Tips for Making the Most of Your Tour of a Memory Care Skilled Nursing Facility
When a senior in your life has Alzheimer’s disease or a similar form of dementia, it can be a struggle to keep them safe at home. As their condition progresses, helping them maintain their best quality of life also becomes more difficult.
When the search for a memory care community begins, it will be important to determine whether the best setting would be memory care in an assisted living community or in a skilled nursing facility. Memory care in an assisted living community is focused on offering nonclinical support. By contrast, residents of a skilled nursing facility’s memory care program often have more complex medical needs, such as diabetes or a stroke. Their dementia is likely to be in the most advanced stages, too, which requires more advanced clinical care.
Memory Care in a Skilled Nursing Center
In a nursing facility, skilled nurses provide care and support around-the-clock. Most have a Medical Director who oversees all the clinical care a resident requires. The community may also have physical, speech and occupational therapists on staff. These services are often necessary for people with more advanced dementia.
Like residents in memory care in an assisted living community, people in memory care in a skilled nursing center also need help with activities of daily living. Those likely include bathing, dressing, eating and medication management. The community’s staff generally handles laundry and housekeeping services. Residents usually have a private or semiprivate suite with a bathroom.
The memory care area frequently has a dedicated dining room that is designed to provide a supportive meal environment. The dining staff develops menus that are easier to eat for people who are struggling with manual dexterity, which is common with many forms of dementia.
What to Look for on a Memory Care Skilled Nursing Center Tour
When it comes time to tour memory care in a skilled nursing setting, some questions you should definitely ask and things you should look out for include:
- Do the residents’ hygiene needs seem to be taken care of, such as clean hair and clothing suitable for the time of day and season of the year?
- Are there programs that provide meaningful activity? Keep in mind, these may need to be one-on-one, depending on the stage of the resident’s disease.
- While residents may need to stroll or make laps around the community to manage agitation, is the area locked to keep them secure? How do families enter the area?
- Is resident dignity protected? For example, if a resident is being assisted with continence care, is a curtain pulled around them or the door closed?
- Pay attention to interactions between residents and team members. Even if a resident’s disease is advanced, staff should still be talking to them, not over or about them. Are they using respectful language and a kind tone? Team members should not be using baby talk or other language that might be interpreted as condescending, no matter how well-intentioned.
- If a resident is in a wheelchair, be mindful of how team members engage with them. Do they carefully push the wheelchair forward, not drag them backward? That can be disorienting and confusing for someone with a memory impairment.
- Finally, does the community look and smell clean? While common areas might get a little messy during activity times, they should still appear clean and well taken care of.
Questions to Ask During a Memory Care Tour
There are also some important questions you’ll need to ask to help you better evaluate the community and determine which memory care program is the best fit. Making an informed decision should include finding answers to the following questions:
- When it comes to caring for adults with dementia, staff longevity is often linked to quality of care. Be sure to ask about the average length of service for staff members. A high turnover in caregivers can negatively impact the continuity of care each resident receives
- The ratio of team members to residents also impacts care. Find out how many residents each caregiver is responsible for. Does that number change at night and on weekends?
- Orientation, training and experience in specialized memory care communities are vital. And it all starts with hiring the right people. Ask how caregivers are screened before hiring. What kind of training does memory care staff receive on a regular basis?
- Monthly fees can vary greatly from one memory care community to another. Ask for a list of the services included and what additional expenses you should expect to be billed for each month. Use that to compare the true cost of each community.
- Care needs can change as dementia progresses. Be sure to clarify what would happen if your loved one requires more care down the road. Can the community accommodate a high level of care?
Making an Informed Decision
While trying to choose a memory care program for a loved one may be a bit intimidating, carefully reviewing the remainder of this Memory Care Decision Toolkit will give you more confidence. We also invite and encourage families to call the nearest ASC memory care community with any questions. One of our experienced team members will be happy to help!