How to Choose a Memory Care Facility

If your loved one requires round-the-clock care, knowing how to choose a memory care facility is important. These communities offer support and caring for seniors who experience disorientation or confusion, and might be a danger to themselves or others. These seniors might also experience mood swings or need help with daily activities such as toileting or preparing meals.

If you’re wondering how to choose a memory care facility for your loved one, use this guide on your search for a memory care facility.

 

Your first step might be to take a careful look at what your loved one is and isn’t able to accomplish on their own. This indicates what sort of care may be necessary, especially if you’re wondering whether it’s too soon for memory care. 

Every memory care facility is different, and no one memory care facility can excel in all aspects of care. Your goal should be to find the best match between the two. 

Keep these consideration in mind when debating how to choose a memory care facility:

• Care Needs: Consider the level of care your loved one requires. This may include an assessment of their medication regimen, daily activities, or housekeeping needs. 
• Personal Preferences: Consider how your loved one spends their day. Are they a sociable person, or do they prefer a quieter daily life? What activities bring them enjoyment? What is their home life like?
• Research Facilities: Assuming you want to be within visiting distance, look for memory care facilities that are nearby. Read reviews for local facilities and ask around for recommendations from others who have experience with them.
• Facility Visits: For memory care facilities that pass your initial online assessment, consider a visit. Look for locations that offer a home-like atmosphere. Ready a list of questions to ask on your tour.

Not sure what to ask? Check out our PDF guide of questions to consider for your facility visits.

Knowing how to find a memory care facility includes having an understanding of how these facilities are run, which may differ from other types of nursing homes or independent living situations. There are several trends in care that you may want to be familiar with.

Person-first care is considered a best practice in memory care facilities now. Caregivers are expected to pay attention to the needs and wishes of each of their residents to ensure their comfort.

“Person-centered care that’s focused on each person’s needs and preferences is a best practice now,” says Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. “This type of care plan takes into account a person’s typical life patterns, such as waking, sleeping and activities, as well as their likes, dislikes, and care needs.

Another trend? Allowing, and even encouraging seniors to keep and use their personal belongings, such as furniture, clothing and other items, as much as possible.

Various new technologies have made senior care more holistic and compassionate. These may include the following:

• Less-intrusive security cameras for 24-hour surveillance.
• Personalized monitoring devices such as Wanderguard to keep patients who are at risk in safe areas.
• Automated dispensing systems for medications to help ensure that patients receive the correct doses at the right time, without slip-ups.
• Virtual reality can give seniors with limited mobility, or those feeling socially isolated, a way to experience “adventures,” which has the potential to help improve mood and counter memory loss.
• Digital assistants such as Siri or Alexa can help seniors in countless ways. From setting timers to playing their favorite songs, elders can interact holistically with their devices.

Technology offers opportunities to both assist caregivers in maintaining a safe, comfortable environment and allow residents the agency to manage their own lives.

New approaches to communicating with and medicating seniors have also brought changing best practices to memory care facilities. Staff may be trained in techniques such as empathic validation, a way of talking to clients that acknowledges feelings, shows gratitude and helps reduce anxiety. Residents with Alzheimers may benefit from interactions where they are given plenty of time to respond, and staff ask simple questions with yes and no answers. 

New medications are also helping elders live more active and healthy lives. Lecanemab, for example, was approved by the FDA in 2023 to treat people with mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. By targeting the disease in its early phases, this drug and others like it have given new hope to those with mild cognitive impairment. 

But over-medication can be as much a problem as under-medication. “There are efforts to reduce the use of antipsychotic medications, which we know can cause serious side effects and even death for people with dementia,” says Robyn Grant, The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care’s director of public policy and advocacy. A more holistic focus on available medications and their side effects help residents get the most suitable mix of the medications and dosage.

The typical design of a memory care facility is changing, too, as research suggests that home-like settings can foster contentment and peace. “Increasingly, long-term care facilities are moving away from the sterile, institutional feeling and creating more home-like settings,” says Smetanka. “Incorporating personal items in resident rooms and creating comfortable common areas help residents and families feel more at home.”

When visiting potential care facilities, look for both outdoor and common indoor spaces that provide a safe and pleasant environment for residents. Check that such spaces are well-marked to keep your loved one oriented. Many facilities now build in visual memory cues to help residents get around, in addition to signed paths, gardens and access to nature.

Also pay attention to the activities that a facility offers for residents. Events such as exercise classes, concerts, cooking classes and art appreciation programs are now common as facilities work to ensure that all residents have the physical, mental and emotional stimuli that will engage them and improve their quality of life. 

There are a lot of details you may need to keep in mind when you’re looking at how to find a memory care facility that will be the best choice for your loved one. You may want to consider the questions we’ve collected when you are researching or visiting potential locations. Consider printing this list out, along with our more general assisted living checklist, so you can be sure to make the best decision based on the facts you’ve uncovered.

Once you choose a memory care facility, you’ll want to know that the continuing care your loved one receives is compassionate, professional, and personalized. If you’ve done your research and found a facility that answers all your needs, you may think your job is done. But there’s more you can do, ensuring that as time passes, your senior will always receive care that is in their best interests. 

“The first thing you can do is to help staff get to know your loved one,” says Smetanka. “Focus on your loved one’s likes [and] dislikes, what they enjoy, what comforts them, and how to respond when they are distressed. If a resident shows behaviors that are concerning  — withdrawal, outbursts, aggression  — staff should be assessing what the resident might be trying to communicate. Are they hurt or in pain? Bored? Hungry? Tired? Adjustments can be made to the plan of care to address the resident’s needs.”

Your continued involvement in your loved one’s care is important to both monitor their situation and to maintain regular contact with them. How that involvement looks can vary depending on your situation. If you are close by, regular visits can be helpful. Perhaps Zoom calls or phone calls work better for you. Either way, this will help you to know if there is a problem that you need to address with the staff.

Get to know your loved one’s caregivers. These are the people who see them every day, and can alert you to their mood, highlight challenges, and stand on the front line in advocating for your senior’s care.

Before you choose a facility, ask about staff training. Most states mandate CPR and infectious disease training for assisted living staff, but regulations vary on the timelines for emergency evacuation training. 

Staff have impact beyond how well they can carry out procedures. Hopefully you can meet some staff members when you visit. Are they interacting regularly with the residents or passing time at the nurses’ station? Do they seem genuinely engaged with their charges?

You want the best for your loved one, and that doesn’t happen by accident. Taking the time to learn more about memory care facilities — including by reading this article — can help you make a decision that neither you nor your loved one will regret. Moving into a memory care facility can be hard for a senior, but if you take the time to ask questions and look carefully at any facility you are considering, it can be the beginning of a new phase of life that will be comfortable and secure for someone you care about.

• Alzheimer's: Medicines help manage symptoms and slow decline. (2024). Mayo Clinic
• Bradley, Lyndsey, et al. (2023) Effectiveness of digital technologies to engage and support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes. National Library of Medicine
• Grant, R. (n.d.). Personal interview
• How long can dementia patients remain in memory care? (2022). Rocky Mountain Assisted Living
• Smetanka, L. (n.d.). Personal interview 
• Suyeon, Bae. et al. (2024). Improving home-like environments in long-term care units: an exploratory mixed-method study. National Library of Medicine
• The power of shared experiences. (n.d.). Rendever
• Validation: An empathic approach to the care of dementia. (n.d.). Adult Protective Services Library