If you’re planning on sending your loved one to a memory care facility and are worried about how long they’ll live in the facility, you’re not alone. It’s a very common issue faced by the guardians of the senior citizens who require the specialized care offered in memory care facilities. And according to John Trevy, the founder and owner of Bader House of Georgetown Memory Care, most residents stay an average of two to three years. But some may stay for a few months, and others may stay for as long as ten years.
Nevertheless, the time your loved one will stay at the memory care facility will depend on a few factors. In this article, you’ll learn more about the factors affecting how long residents live in a memory care facility.
Type Of Memory Ailment
What type of memory impairment is your loved one suffering from? Most residents in memory care facilities have dementia. Dementia is a brain condition that affects your ability to think, behave, and retain memories.
However, most people don’t know that dementia is a symptom that appears in several brain diseases. These diseases include:
- Alzheimer’s
- Vascular Dementia
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD or mad cow disease)
- Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (alcohol dementia)
- Huntington’s Disease
- Mixed Dementia
- Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (Caused by repeated head injuries)
Each of the above diseases has its own rate of progression. For example, patients with CJD typically die a year after symptoms emerge. Patients with Alzheimer’s have a life expectancy of four to eight years. However, there are cases where patients have gone to live for 20 years. For patients with Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, things are slightly different. About 25% of patients recover, and recovery usually takes place within the first 2 years. And about 50% of those who don’t recover end up improving and enjoying a longer life expectancy compared to Alzheimer’s patients.
Therefore, the type of memory ailment your loved one has will play a crucial role in determining how long they’ll stay in the memory care facility.
Family Preferences
The decision of whether you should move your loved one to a memory care facility is up to you and your loved one. You have other options you can explore, such as assisted living or private care. Assisted living is slightly less expensive than memory care. However, assisted living doesn’t offer the same level of specialized care that memory care offers. On the other hand, private care offers more dedicated and up-close care to the patient.
If you and your mentally impaired loved one choose either private care or assisted living, one thing is sure, the amount of time your loved one will spend in memory care will reduce.
If you’re wondering why patients living in assisted living facilities need to move to memory care facilities, it’s because many assisted living facilities don’t offer dementia patients the opportunity to ‘age in place.’ When a dementia patient’s condition worsens, assisted living facilities force the patient to move to memory care facilities where they’ll receive the help they need.
Availability
In the community you live in, are there memory care communities nearby? When the time comes when you or your loved one with dementia decide it’s time for more specialized care, you will need to look for a memory care facility they can live in.
One, you will need to look for a memory care facility that’s close to where you live so you can pay constant visits. Secondly, you’ll need to consider whether the memory care facility is the best fit for your loved one’s needs. And thirdly, you need to consider whether the memory care facility has any available spots. Memory care facilities have limited spots. Therefore, it’s very important you consider this fact.
If there are no available spots in the memory care community, you’ll have to consider an extended home stay until a spot opens up.
Patient’s Overall Health
Your loved one’s physical and mental health also influences how long they stay at the memory care facility. Dementia patients with good physical and mental health will enjoy staying at home for longer. Alternatively, they will live a long and happy life at the memory care facility.
If your loved one suffers from health issues like heart problems, diabetes, cancer, etc., memory care will help them live a happier and longer life. However, you should understand your loved one might not live for as long as you expected due to their underlying health problems.
Ultimately, whether your loved one enjoys a short or long-term stay at a memory care facility depends on your and their needs. The quality of the memory care community you choose will greatly influence the life of you and your loved one. Therefore, ensure that you select a community that satisfies your family’s needs.