, it may be a difficult and emotional experience. One of the major concerns that arise when a loved one begins to require a higher degree of care and assistance especially when cognitive abilities are challenged by factors like Alzheimer’s and dementia is whether the assistance should be assisted living or specialized memory care.
The paper is a highly comprehensive resource which will assist Indian families in realizing the basic variations between the two choices and how the services, the environment, the costs, and the key indicators can assist you in making the best course of action decision.
What Is Assisted Living?
Assisted living is a category of senior living in which attendants offer accommodation to individuals who are incapable of living on their own, but do not require the highly specialized medical care provided in a nursing home.
It is a compromise between full-time and home medical care and a compromise between the two. Assisted living is principally to provide a secure and social environment in which residents are able to thrive with partial assistance in daily living.
Typical services offered:
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Helps with first-level activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and so on). It is a service to help the residents maintain their personal neatness and decency.
Eating
We have healthy and nutritious meals, and we are consumed at a shared place. This guarantees the residents healthy nutrition without the inconvenience of preparing meals and a social life.
Housekeeping
This is general housekeeping and laundry. Through the provision of these services, residents get to live in a clean and orderly environment and concentrate on their personal affairs and interests.
Social Activities
We have extensive social and recreational activities. Other programs such as group games, cultural activities and wellness, are aimed at fostering socialization and a sense of belonging.
What Is Memory Care?
Memory care as a form of long-term care is specifically offered to patients with Alzheimer disease and other forms of dementia.
Memory care compares to assisted living services for seniors in that it serves a greater number of people, but it is entirely focused on the individual and changing requirements of people with significant cognitive limitations.
The goal is to provide a safe, well-structured and humane environment that improves the quality of life of the resident as the symptoms of his or her disease are managed.
Extra Services
Structured Routine: Day-to-day routine that is to be followed very strictly and is intended to minimize confusion and anxiety. The predictability of dementia residents makes them feel safe and they can easily move about the day.
Cognitive Therapies: Provides special activities and therapies that have a cognitive stimulation focus. They involve reminiscence therapy, music therapy and art therapy whose purpose is to slow down cognitive impairment and enhance mood.
Safe and Secure Environment: It offers a safe and secure environment to avoid wandering which is a typical symptom of dementia. That is, besides restricted perimeters and special design features that allow residents to move freely without the risk of being lost.
Key Differences Between Memory Care Vs Assisted Living
The extent of specialisation and security is the difference between two kinds of care. Such distinctions play a significant role in decision-making.
Services & Activities
Assisted Living: Focuses on general assistance with ADLs, socialization and sense of belonging. Activities tend to be varied and resident directed.
Memory Care: Specialised, dementia specific care and therapeutic, structured activities are provided. It is based on mental and emotional support.
Staff Training & Expertise
Assisted Living: Personnel is trained to assist in basic day to day tasks. The ratio of staff to residents is low as compared to the case in memory care.
Memory Care: Wide training of personnel on dementia care including management of challenging behaviours. The staff to resident ratio is increased to ensure round the clock care and close attention.
Living Environment & Safety
Assisted Living: It is characterized by a normal household environment in an individual, or community unit. The population has the freedom to move around the facility and come and go as they please.
Memory Care: Is defined by a locked environment that removes the vagrant wandering that is common with dementia. It is often circular in design with bright signage and colour coding of walls to ensure ease of movement and reduce any confusion.
Medical Support
Assisted Living: Includes daily medical assistance, drug care. People tend to take care of themselves and do not need much medical care.
Memory Care: It also offers more medical care with 24/7 supervision and frequently checking their health status. The employees get accustomed to working with some health issues linked with dementia.
Memory Care Facilities
The memory care homes are developed following a care philosophy that emphasizes safety, security and a serene environment.
Physical design is one of the key differentiators. The facilities are more of a closed system with closed perimeter and closed doors, to make sure that residents do not roam and get lost. The interior design is not decorative, and the colours, surfaces, clutter are not reflective to reduce the senses and perplexity.
A walk can be circular or looped in such a way that walking is not monotonous i.e. there are no dead ends.
In addition, these centers should be dementia-friendly. This includes amenities like reminiscence rooms where they can find objects that they used in earlier days, safe outdoor gardens where the residents can enjoy the outdoors air without worrying about any disturbances, special eat tables to keep them focused and to have a good meal.
