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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So what's the practical difference between assisted living and memory care? Can someone give me the order of situations from least dependent to most dependent?[/quote]

In my experience with my mom, her assisted living place had people to help her if they were asked.  So my mom and the others had to be able to ask for help.  I think she was just at a bad assisted living place.

In memory care the caregivers are taking care of all of the people there, the come in and help them get dressed (if needed), they administer medications (although you can also pay extra for that in assisted living), they proactively go and get the people up and out and doing things so they aren’t sitting in their rooms isolated all day.  They help the people in wheelchairs get around, and they feed those who are unable to feed themselves.

And good memory care places keep them engaged.  They have activities and special events.  My moms place has field trips for those able to go on Thursdays, they have exercises twice a day.  They have dogs come in a few times a month and have now added an adoptable cat from a rescue to the schedule.  They have musicians and artists and a host of other things to keep them engaged.  It’s like summer camp for old people.  [/quote]

The problem is the "good" memory care places are few and far between. They don't have enough caregivers to dedicate a lot of time to each person. Getting them dressed and fed is about all you can expect.  Remember that most long-term care is now corporate-owned so profit making is the goal. That means keeping your staffing expenses at a bare minimum.

Drugs are a lot cheaper than staff. The vast majority of them now keep people medicated so they are easier to manage. Many residents are in a state of stupor, which may or may not be better than being aware, angry and upset. Lobotomy by medication, essentially. 
[/quote]

Yeah I was coming to ask where this memory care is that is like summer camp. We have looked a lot of places and most memory care is pretty depressing. Focused on dressing, toileting, and feeding. And even those three things are not necessarily done quickly or well. [/quote]

Waltonwood in Ashburn is pretty top notch.  My mom has been there since January and is thriving.  The staff is amazing, they do weekly field trips to places like restaurants, farms, coffee shops, etc with those able to partake. They have had very little turnover for the staff and they do a great job engaging the residents.  They have monthly activity schedules with musicians, therapy dogs (and even llamas or alpacas, never figured out the difference), they have daily exercises, they do crafts.  They honestly seem to have fun.

And they do adventures with the individual- they figure out what they like and cater a day to them.  They took a 97 year old woman to a therapeutic horse facility and she got to ride a horse, they set up another in an airplane and she got to fly (with the help of the pilot), another guy used to be a boxer and they took him to a boxing gym, a woman recently took a trip to the opera.  I truly can’t say enough good things.  It really is like a summer camp for dementia patients.

I’m there several times a week and so are a lot of other people’s families so there are a lot of eyes.  They encourage cameras in the bedrooms.  They have quarterly memory care family nights where we can engage with the other family members and get to know each other.  Truly can’t say enough good things about the place.  It’s brought me peace of mind I didn’t have for about 2.5 years while my mom was increasingly struggling.[/quote]

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