• Seniors with Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia live in residential communities called memory care facilities. Only residents with memory impairment are accepted into dedicated memory care communities, where every aspect of the community, from the activities to the layout of the facility, is purposefully designed to benefit those with cognitive conditions.
• Memory care communities provide the same level of personal care assistance as assisted living facilities, but with enhanced safety measures to cater to memory-impaired residents’ requirements. In addition, staff in memory care facilities often hold higher credentials, such as nursing certifications, in addition to receiving specialized training to work with people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The specialized training aims to ensure residents’ happiness and safety as well as the highest possible quality of life.

Benefits of Memory Care

Memory care communities offer a specially designed environment and care that seniors with dementia can greatly benefit from. The following provides additional information regarding some of the primary advantages.

• Experienced caregivers: Parental figures in memory care networks should go through additional preparation contrasted with those in helped living. They are better able to cater to the particular requirements of people with memory loss because of the training.
  Planning Care Together: Memory care residents’ families collaborate with community staff, typically a nurse or physician, to create and regularly update their care plans. Family members can greatly benefit from having professional assistance with care planning because the needs of seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can change rapidly.
  Programming for Specialized Activities: Memory care facilities’ entertainment and activities are designed to stimulate the mind of people with memory loss. Reminiscence therapy, puzzles, and music groups are examples of offerings.
  Increased Security: To ensure the safety of seniors who may be prone to wandering and have mobility issues, memory care communities have enhanced safety features like community-wide emergency alert systems and security that is available around the clock.
  Behavioral Assistance: Aggression, rapid mood swings, and mood disorders can all affect seniors with dementia. Memory care communities may provide counseling to residents to support their well-being, and staff members have experience working with people with mood disorders, which are common among seniors with dementia.

Memory Care Costs

• Memory care is one of the more costly sorts of long haul care. This is made possible by a number of factors, including the increased safety and security measures and staff-required specialized skills and training. In every region, memory care costs roughly 20% to 30% more than assisted living. Taking into account helped living’s normal month to month cost of $4,300 each month in the US, one can hope to pay roughly $5,375 each month for memory care.
• Keep in mind that this is the average cost across the country, and that costs can vary by thousands of dollars per month across states. Memory care costs typically reflect the cost of living in the area, so if you want to keep costs low, look into communities in less expensive areas.

Financial Assistance for Memory Care

• Medicare: Residential memory care is not directly covered by Medicare. Nursing homes are the only residential senior care facilities that Medicare does cover. However, the program covers a certain number of in-home health care hours per week and other services that may be beneficial to people with memory impairment.
  Medicaid: Long-term care facilities are not covered by standard Medicaid. The majority of states, on the other hand, have waiver programs that enable the state’s Medicaid program to cover additional services and supports. The Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver, also known as the 1915(c) extension, aims to give seniors more options when it comes to where they receive long-term care. Memory care residents frequently have the opportunity to have a portion of their costs covered through an HCBS waiver.
  Insurance on life: Seniors who already have life insurance can “cash out” their policy early by selling it to a third-party settlement company or getting an accelerated death benefit from the insurance company. Some seniors and their families make the decision to do so and use the cash payment to pay for memory care and other forms of long-term care. Families should seriously consider whether this is the best long-term option for them because the cash amount is always lower than the death benefit.
  Caregiving insurance: Policies for long-term care insurance are specifically designed to cover a person’s costs associated with residential care, such as memory care, as they get older. However, policies typically have numerous restrictions and complications. Memory care is likely covered by long-term care insurance for seniors, but policy details should always be checked. This option is only available to seniors who already have long-term care insurance because it does not apply to individuals under a certain age or who are already receiving long-term care.
  Mortgages in the past: Reverse mortgages are loans that older homeowners can take out against the value of their homes and use some of their equity as collateral to get paid back. Seniors who are moving into residential care and need to use some of their home equity to pay for care but are unable or unwilling to sell their home quickly may benefit most from this kind of loan. With a reverse mortgage, seniors and their families may be able to delay selling their home while they settle into memory care. The loans must be repaid within a specified time period, with interest.