Choosing the Right Memory Care Community: Six Essential Tips / Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias
The Caregiver's Journey
This episode of 'The Caregiver's Journey' features Kelly Graffius, a certified senior advisor and president of OASIS Senior Advisors, sharin
Key takeaways
- There is no perfect memory care community—families must prioritize what matters most.
- Eligibility for memory care depends on physical ability, so planning early is crucial.
Main topics
- Memory care selection process
- Eligibility requirements for senior living communities
Notable quotes
There's no perfect option out there, and there's no community that's going to check every single box.
Conclusion
Choosing a memory care community is an emotional journey requiring clear
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) This is the Whole Care Network, helping you tell your story one podcast at a time. Speaker 2 (0:16) Content presented in the following podcast is for information purposes only. Views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and guests and may not represent the views and opinions of the Whole Care Network. Always consult with your physician for any medical advice and always consult with your attorney for any legal advice. And thank you for listening to the Whole Care Network. Speaker 3 (0:53) You were hoping this day would never come, and yet here you are, trying to choose the right memory care community for your loved one. If you don't know what to do, you are not alone. In this episode, Sue and I are talking with Kelly Grafis, Certified Senior Advisor and President of Oasis Senior Advisors in Roswell, Georgia, about how families can cut through the noise and choose the right care community with confidence. We're sharing six tips. Welcome. Speaker 4 (1:24) We're Sue Ryan and Nancy Treister. This podcast brings our years of experience in a variety of family caregiving roles to prepare you to navigate your caregiving journey. We're sharing our personal experiences, not medical advice. And because Speaker 3 (1:39) it's our passion to support you on your journey, we believe no topic is off limits. Let's get started. Speaker 4 (1:49) If you're early in the dementia journey, we realize that for you and your loved one living with dementia, you may start out by evaluating independent or assisted living communities. No matter where you start, it's likely that you're going to end up evaluating memory care. And this is our focus today. Our podcast episode number 28 is titled Tips for Considering Home vs. Community Living. And it's a helpful companion to this episode. Kelly, thank you so much for joining us today. Please share with our listeners more about you, more about your background and what drew you to helping families navigate this decision. Speaker 1 (2:32) Well, hi, Sue and Nancy. Thank you so much for having me. Yes. So I spent 25 years in the hospitality industry. And during the last tenure of my time, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He passed away at the age of 72. I had a young family working a full time job and really trying to be the adult child, trying to navigate all of the things to support him and my mom. I knew I wanted to do something to help families navigate all the complexities of caring for their aging loved ones. Kelly, thank you so much. We're so appreciative Speaker 4 (3:07) of you sharing your expertise to help our listeners approach this Speaker 1 (3:12) decision. So let's get started. Choosing a memory care community is one of the most emotional and difficult decisions a caregiver will ever make. There's no perfect option out there and there's no community that's going to check every single box. It's important to understand what we're trying to accomplish. Tip number one is know your goals. We start by identifying what are we really trying to accomplish? Are we planning to keep our loved one at home for as long as possible? Do we want to consider a memory care community? Oftentimes, it's important to consider the memory care community, even if our goal is to keep them at home as long as possible. That way, we're not making decisions in a crisis mode. Where is your loved one on their dementia journey? There's an eligibility component to senior living options, assisted living and memory care. So it's really important to have these conversations. well before they're needed because we can determine whether or not we're still within that window of opportunity. So, Kelly, what are some examples of eligibility? Absolutely. So eligibility for state requirements include ambulation, being able to stand and bear weight, not being bed bound, if you will. So as a person living with dementia, their disease progresses, their physical abilities change. Once we've made a decision to move into a community, then they're kind of grandfathered in and they are often allowed to age in place there. But initially, when upon that first move in, they need to physically be able to participate in their own care needs, if you will. And that's the best way to describe it. Speaker 3 (4:54) So we got to be careful we don't Speaker 1 (4:56) wait too late Speaker 3 (4:56) or memory care is not even an option. Speaker 4 (4:59) Kelly, once you're clear on your goals, what's the next most important thing for people to be considering and focusing on? Speaker 1 (5:06) Yep. So tip number two is decide on your preferred geographic location. Think about what makes sense for you and your life. If you live in one part of town and work in another, you want to make sure the communities are within that your bubble, I often refer to it. If you plan on visiting every day, what is traffic like during that time? Or if you're planning to visit on a Saturday morning, are you willing to go a little, drive a little bit further? So really think about what makes sense for your life, for your family's life. Where do you run errands? Where do your children go to school? You know, think about that radius and that, and again, that bubble. Kelly, that's a really good point. Speaker 4 (5:52) When we were moving my dad into a continuing care community, as well as my husband, Jack, we looked at that radius. How long do we want it to be at the peak of traffic for us to be able to get there? And how far is that? Location does narrow things Speaker 3 (6:07) down a lot, which is great. But of course, there's a lot more to consider. So what's next, Kelly? Tip Speaker 1 (6:13) number three, decide on your