How do you know when to move someone to Memory Care?

Transcript

Today’s topic is about how you know when it’s time to transition someone living with dementia into a dementia care community.

This is one of the questions I get the most, and it’s why I wrote my first book. It’s also why I wrote my third book. The premise of those books is, when is it time to move? And when you do make the move, how do you do it smoothly? How does it go? So I’m actually putting together an eKit specifically on this topic called When Should I Move Her to Memory Care That eKit is going to be a better version of this script. My general answer when people ask, when is it time?

My answer is, if you’ve been thinking about it, it’s probably been time because most people wait way too long to transition a loved one. And generally, if they’ve been thinking about it, it’s because they need to make that move.

I actually spoke to someone recently who described a situation where his dad kept exiting their house. His mom is his dad’s main caregiver, and the dad keeps exiting the house and going down the street. Now they’re in a pretty safe neighborhood, but of course, we still don’t want him running off. So I said, I think it’s time to transition your dad into a dementia care community. And he said, well, the doctor said that it’s probably best to keep him in a familiar environment. This is a common refrain from some professionals in this arena. They think, oh, well, the person’s familiar with their house. They need to stay there. Okay, but does he actually still know this is his house? Probably not. And could he benefit more from a dementia care move even if the transition takes a couple of days or a week, or even a month? Won’t it be better to have him in that environment? And my answer is always yes, yes, yes, yes.

So if you’re thinking about making that transition, check out the eKit in my store and check out both my most recent book as well as my first one. Heck, check out all my books! Just look me up on Amazon. And when you do, if you enjoy the books, leave me a review. They helps immensely. Thank you so much.

Visit my Youtube channel for more tips on Dementia Care.

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Rachael Wonderlin is an internationally-recognized dementia care expert and consultant. She has a Master’s in Gerontology and is the author of three published books with Johns Hopkins University Press. Rachael owns Dementia By Day, a dementia care consulting and education company.

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