How Community Support Enhances Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care for Seniors
Memory care communities offer a unique experience for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients to retain independence. Living at home alone can increase anxiety, confusion, and safety risks to seniors and whether they transition to dementia care senior living or not, a strong community is the best way to keep them safe and enrich their life. Below, we highlight the value of specialized dementia care and how the right community can keep seniors safe, social and surrounded by neighbors who understand the struggle.
Practical Support and Personal Care
When seniors experience cognitive decline, chores and personal care should be the last things they need to worry about. Finding the right dementia care community means freeing loved ones from the practical worries of life, so they can enjoy each day as a new experience.
Removing some of the most difficult parts of caregiving for a family member, dementia care communities can help with:
- Medication schedules and medical needs
- Personal assistance for safe bathing, dressing, and grooming
- Nutrition monitoring and help with mealtimes
- Taking care of housekeeping, laundry, and maintenance
- Updates to keep families fully in the loop
Emotional Support from People with Experience
Experience of staff and neighbors is so valuable for seniors and creates a compassionate support system during cognitive decline. At a memory care community, everyone has experience with the ups and downs of brain diseases. Loved ones can be surrounded by neighbors with similar struggles, who truly understand the feelings of loss connected with cognitive decline.
Frustration and confusion are common symptoms of these diseases and sharing the experience with others can help seniors feel understood.
Social Support
Dementia patients living at home tend to self-isolate. In a community, they can thrive with a social calendar and staff on hand to offer support. Memory care communities deal with difficult situations, but help residents and families to place focus on the positives.
Beyond keeping seniors safe and healthy, help them enjoy every day. Residents who engage with social events and activities are more likely to slow the progression of their disease and maintain a better overall mood.
Access to experienced staff and a community full of vibrant neighbors are just the start of the social life for seniors. Memory care residents can take advantage of a full range of activities, including:
- Exercise classes and gentle fitness options
- Calming music therapy
- Arts, crafts, and scheduled games
- Movie times and happy hours
- Plenty of social time and opportunities for family visits
Spiritual and Religious Needs
Faith is a crucial part of life for many memory care residents. It also brings some seniors great comfort to continue their worship and stick to their prayer routine. Access to services, clergy, and faith-based activities is a vital part of memory care.
When loved ones have a religious practice, embracing help from the local faith community can also provide support for tired caregivers.
Resources for Caregiver Support
When seniors move into a memory care community, families can feel confident they are in good hands. Great care reduces the physical toll of caregiving for a family member, but it doesn’t eliminate the distress of witnessing the decline of loved ones.
Holistic memory care includes support for families as well as residents. Trained staff can provide resources to help navigate current challenges. Support for families can include:
- Information about support groups and therapies for families of memory care patients
- Sharing experiences to help families know what to expect from the community
- Recommendations for helpful books and media
- Opportunities for quality visitation to see that loved ones are settling in well
Physical Activity
Staying active is a secret weapon for mood boosting in seniors. And potentially slowing progression of their disease. Dementia care should always be holistic, with personal, medical, social, and physical care all taken into account.
Seniors living in memory care communities have a wide spectrum of mobility and exercise tolerance. While some are no longer mobile, many more benefit from routine exercise and gentle activity.
Taking this into account, senior living offers a wide range of available activities. Walking, gentle exercise classes, and yoga can all keep seniors feeling good and staying healthy.
Find an Enriching Community for Dementia Care at Heritage Place Assisted Living & Memory Care
Memory care at Heritage Place in Burleson, Texas offers a specialized and enriching environment for loved ones in need of extra support. Alzheimer’s and dementia care can be too much for one caregiver to handle and a caring community can help seniors to thrive.
Engaging residents, providing comprehensive support, and helping seniors to maintain independence as long as possible, families trust Heritage Place to provide the kind of community their loved ones deserve.
Schedule a tour today and see how a supportive memory care community could help your family.