As people grow older, many things change. Not only do their bodies begin to become less stable and less healthy on the whole, but many people find that some of their cognitive ability, such as memory, leaves as they age as well. For many people, this is only just a mere annoyance, an unfortunate part of getting older, and not a diagnosable condition. However, many others have been diagnosed with dementia, a disease that can progress rapidly and make independent life not only difficult, but impossible.
For such dementia patients, there are only a few viable options. Many people choose to go and stay with family members, who will love them and care for them, but this is not always a great plan, even though it is something that everyone wants. After all, these family member are likely not trained in memory care and how to physically care for a dementia patient that is rapidly declining. In these situations, the family member or family members who become the care givers must often give up much of their lives in order to care for the patient in question and though they likely love this patient very much indeed, this can still take quite the toll at the end of the day. And among the elderly population here in the United States, the number one fear of more than half of all survey respondents was becoming a burden to family and loved ones as they aged.
Fortunately, nursing homes and assisted living facilities – even dedicated memory care facilities – can help to fill the gap left in the need for care for these patients. For so many people, memory care facilities are life saving, both for the patients themselves as well as for their family members. At the typical memory care facility or memory care nursing home, a memory care plan can be developed. This memory care plan will fit the needs of the patient as much as is possible, designed uniquely around them to the best of the memory care center’s ability.
For many people, a memory care plan will very much become a necessity later on in life as dementia, of which there are more than 100 different types currently diagnosed in this one country as well as all around the world, is incredibly common indeed. Among these types of dementia, of course, it is Alzheimer’s disease that is most common. Unfortunately, the data surrounding this topic more than backs up this claim, showing that Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses actually make up more than three quarters of all dementia diagnoses here in the United States, let alone anywhere else in the world as we know it. At the current date, it’s estimated that as many as 5 million total people are living with some level of Alzheimer’s disease – and that nearly three quarters of those who have this disease will require specialized care, likely including a memory care plan, at some point in time.
Typically, this specialized care is best met by specialized caregivers working in a secure memory care community. Not only will they have the physical resources to provide for just about any given memory care plan, but the mental and emotional ones as well. Unfortunately, an ideal memory care plan can require the need for more support than the typical family member or loved one is able to give, and such people, as loving as they are, are really not likely to be able to meet the physical needs that develop as the person with dementia worsens and the disease progresses.
In addition to this, the physical part of any given memory care plan can easily be met at any given nursing facility here in the United States. For instance, most memory care facilities are able to provide surveillance for up to 24 hours out of the day, meaning that the patients living at such facilities are able to be kept safe in ways that would simply just not be probable or even possible for the typical home. For many of these people, a memory care plan at a memory care facility will give the best quality of life.