10 Best Memory Care Facilities in Brooklyn, NY

The cost of memory care in Brooklyn is approximately $4,800 per month, according to A Place for Mom’s 2022-2023 proprietary data on what actual families paid.^[01]

This cost typically includes the following services and amenities in our partner memory care facilities in Brooklyn:

• Assistance with activities of daily living (bathing, grooming, and dressing)
• 24-hour supervision
• Housekeeping and laundry services
• A meal plan with three meals and snacks daily
• Standard apartment maintenance and community landscaping
• Personalized memory care activities (specialized therapies, art classes, and brain games)
• Access to on-site amenities (TV lounges, game rooms, and crafts centers)

Many of our memory care partners in Brooklyn also offer transportation services, beautician services, and meal accommodations, but they may cost extra.

How Brooklyn memory care costs compare to other boroughs

Brooklyn offers the most affordable memory care options in New York City within our partner network. Seniors save more than $2,000 per month compared to the next most affordable boroughs of Queens and Staten Island.

Here are our 2022-2023 proprietary estimates of monthly memory care costs in the other boroughs:

• Queens: $7,300
• Staten Island: $9,600
• The Bronx: $10,900
• Manhattan: $12,500

Seniors and their families typically pull from a variety of private pay options — including savings accounts, Social Security benefits, retirement pensions, and investment returns — to cover memory care costs in Brooklyn. Depending on your circumstance, the following private pay options may help you pay for memory care:

• Selling a home
• Taking out a reverse mortgage
• Borrowing from a life insurance policy
• Using funds from a health savings accounts (HSA)
• Using long-term care insurance

For an overview of these payment options, you can visit the payment section on our NYC page or view our guide to paying for long-term care. Families can also take advantage of public payment methods like VA benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid to cover some memory care expenses in Brooklyn. You’ll find brief summaries of these three resources below.

VA benefits

Brooklyn is home to approximately 31,000 veterans and more than half of them are 65 or older.^[03] To accommodate this substantial veteran population, Brooklyn and New York City provide a variety of resources to help veterans and their spouses cover living and long-term care costs, including memory care. We recommend reaching out to local veterans service organizations (VSOs) in Brooklyn to receive benefits counseling and learn more about your entitled benefits.

The NYC Department of Veterans’ Services recommends the following offices to seniors looking for VSOs in Brooklyn:

New York State Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS)

250 Schermerhorn St., Room 211

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: 718-613-3735

Email: dvsinfo@veterans.ny.gov

Brooklyn Veteran Resource Center

25 Chapel St.

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

These organizations can connect you with VSOs like the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). They help Brooklyn veterans receive and maximize their entitled benefits by putting them in contact with any applicable VSOs.

Medicare and Medicaid for memory care in Brooklyn

Medicare in Brooklyn

Medicare is a federal health insurance program that provides coverage to seniors 65 years of age and older. It doesn’t cover room and board costs for memory care in Brooklyn, but it can pay for medical costs — like doctors’ visits, prescriptions, and more — associated with long-term care. It can also cover some dementia-related tests, medical equipment, and treatments.

You can visit New York State’s consumer guide to community-based long term care to learn more about the city’s Medicare Savings Programs and the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program.

To access Medicare services in Brooklyn, you can use this Social Security Office Locator to contact a local Social Security Administration (SSA) office. Type in the ZIP code and click on “I Need Other Services” to find the nearest office.

Medicaid in Brooklyn

Medicaid is a health insurance program that’s jointly funded by the federal and state governments. It provides coverage to low-income seniors and is called New York Medicaid in the state of New York. The following factors can affect one’s eligibility:^[03]

• Age
• Disability
• Income
• Household/family size
• Place of residence

New York Medicaid doesn’t pay for room and board in a Brooklyn memory care facility, but may cover medical costs provided in or outside of a facility. Some medical costs include doctors’ visits, immunizations, medicine, hospital stays, medical supplies, and more.

New York Medicaid for seniors with dementia

Qualifying seniors can also use the Specialized Needs Assisted Living Voucher Demonstration Program for Persons with Dementia (or SNALR) — a Medicaid program that prevents seniors with dementia from having to move out if they can no longer pay. This program only applies in participating facilities enrolled in the SNALR program.

To qualify for this voucher program in Brooklyn, a senior cannot be enrolled in or be eligible for New York Medicaid. Here’s the eligibility criteria for the SNALR program:

• Be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia
• Have lived at their memory care facility for at least one year
• Have a monthly income of $7,382 or less
• Meet the standards for the average regional monthly SNALR cost of $10,602 or less
  • Assets cannot be more than this cost over a six-month period
  • Assets over three months of this cost cannot be transferred for a year prior to the application

Medicaid offices in Brooklyn

To access Medicaid benefits in Brooklyn, seniors can reach out to the following offices:

Coney Island

1912 Mermaid Ave.

Brooklyn, NY 11224

Phone: 929-221-3790

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

East New York

404 Pine St., Second Floor

Brooklyn, NY 11208

Phone: 929-221-8204

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kings County Hospital

441 Clarkson Ave., “T” Building, Nurses’ Residence, First Floor

Brooklyn, NY 11203

Phone: 718-221-2300, ext. #2301

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Brooklyn South

785 Atlantic Ave., First Floor

Brooklyn, NY 11238

Phone: 929-221-3502

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Note: Some of these offices offer online appointments, while others may be temporarily closed. Be sure to call before your visit.

