Dementia and the Benefits of Memory Care

One of the most difficult decisions you will ever need to make in life is what to do about your aging parent’s health and wellbeing. You know that they have reached an age where things don’t come easily anymore and lately you’ve been noticing signs that their memory is failing them. Every time you stop for a visit, you find garbage overflowing, medicine left in daily pill boxes, and dishes that probably haven’t been done for days. Now you wonder if they are even remembering to bathe or change their clothes regularly. Is it time to get help in or place them in a nursing home? Here are some tips to help you make that much-needed decision.

1. Safety Is Your Chief Concern

Before going any further, it is important to look at whether or not your loved one is safe, truly safe. Yes, they have a roof over their head and food on the table if they remember to eat it! Nonetheless, are they safe from wandering the neighborhood without getting lost? As memory loss progresses, seniors are apt to suddenly find themselves on a corner without remembering why they are there or even where they are, for that matter. Even if it’s a corner they’ve passed for the past 30 years, they may not recognize it or people they know. This can, and often does, happen. Safety is of the utmost importance.

2. Learn About Assisted Living With Memory Care

You may be thinking that it’s time to get in a home healthcare worker, but can you do that? It would mean around-the-clock care, if not now, at some point as memory loss progresses. You know that you can’t have your loved one at your home because there is no room and no one there when you cannot be home. With a few teenagers running around, all that noise and distraction would probably not be good for mom or dad at all!

Know that there are memory care Portside assisted living facilities. There, seniors can live as independently as possible through all stages of dementia but will have ongoing memory care throughout. With amazing senior residences like this one in existence today, you can be assured that your aging loved one is safe and well cared for in those moments of confusion.

3. Know That You Are Doing the Right Thing

Finally, know that you really are doing the right thing for that person you love so much. Even though guilt is eating away at you that you are unable to care for them in your home, you also know that you can’t be everywhere at once. Your elder is not safe as it now stands and as dementia progresses, their safety will be even further endangered. You absolutely are acting in their best interest, so take the time to see a new level of memory care in today’s senior assisted living residential settings. You won’t be sorry and your loved one will be loved, well cared for, and safe. Isn’t that what really matters?