How to Ease A Loved One’s Transition To A Memory Care Community

16 million people over the age of 65 in America are currently living with conditions that result in memory impairments. For a lot of people, these conditions will be degenerative and mean that they need a lot of support in their daily lives.

If you are concerned about a loved one living alone, you may want to think about moving them into a memory care community. These facilities offer assisted living to help your loved one with daily tasks. Their staff also have an expert understanding of how to manage memory impairment and support cognitive function.

With more than 30,000 assisted living communities across America, you’re sure to find the right one for your loved one. However, transitioning into an assisted living facility in Plano, Tx, can be very emotional for your loved one. They may feel vulnerable or confused, so it is important to handle this transition carefully.

Fortunately, there are lots of great things you can do to support your loved one. Read on to find out our top tips for helping your loved one as they transition to assisted living.

Be Consistent in the Language You Use

Once you have found assisted living in Plano for your loved one, you can start preparing them for their move. You will probably find that your loved one has a lot of questions and repeats these because of their memory impairment. 

To help them understand what is happening, make sure that everyone they speak to is consistent in the language they use about the community. For example, make sure you all: 

• Use the same name for the facility
• Stick to calling it either a new “home”, “apartment”, or “community” to avoid confusion
• Reiterate that it is a safe environment
• Explain that you will be able to visit them

You can read more here about community care facilities in Plano. However, when it comes to explaining the facility to your loved one, keep your message simple and consistent.

Do Their Packing For Them

A lot of people moving to an assisted living memory care facility will be coming from their family home. Packing this up can be extremely emotional and even distressing.

If someone is struggling with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia then this may be too overwhelming for them. In that case, try to do the majority of their packing for them while they are asleep or out of the house. 

Of course, if they are holding onto the property, you don’t have the pack up their entire home and sort through their belongings. Just focus on packing up the things that they need to take with them. You can manage the rest of their belongings once they have transitioned into their new home.

Take Plenty of Personal Items to the Memory Care Facility

Personal items are essential to making your loved one’s new environment feel homely and familiar. So make sure you take plenty of these and unpack them as soon as possible. This might include their favorite: 

• Bedding
• Photographs 
• Artwork or decorations 
• Books

Try to have these items in place for when your loved one arrives at the facility. This can help to ease any anxiety that they feel and makes it easier for them to envisage themselves living in their new home.

However, do not try to unpack all of their belongings for them. Unpacking the rest of their stuff can actually help your loved one feel more empowered in their new space. They get to decide where their things go and this is a great opportunity to bond with the support staff in the care community.

Encourage Your Loved One to Participate in the Memory Care Community

One of the biggest benefits of a memory care facility is the community that it provides. There will be plenty of other residents living with similar conditions to your loved one.

Most facilities also organize regular activities for the residents. These help to support their cognitive abilities and encourage socialization. 

Encouraging your loved one to get to know the community can really help them settle in. So look out for activities that you think your loved one would enjoy and try to move on a day when these activities take place. You can even suggest that they go and check the activity out while you finish up any last bits of tidying or unpacking.

This also gives them the opportunity to explore their new surroundings. The earlier they do this, the easier they will find the transition.

Have an Open Conversation About They Feel

Living with memory impairment can be very scary. Often people feel extremely vulnerable and like they have lost control. Overlooking how they feel about a move will only make this worse.

So make sure that you have open conversations with your loved one about their move. Most importantly, make sure you ask them regularly about how they’re feeling about it. And invite them to ask you any questions that they might have. 

This can be difficult, as they may repeat questions or express hurtful opinions. So make sure that you have some emotional support during this time as well.

Opening up this conversation will help your loved one feel more empowered in their move. This can make it easier for them to settle into the memory care community when they finally arrive.

Get Support For Your Loved One From a Memory Care Community

If you are helping a loved one move into a memory care community, there are loads of great things you can do to support them. These tips will help your loved one transition as smoothly as possible. However, it is important to remember that this transition can take time so try to be as patient and consistent you can be. 

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