Is this the right time to move to MC?

Kimwojo

My mom has been in AL for 3 years but has needed a caretaker 6 hrs/day for the last 5-6 months because she was eloping, wanting to go for walks. Our only choice is to keep the same expensive combo of AL + Caretaking or move her to MC.  Mentally she is degenerating but physically she is fit and active. She can walk 1.5-2 miles a day if it's nice outside. When I go look at MC it is a lot of people napping on couches around a TV. I'm concerned my mom will be bored stiff. My brother wants MC because it's cheaper. How do I make the right decision for my mom??

jfkoc

Decisions are always hard. I suggest that you make a thorough search to see if there is even a MC where you want your mother and start with  staff training.

BassetHoundAnn

Memory cares vary tremendously in the amount and kinds of activities they offer residents. Some offer a packed daily schedule of activities, including many intended to help residents work off excess energy. I toured one memory care where they had a roomful of residents playing virtual bowling via a large video monitor and it looked kinda fun. They also listed a daily activity schedule on a monitor and there appeared to be at least one activity a day that was exercise-oriented. 

After I toured that facility I spoke with an aid who had worked there. She claimed that many families move their LOs out of that MC because their LOs don't want to be pressured into activities, they want to simply nap. The families felt the focus on group activities was too much. 

I toured another MC where they said they tried to tailor activities to individual residents' capabilities and energy levels. In fact I asked them whether they would like a donation of a large three-wheeled trike I had in my garage and they swooped over to my house for that. They said they had a high-energy resident, a young man formerly athletic, they thought would enjoy peddling around the grounds with an aid. 

The MC where I placed my mom does seem to have mostly people napping in chairs around the TV. They do have an activities director. She does take my mom on walks outside and also over to the AL portion of the building for activities there. She does try to find things to occupy individual residents and appeal to their interests. But in contrast to other MCs I toured this one appears to have residents who are more advanced in their dementia, and thus more lethargic, non-verbal and sedentary, and not interested in activities.

So yes the MCs vary a lot in this respect. When you tour you need to look around closely and ask a lot of questions of the aids and nursing staff. And it is important to interview the nursing staff and director and not just talk to the sales person. The sales people are usually not clued in about activities.