What is the best way to help an individual with Alzheimer's transition into an assisted-living home?

Question

Is there an appropriate way to minimize confusion and to make the individual willing to participate in services offered by the assisted-living facility?

Answer 1

Explain everything that is going on and be ready for a lot of resistance. Visit them as often as you can, and try to stimulate their memories. Introduce them to the staff and fellow residents. Bring lots of things from their old place to make their room more familiar. Be prepared for your own frustrations as well. That glimmer of coherence may make you feel like they are doing well, but just realize that it will not last. Just try to be as kind and supportive of them as you can. I can assure you that they will need your kindness and honesty more than ever.

Answer 2

It is very hard. You need to put the person into the facility at the highest level possible for them. That is if they do not need assisted living put them at a higher level. Is there another option where your loved one can have a more step wise approach? My grandmother stayed in an apartment at the beginning in the nursing home. She did not go into assisted living until she had gone down further mentally. After that it did not bother her to go to assisted living because she did not know she was there. It is hard for people when they are too aware. My grandmother did not want to do the activities, but liked to help the nurses with office work. She was able to alphabatize and do more clarical work for a while. You need to give the person what they need at their functioning level. Lower level activities can feel humiliating to some people. I personally would love art, but others would not. My grandmother read the NY Times every sunday for a long time into her alzheimers and played the piano even though she was so out of it and did not know where she was.
If you loved one needs something specialized to make life meaningful please find that. It might not be that diffficult. All we did was bring her a paper every sunday and have the nurses work with her at night and have them take her to the piano and the church service.
Best wishes this inbetween time can be so stressful for the patient. Please make sure he or she has the care of a psychiatrist during this time to ensure that there is no anxiety or depression. It is very common in the elderly.

Answer 3

This is not any easy thing. The one way to help them is to explain that they and you or family need some extra help taking care of them. You want them some where you know they are safe and that there is always someone there to help them. Also explain that an assited living home is nothing like a nursing home they will have their own room and privacy. Make sure to vistit them often until they get use to the idea that they are going to be living there and you will be near by if they really need you. This is a very scary and confusing time for an elderly person. They feel alone and betrayed and the only thing you can do is reassure them and don't just "dump" them.
As a care giver for the elderly I work in many different enviroments. And this is always the hardest time for the resident and the family. Just make sure they know the reasons this is happening and be there for them (even if it is 2 am on the phone) Put yourself in there shoes and say it the way you would want to hear it.
They will be resentful at first but they will get alittle more comfortable as time goes by. Never take anything to personal just think about how you would feel in that sitution.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

If it's a good ALF, that specializes in Alzheimers patients or has lots of dementia/alzheimers patients on board, then they should have a good policy for how to approach participation in group activities. Some alzheimers patients (I'm thinking later-stage here) prefer to walk around in circles, or push chairs, or do other repetitive-type movements. It's most important to minimize anxiety and confusion in this patient population and help them to maintain a positive mental state, so a good facility should encourage but not force residents to do activities.

I don't have experience with alzheimers patients specifically, but I visit an ALF weekly, and I know that the residents there really enjoy having outside people, family or volunteers, come in and keep them company. People I know who have volunteered at alzheimers-specific facilities spent a lot of time listening to stories or just sitting and keeping the residents company, and maybe having interested people around would help in the transition. Also, if your relative likes music and can hear well, having their favorite music available for them in their room might help. I know most facilities have activities that involve listening to music as well.

Since you're writing this question, I imagine that you're concerned about doing the best thing possible for your relative. Transitioning to an ALF can be very difficult, even for individuals with no mental confusion and who require little help with activities of daily living. Be patient and understanding and visit often, if possible. Best of luck.

Answer 5

Visit often! My grandmother had Alzheimer's and we had to move her into an assisted living home because she just couldn't live on her own anymore (she would forget to eat, she'd lock herself out of the house, etc).

Find a home that suits her best, price aside. Preferably one that's not too big. She might get more confused if there's too many people and too many nurses. The fewer in the home and on the staff, the easier it would be for her to adapt and maybe start learning names.

Also give her LOTS of pictures! Family memories start to go easily with Alzheimers, make sure she has plenty of things to remember everyone by. It really hurt when I realized my grandmom had no idea who I was anymore (she didn't know my sister or my mom -her daughter- either by the end). Always reinforce names when you see her. If you go with other relatives, always address them by name when talking to them in front of her.

Give her crossword puzzles and more to keep her mind active. If she doesn't use her mind much and does sedentary things like watch tv all day, the Alzheimer's will continue to get worse.

Try to find assisted living homes that offer a wide range of activities, especially things she likes. If she's always liked swimming for example, find one with a pool and a staff that offers water excercises or something. Or if she really likes bowling, find one that offers a bowling night every now and then.

It's easy to start slacking off on the visiting after a little while, but make sure you go anyway. If you start skipping visits because of other things you need to do, you will regret it when she's gone. Spend all the time you can with her while she's here. I know I regret passing up a lot of visits, then one day she passed away and I realized that I would never have a chance to see her ever again. Not to make you feel bad or anything, just know she won't be around forever and make the best of the time you have.

Answer 6

There is never really an easy transition when moving from one place to another, especially for an Alzheimer's patient. You can bring things along to the assisted living complex that the patient recognizes such as photos and mementos. Another way to help out is to continue visiting regularly. When the patient gets comfortable, they will participate. It is a process, and it will take some time. Stay positive.

Answer 7

My dad had Alzheimer's and when it was necessary to place him in an assisted living home, they told us to hug him good by and don't come see him for 4 weeks. This would give him time to become acclimated to his new environment and to become familiar with other clients. When we visited him after 4 wks., he was pretty well adjusted. He thought he was home and he was comfortable in his new surroundings.