Memory Care facilities are specifically designed to ensure a safe, comfortable and structured environment to reduce stress for the residents. There can be lots of strain on caregivers and family related to memory care residents. This is a topic that can be challenging to understand and relate to.
Below are some ways to have support for both caregivers & family members:
Emotional impact:
When family members decide to move a loved one into a memory care facility, there may be lots of guilt, sadness, or anxiety about the decision that they had made. Lots of thought goes into this and just wanting the best for their loved one but there might be lots of emotions that come up with this decision.
Caregiver burnout:
Being a caregiver to your loved ones may have some challenges with being physically and emotionally burnt out from the demands of providing care. The shifts of a caregiver lasts anywhere from 12 hours a day to longer. There's lots of heavy lifting, running back and forth between rooms and the cafeteria, and all the other activities that are essential to caregiving.
Support systems:
Having a support system is so important when being a caregiver or being the family of the loved one that is in the memory care facility. It is so important to remember that you were trying to help a loved one and get the best care that they need and to make sure that you can support each other in the family. Having great communication within the facility with also the family members that you are with can increase the quality and experience of the transition of going into the facility and also the difference that it'll make in everyone's lives.
Having ways to cope with having your loved one live somewhere else is so very important. here are some ways to help and cope with that feeling:
- Maintaining open and honest communication. Being transparent and empathetic with your loved one and explaining the reasons for the decision that you have made and involving them in the process is so important.
- Educating yourself and making sure that you do the research for the decision thoroughly and understanding all of the services, amenities, and staff, and everything else that is offered is so important. This may provide you reassurance and help you make an informed choice that is the best fit.
- Reaching out to support groups, counselors, or therapists who specialize in transitioning and caregiving is a great way to relate to others and talk with others about their experiences as well.
- Visiting the facility together with your loved one but also personalizing their space in which they transition, it's so important to make sure that they feel more at home and more comfortable with the space that they are going to be in.
- Establishing a routine with your loved one and letting them know when you're able to visit in your schedule will help them have some independence and maintain and improve their time there but also have a complete understanding of when you'll be able to visit and see them again.
- Staying involved in your loved ones life, attending activities, visiting regularly, and staying engaged in knowing all that goes into the care, is one of the most important things. your loved one will see all of the effort and will be so grateful.
There are so many things that come into caregiving and family decisions, that it is so important to make sure that you have a great support system and know how to cope with certain feelings that you may feel during a transition to assisted living. It is so important to make sure that you educate yourself with what you need to know about the facility and to make sure that your loved one has the best care possible. Here at The Gables Assisted Living for memory care, we guarantee to have the best care possible and to make your loved ones experience a positive one and to really care about them as a whole.