Improve a Senior’s Quality of Life With Memory Care

Deciding to move your loved one to memory care may be a difficult choice. After all, your loved one is leaving their familiar surroundings, and having a new caretaker may seem like a vast change in their everyday life. Finding assisted living for your loved one may feel like “giving up” if you were their primary caregiver previously.

It’s a complex and complicated situation. However, by moving to a memory care community, your loved one will experience a greater quality of life. Here are the top three ways a senior’s quality of life will change for the better when they move to memory care at the Mission at Agua Fria Senior Living in Peoria.

1. Better Relationship With Family

As Alzheimer’s or dementia begins in a parent, their adult child or children often step in to help with mom or dad. However, there is usually a long, slow progression into dementia, where the patient will need more and more care. Sometimes, this can cause a lot of stress in the caregiver’s life—they may have their own family to take care of or a demanding job they can’t leave. And not everyone knows how to care for someone who is experiencing memory loss, leading to worries that the caregiver isn’t doing enough or maybe even resentment.

When a resident moves into memory care at the Mission at Agua Fria, there may be an adjustment period for everyone in the family, but ultimately, visiting your loved one will result in a much more relaxed atmosphere and quality time. When your loved one is getting the care they need and deserve, you get to spend time with them without the stress or worries you had before.

2. Stress Reduction Overall

Memory care communities usually have very full calendars. There are daily life enrichment programs, but above and beyond that, there are programs, social activities, and events meant to help stimulate the resident cognitively. These can include mind teasers and brain games, dancing, art, or music. Personal hobbies and interests and connections with other people are especially important to seniors and create an excellent way to keep them engaged with the world around them.

3. Dining Well

Poor nutrition is something seniors often deal with before moving into memory care. Maybe they don’t feel hungry until the last minute—and then they’re so hungry they’ll eat everything in the fridge. Or maybe they don’t remember to eat at all. It may be difficult for them to get to the grocery store in order to cook a healthy meal, so instead they may simply order a pizza or some other takeout food.

When you live in a memory care facility, you can expect three chef-prepared healthy meals and a snack every day, served in a restaurant-style setting. Residents with dementia may also find it difficult to focus on what they’re doing, such as enjoying a meal, so in a memory care setting, they’ll have staff members and other personnel to help work through each of these challenges.

If you or your loved one has questions about memory care living in Peoria, contact us today to schedule a tour. We would love to show you around.