Alzheimer's: Moving into a facility

everfit- Welcome to A2K!

You might want to glance through this thread:

http://www.able2know.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1948

I started it in 2002, when I was caring for my mother, and the thread is still going strong. There is a lot of marvelous advice and insights in this thread.

Anyhow, my mom lived about a mile away from me. When she started to decline, I enrolled her in an adult day care center, where she attended for a number of years. It was only wheh it became dangerous for her to stay alone, that I finally placed her in an assisted living facility, where she stayed for two years.

The first year was a good one for her. She made a few friends, socialized, and had her needs cared for. It was only during the second year, when he decline became steeper, that as far as she was concerned, it didn't matter where she was. What was nice, was that she was comfortable in the assisted living facility, and as best as she could, interacted with a staff of familiar people, in an environment to which she was already familiar.

As far as I was concerned, it was the best place that she could be. She had her meals given to her, and her laundry washed. Her medications were handed out to her. If she did not come to a meal or an activity, there was always someone to make sure that she was ok.

I think the best approach largely depends on how far along the person with Alzheimer's is.

When my mother's condition got to the point when she could no longer look after herself, I hired someone to be with her 12 hours a day. This worked for a while, but ultimately was not enough. I then moved her to a facility where she lived for several more years.

I didn't see any rapid deterioration in the facility. There were many activities and lots of things for her to do. However, the disease reached a point where it didn't matter where she was.