It is supposed to be a condition whereby one feels relaxed and comfortable without any hard work while trying to perform hard behaviours but rather, the atmosphere should make one feel well.
Benefits of Memory Care
The choice to attend a memory care facility can provide numerous benefits to the individual and his family. Specialised environment and services can significantly improve the quality of life of the resident.
The daily routine can help to reduce anxiety and misunderstanding, the specialised therapies slow down the cognitive deterioration and improve the mood. The safe space offers them a feeling of security to move around freely and safely without fear of being lost or harmed.
Their personal hygiene and emotional needs will be satisfied as a result of the consistent, loving care of trained specialists. Memory care provides a family with a needed peace and rest. A patient with dementia in a severe stage is physically and emotionally draining to deal with.
Moving the loved one to memory care helps the family to concentrate on quality time with the loved one because they are assured that they are in a secure, supportive, and professional setting.
This may help in alleviating family stress and eliminating burnout amongst caregivers so that all parties in the relationship can concentrate on their relationship as opposed to the care in their daily life.
Cost of memory care vs assisted living
The cost is another important variable in the decision making process. The cost of memory care is generally higher than that of assisted living services for seniors as there is a higher level of specialised care, staff to resident ratio, and protection.
Depending on the location, services offered, and facilities, assisted living services for seniors will cost between 20000 and 80000 a month in different places in India. Conversely, specialization makes memory care quite costly, between Rs.50,000 and Rs.1,00,000 or more per month.
It can also vary extensively depending on whether the accommodation is shared or a separate room as well as the specific city as major cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore are generally more expensive than smaller cities. This is a higher charge which reflects the intensive care, specialised staff education and safe environment in absence of which the safety and wellbeing of the cognitive impaired residents cannot be assured.
Senior Living Options
The trick in choosing the right senior living alternative is to ensure that you are aware of the senior living options available that may suit the evolving needs of your loved one.
It typically begins with independent living amongst active seniors needing no day care and preferring to live in a community. Assisted living is a possibility since the need increases and daily living support is offered in a social environment.
However, once the cognitive decline has advanced to a point where it is impacting safety and day-to-day activities, the next thing that happens is a transfer to memory care.
Stomping, violence, or failure to care or take pills are a few of the key signs that make most families think of moving a loved one back to memory care once he or she has moved to assisted living.
The assisted living home staff can also take the initiative to make the transition when they find themselves incapable of meeting the needs of the occupant. Knowing the signs can be the difference between getting the loved one to a place where he/she can feel safe, comfortable and well taken care of.
Conclusion
Whether to move to memory care vs assisted living is one of the most important decisions that a family member can make on behalf of a loved one. When elderly people need certain help in their daily activities and social life, assisted living is an appropriate option.
But with those patients, who suffer Alzheimer’s and dementia, the safe, structured and specialised environment of a memory care facility is welcome and, in fact, a necessity.
This knowledge enables the Indian families to feel comfortable when deciding on the nature of care that their loved one will get since the major difference in services, the setting and the cost has already been decided.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will memory care take aggressive patients?
Yes, memory care homes have been constructed with that specific purpose and staffed to handle complex behaviours such as aggression that could be triggered as a result of cognitive imperfection. We educate our employees about de-escalating the situation to promote the wellbeing and safety of the inhabitants.
2. When to move from assisted living to memory care?
It is now time to consider a move when it is necessary to be attentive to safety due to wandering, poor personal hygiene or aggravation. The other signs are that the person loses interest in the activity or as the available staff cannot keep up with the growing needs of the patient.
3. What is assisted living vs memory care facilities?
Assisted living offers general support to the elderly that need help with their daily living. By contrast, memory care is a specific form of dementia care, which is distinguished by a safe environment, qualified staff, and cognitive stimulation programs.
4. What services are unique to memory care?
The other services that make the facility special include safe wandering, high employee-patient ratio, and dementia-friendly programs. The staff is also given special training to address the behavioural symptoms that are particular to Alzheimer and other forms of dementia.
5. Availability of memory care in India?
The problem is that specialised memory care homes are being opened in big city centres like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. This is actually increasing, but reputed ones are offering special units to treat dementia patients as the demand to offer such services is increasing.