Brooklyn offers robust options to receive specialized care for dementia. From waterfront properties near Sheepshead Bay to the cozy communities nestled in the brownstone-lined neighborhoods, A Place for Mom offers options throughout the borough. Furthermore, the New York State Department of Health funds Alzheimer’s Disease Program Initiatives to provide services and resources to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

All Brooklyn memory care communities within our partnering network offer two care options — assisted living and memory care. This allows residents to move in and receive help with daily care, while embracing an easy transition should cognitive impairments arise. Learn how our partnering Brooklyn memory care communities accommodate seniors with dementia below.

On-site care services for dementia patients

Many of our partnering memory care facilities typically offer the following services to accommodate common conditions and needs including:

• Diabetic care
• Urinary and bowel incontinence care
• Hospice or palliative care
• On-call doctors
• Visiting podiatrists and dentists
• Visiting rehabilitative therapists (physical, occupational, and speech)

Many memory care partners train staff to identify cues, redirect difficult behaviors, and manage disorientation symptoms. They also help prevent restlessness, pacing, and wandering among residents.

Dementia-specific activities

It often becomes difficult for seniors with dementia to participate in activities or have conversations like they used to. Therefore, it’s critical to help them engage and connect through purposeful activities. For instance, our memory care partners in Brooklyn help residents maintain calmness and engagement through brain-stimulating puzzles and relaxing activities like painting.

Memory care communities also offer sensory programs and reminiscence therapies to help residents fully engage and recall cherished memories. Plus, they offer stimulating activities like yoga, cooking classes, and gardening to help residents feel connected through creative outlets they enjoyed in the past.

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) licenses and regulates all memory care facilities in Brooklyn and New York. The NYSDOH refers to assisted living and memory care as adult care facilities that provide housing to five or more adults at a time. Both facilities must receive an Assisted Living Residence (ALR) license to care for residents. To provide memory care services, an adult care facility must obtain a Special Needs Assisted Living Residence (SNALR) license in addition to an ALR.^[04]

Regulations for New York memory care facilities

In New York, both assisted living and memory care facilities must provide the following to residents:^[04]

• Housing
• Daily meals and snacks
• 24-hour on-site monitoring
• Personal care and/or home care services
• Case management services
• Individualized care plans

To operate with an ALR Special Needs license, an ALR must have the following:^[05]

• A suitable layout and design for dementia patients
• An admission screening process and resident assessments
• A staffing schedule and training program
• Activities, meals, medication assistance, and case management designed for dementia patients
• Emergency plan that accommodates a dementia population

Inspections for memory care facilities in New York

For memory care facilities, the NYDOH’s Adult Care Facilities division performs inspections on a yearly basis to help ensure quality and resident safety. You can access inspection reports for memory care facilities using this adult care facilities search tool.

Inspection reports include details on the following and more:^[06]

• Inspection dates
• Violations found
• Status of corrections for any violations
• Any enforcement actions taken against the facility

Brooklyn accommodates the health care needs of its aging population by providing accessible medical centers. See what the borough’s top-rated hospitals have to offer below.^[07]

• NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. This hospital ranks No. 9 in New York City and it offers an experienced health care staff with award-winning physicians and innovative technologies. It nationally ranks in five specialties — cardiology, diabetes and endocrinology, neurology, urology, and geriatrics.
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County. This hospital has over 600 beds and houses a world-renowned Level 1 trauma center. It’s recognized for its diabetes care, heart failure treatment, stroke care, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care.
• University Hospital at Downstate. This hospital aims to deliver the best care possible by combining world-class care and research. It ranks well in four specialties — heart failure treatment, diabetes care, stroke care, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care.

Almost all of our memory care community partners in Brooklyn offer complimentary or at-cost transportation services for residents. Many communities have a concierge who schedules rides and helps seniors get around Brooklyn and the greater NYC area with ease. Keep in mind, many communities limit rides to medical appointments and essential errands to help ensure residents’ safety.

For visiting loved ones, the city offers an abundance of subways, buses, and more. Seniors 65+ can ride with their loved ones and receive a discount on NYC transportation. Seniors can show their Medicare card or call 3-1-1 to obtain a Reduced Fare Metro Card from the New York City Department of Aging. Learn more about local senior transportation options in Brooklyn on the NYC311 website.

Brooklyn is home to many exciting venues with activities for all ages and mobility levels. Some of our partner memory care communities take residents on outings to Brooklyn’s enticing attractions and events. Seniors are also free to explore the city safely with visiting loved ones.

We’ve highlighted some of Brooklyn’s top dementia-friendly activities to help you explore the area with loved ones who have dementia:

• Memory Arts Café. This café hosts a series of cultural events for individuals with dementia, as well as their families and caregivers. It was established by the New York Memory Center and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project as an initiative to offer cultural events for individuals with memory loss. Many events include performances by musicians, magicians, poets, and dancers. There are also holiday parties and storytelling events.
• Seniors in Touch. The Family Health Center at NYU Langone offers a social adult day program called Seniors in Touch to help older adults experiencing memory loss interact in a safe, supportive environment. The program offers activities like painting and yoga, and runs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is provided and handicap-accessible transportation can also be provided.
• Brooklyn Museum. This museum is one of New York’s largest and features over 500,000 stunning artworks from around the world. The museum offers a senior discount and generous accommodations for individuals with disabilities. There are also virtual and in-person events for individuals with memory loss and disabilities to help them connect and engage with art in meaningful ways.
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This breathtaking 52-acre garden enables seniors with dementia to shut out external noise and calm their minds. It offers a variety of gardens like the Japanese garden, rock garden, herb garden, fragrance garden, and more. The Garden offers a senior discount and is easily accessible to individuals with disabilities. It provides guided tours, and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis.