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Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
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Memory Care is usually private pay so the person needs to be able to pay for it. When I was looking into it for Mom 7 yrs ago in my area, it was 5k a month for AL and 7k a month for MC.
I really don't see much different in MC and an AL other than it is geared more to those suffering from Dementia. Both use aides mostly for residents care and RNs that handle the medical end of things. So it comes down to, how much care does the resident need. I think there comes a point where MC is not enough and care cannot be handled by the staff. So LTC is needed. This can be determined by an evaluation and not by the MC.
As my daughter, who worked in NHs for 20yrs, says, they are going to fall. LTC tends to put fall risk people in wheelchairs. Which was fine with me. My Mom had no problem scooting around in one. Better than me going to ER every month or so.
There are good and bad facilities of both types, so I think the most important consideration is the facility itself. That said the original concept of memory care was to care for those who are functioning well enough to benefit from programs and activities designed to enhance their lives, people mostly able to look after themselves but who were no longer cognitively safe to live on their own in the community. A good memory care would probably not accept someone who needs a high level of physical care because they would be up front that they aren't designed to accommodate that and it wouldn't be in the person's best interest, a bad memory care will make all kinds of promises that they know are unrealistic due to staffing levels and less physical infrastructure available in a higher level of care.
Get a needs assessment done. Most facilities will do this or you can contact your local area on aging.
When I was told that my dad needed MC and I started looking at facilities, the difference in what these MC facilities were was confusing. My dad did not need MC based on what I saw was available. He needed AL. He couldn't afford AL, so ended up in a board and care home. Which had residents far gone in dementia, some just physically challenged but, pretty mentally there and the house policy was you could age out.
You have to go look at each facility and see what their definition of MC or SN actually is.
Walk through the facility and see what level of capability the residents are operating at. Are they being fed or feeding themselves, are there activities geared towards abilities, do you see staff interacting with the residents, how does it look, smell and feel? Be sure and ask if they allow hospice, some don't and then you are looking for a place when your LO is dying. Ask if they have continuing care, next level of care in the same facility is best, if possible. Doing this will help you know if what they are offering is a sales pitch or a snow job.
The issue of what a facility actually is, has come up before and it really has no consistency. It depends on where you live and individual facilities. Some have MC that looks like a locked AL, some look like a locked SN. Doing actual visits is the only way to determine if a facility is the level of care required, regardless of what it calls itself.
Dh was in the hospital last Spring with some kind of weird blood pressure problems. He fell IN THE HOSPITAL with 2 nurses standing right there!
It really depends on so many factors. A MC facility will have people who 'forget' they need help getting up, a NH may have the same dynamic. A dear friend of mine fell out of her wheelchair a few years back--her DH had just left her alone in her room for a minute and she got up and fell. Literally a couple of seconds after he walked out. She went downhill rapidly and died within a week. He was there with her every single day from breakfast until bedtime. Never left her alone, really. It just was what it was.
My mom forgets she HAS to walk with her walker, yet sometimes when I visit her she 'surfs' through the apartment using furniture or grab bars--then finds herself stuck in a room with no support. She doesn't GET that we aren't impressed she can 'surf' we want her to use her walker.
Yea my mom is very mobile, quick almost too quick. She will be sitting on couch with me & boom she bolts up quickly sometimes not falling but sometimes throwing her balance off & down she goes. She is so limber & healthy body wise she does it think or remember to use a walker. She’s in rehab right now after a month hospital stay & they have required a 24 seven sitter with her. Once her rehab is done and she’s a little closer to her strength at baseline we hope to have a in a valuation for MC. I’m so worried they are going to require a sitter 24 seven in MC or NH if she fails the memory care evaluation. NO ONE can afford that!!!
