Memory care is a bracket care arrangement that caters to older adults with memory issues such as Alzheimer’s disease and the different forms of Dementia. Dementia, a mental condition, progresses as time goes on. You can learn about mental stress and its impact on overall health, on this website: https://www.womenhealthexercise.com
Caring for an older relative with such health conditions can be quite challenging. You may want to consider setting them up in a memory care home where they can get the quality, specialized care they need.
Memory care is often offered in care facilities such as assisted living and nursing homes. There are also a few stand-alone memory care facilities where memory care is the main form of care offered. The primary services offered in assisted living homes include timely meals, supportive living, individual living, and organized activities for older adults.
Before choosing a living home for your loved ones, you should ask important questions to determine the level of care required by your older loved one. Without these assessments, your family might not get the care they need to live a comfortable life. Seasons Retirement provides memory care options to their residents, ensuring that they stay safe and happy at all times.
Here, we will discuss the different ways to pay for a memory care home in Canada.
How To Pay For Memory Care
The specialized care offered in memory care facilities makes it more expensive than assisted living. For memory care in assisted living homes, residents have to pay extra fees on top of the initial fees for specialized care.
This may seem discouraging, but there are different ways to make paying for a memory care facility easier on your pockets. In a few paragraphs, we will talk about how to pay for memory care but first, let’s see the different features of a memory care facility.
Features Of A Memory Care Facility
There are certain features put in place to help older people with memory issues live safe and healthily in memory care homes, and they include:
1. Environmental Safety and Security
In a memory care facility, measures are put in place to keep residents safe while supporting their independence at the same time. Wandering is not uncommon with cases of dementia, and so memory care homes feature enclosed courtyards and gardens to keep older adults secure.
In addition to this security feature, hallways and corridors are usually built in a circular design to avoid confusion. Also, there are installed security doors with alarms or bells to track the movement of older adults. Some memory care homes take the extra step to provide tracking bracelets for their residents.
2. Reduced Staff-to-resident Ratio
This is an arrangement that assigns fewer numbers of residents to a staff member. This way, your older loved ones get the special, one-on-one attention they need throughout the day.
This means that memory care facilities offer person-centered care where the activities and treatment given are uniquely designed to meet a resident’s specific needs. This is done using the personalized information of each older adult.
3. Qualified and Specially Trained Staff
The staff in memory care facilities are well-trained to provide top-notch care to residents. They are trained to understand how mental illnesses such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease present themselves in older adults.
The staff are also equipped with the knowledge of how to handle the confusion, wandering, and aggressive behaviour in older adults with dementia. Memory care facility staff also help out with basic daily activities such as grooming, feeding, and hygiene.
4. Therapies and Activities
These activities help to give older adults a sense of purpose and boost their self-esteem. It improves cognitive functions and relaxes residents with memory difficulties.
The activities are often tailored to meet their physical, mental, and emotional needs, and they include art therapy, music therapy, and reminiscence therapy.
Different Ways To Pay For Memory Care
As stated earlier, memory care can be quite expensive if you are without savings or have other financial responsibilities. Here, you will be exposed to different options and ways on how to pay for memory care.
1. Personal Savings
This is usually the go-to source of funding for memory care. If your older loved one has life-long savings, it can be used to pay for their care. You could also get savings from relatives to settle payments.
It is important to consult professional help to figure out if the savings will be enough to last the duration of the entire memory care living arrangement.
2. Life Insurance
Life insurance can be used to pay for memory care. This would mean selling your older relative’s policy to another party and using the proceeds to pay for their memory care. You can also give back their life insurance policy to the company for a prize of its cash value.
You should involve a trusted insurance agent to sort out the necessary details. If life insurance is your preferable way on how to pay for memory care, you should know that once you sell off the insurance rights, there will be no benefits after death.
3. Veteran Benefits
An older adult that has served in the military, navy, or airforce can gain from veteran benefits. These benefits often cover health and medical care, including memory care.
There are also programs that allow a veteran to cater to the financial needs of a parent with Alzheimer’s and any form of dementia. It is a needs-based cash benefit that covers the medical needs of a parent dependent financially on the veteran. You can explore this option as a way on how to pay for memory care.
4. Home Equity
If your older loved one is a homeowner, they could take advantage of the equity of their house by either selling it, renting it out or taking a reverse mortgage. The proceeds from this can be used to pay for memory care.
Other ways on how to pay for memory care facility include liquidating assets like pieces of jewelry and properties, community support services, retirement benefits, employee benefits, etc.
Conclusion
Paying for a memory care facility can be easy on your pocket when you consider the options in this article. Explore these ways of payment to give your older loved ones a chance to get the care they need in a memory care home.