If you’re getting older or you have a friend or family member who may require assisted living, you may be thinking about all the options available for seniors. If cognitive impairments like dementia and Alzheimer’s are a factor, it’s important to understand the difference between standard forms of senior care and the option of memory care for seniors.
Standard Senior Care Options
Senior care is intended to provide assistance and support to meet the needs of senior citizens at various stages of life. This can be seen in a number of environments, such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home care, hospice care, and adult daycare facilities.
Getting older isn’t automatically a reason to look into or require senior care. It’s usually not until someone is faced with health concerns or various physical or mental disabilities that senior care becomes an appropriate next step. These challenges can make activities of daily living more difficult during the aging process, and support from senior care facilities is a great option for individuals and their families.
What is Memory Care?
Memory care for seniors is designed for elderly individuals who have experienced a significant cognitive decline, and require a higher level of skilled support and supervision from caretakers. In this type of facility, care is provided around the clock by highly specialized staff trained to care for the demands of those with dementia.
Memory care units may exist as a standalone facility or be one wing in another senior care living facility. They offer similar activities and services to assisted living facilities, but have an added layer of supervision. In addition, memory care for seniors with dementia incorporates activities designed to stimulate the brain, possibly slowing cognitive decline. Some examples of these activities include arts, crafts, music, and games.
The Senior Helpers Memory Care Philosophy
Senior Helpers collaborates closely with Alzheimer’s expert Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, and our memory care program is based on her work. Teepa created the GEMS® States model for helping people through the progression of dementia-related brain changes, focusing on fostering abilities by providing cues through interaction and environment. The goal of this approach is to provide the best support for our patients by matching their needs and supporting their quality of life.
Our memory care services in Clovis, CA is proud to offer Senior Gems, an exclusive program designed for seniors living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. In this program, we emphasize a positive focus on individual needs and abilities, recognizing what makes them each precious and unique.
In the Senior Gems program offered in Clovis, CA, our trained caretakers are able to do the following:
- Identify the characteristics of different stages of dementia
- Understand what a person can still do based on a gem level
- Use specific strategies based on gem level to care for our seniors.
- Create the best plan for caring for the individual long term.
Even as your loved ones experience brain changes that come with Alzheimer’s and dementia, we work to optimize quality of life and treasure the person in front of us in each moment.
Contact our office today for more information on how we can help your loved ones with memory care.