One difference between memory care and assisted living is that memory care is a locked unit, there are limits on what items a patient can keep in their room, and often the staff work hard to keep residents in the common area unless there is a visitor who will take resident to his or her room. The focus is on safety, not much on privacy or flexibility, as a rule. But each place has its' own quirks. Gravity happens - the risk of falls can be reduced but not eliminated, and memory impairment guarantees poor awareness of safety needs, at some point. The difference is that a fall in a facility (usually) is discovered within an hour or so...at home someone who falls may be on the floor for a few days or more.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
I really don't see much different in MC and an AL other than it is geared more to those suffering from Dementia. Both use aides mostly for residents care and RNs that handle the medical end of things. So it comes down to, how much care does the resident need. I think there comes a point where MC is not enough and care cannot be handled by the staff. So LTC is needed. This can be determined by an evaluation and not by the MC.
As my daughter, who worked in NHs for 20yrs, says, they are going to fall. LTC tends to put fall risk people in wheelchairs. Which was fine with me. My Mom had no problem scooting around in one. Better than me going to ER every month or so.
That said the original concept of memory care was to care for those who are functioning well enough to benefit from programs and activities designed to enhance their lives, people mostly able to look after themselves but who were no longer cognitively safe to live on their own in the community. A good memory care would probably not accept someone who needs a high level of physical care because they would be up front that they aren't designed to accommodate that and it wouldn't be in the person's best interest, a bad memory care will make all kinds of promises that they know are unrealistic due to staffing levels and less physical infrastructure available in a higher level of care.
When I was told that my dad needed MC and I started looking at facilities, the difference in what these MC facilities were was confusing. My dad did not need MC based on what I saw was available. He needed AL. He couldn't afford AL, so ended up in a board and care home. Which had residents far gone in dementia, some just physically challenged but, pretty mentally there and the house policy was you could age out.
You have to go look at each facility and see what their definition of MC or SN actually is.
Walk through the facility and see what level of capability the residents are operating at. Are they being fed or feeding themselves, are there activities geared towards abilities, do you see staff interacting with the residents, how does it look, smell and feel? Be sure and ask if they allow hospice, some don't and then you are looking for a place when your LO is dying. Ask if they have continuing care, next level of care in the same facility is best, if possible. Doing this will help you know if what they are offering is a sales pitch or a snow job.
The issue of what a facility actually is, has come up before and it really has no consistency. It depends on where you live and individual facilities. Some have MC that looks like a locked AL, some look like a locked SN. Doing actual visits is the only way to determine if a facility is the level of care required, regardless of what it calls itself.
Best of luck.
Dh was in the hospital last Spring with some kind of weird blood pressure problems. He fell IN THE HOSPITAL with 2 nurses standing right there!
It really depends on so many factors. A MC facility will have people who 'forget' they need help getting up, a NH may have the same dynamic. A dear friend of mine fell out of her wheelchair a few years back--her DH had just left her alone in her room for a minute and she got up and fell. Literally a couple of seconds after he walked out. She went downhill rapidly and died within a week. He was there with her every single day from breakfast until bedtime. Never left her alone, really. It just was what it was.
My mom forgets she HAS to walk with her walker, yet sometimes when I visit her she 'surfs' through the apartment using furniture or grab bars--then finds herself stuck in a room with no support. She doesn't GET that we aren't impressed she can 'surf' we want her to use her walker.
be sitting on couch with me & boom she bolts up quickly sometimes not falling but sometimes throwing her balance off & down she goes. She is so limber & healthy body wise she does it think or remember to use a walker. She’s in rehab right now after a month hospital stay & they have required a 24 seven sitter with her. Once her rehab is done and she’s a little closer to her strength at baseline we hope to have a in a valuation for MC. I’m so worried they are going to require a sitter 24 seven in MC or NH if she fails the memory care evaluation. NO ONE can afford that!!!
Gravity happens - the risk of falls can be reduced but not eliminated, and memory impairment guarantees poor awareness of safety needs, at some point.
The difference is that a fall in a facility (usually) is discovered within an hour or so...at home someone who falls may be on the floor for a few days or more.