Memory Care: Differences Between Dementia and Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease is a specific form of dementia. As
Alzheimer's disease or dementia progresses, the level of care and
assistance a person requires increases. While many families prefer
to keep their loved one home for as long as possible, a person who
suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's will eventually require
24-hour supervised care in catered settings.
For example, Alzheimer's living environments have secured areas
to prevent wandering; a common symptom of the disease. And
typically, residents in memory care need help with medications,
bathing, grooming eating dressing and other daily tasks. Memory
care provides intensive, long-term medical care to seniors
with serious health and dementia conditions in a fully-staffed and
monitored facility.
Cost of Memory Care
Memory care requires a larger staff to resident ratio and
additional training to ensure the safety of all the residents,
therefore the cost is usually higher than other communities. Costs
may vary, depending on the following factors:
- Level of care needed
- Size of room
- Whether a room is private or semi-private
- Geographical location of the community
According to Genworth.com, in 2012, the national average cost of
memory care for a single resident was almost $5,000 a month. This
cost does vary widely by care facility, however. For example, some
communities were as low as $1,500 per month and other communities
as high as $7,000 per month.
Services Offered in Memory
Care
Memory care offers 24-hour supervised care with meals,
activities and health management for residents.
Here are some of the basic services offered in memory care:
- Comfortable private, or semi-private, rooms
- One to three daily meals
- Housekeeping and laundry service
- Medication management
- Hospice care
- Exercise and physical therapy programs
- Social programs and activities
- 24-hour staffing and personal assistance
