Choosing the Right Kingwood Senior Living Community for a Loved One with Dementia

Placing a loved one in a senior living community in Kingwood is a very difficult decision.  However, making that choice can be a blessing once you have navigated the road of finding the location and care that your loved one requires.  The first plan of action is to sit down make a list of your loved ones needs.  Do they require kosher meals or a special diet? What daily activities do they need assistance with?  Do they need help taking medications on time, bathing, eating, dressing, and/or maybe just going about their day?  Decide how far away you are willing to travel to find that perfect location.  Consider how often you will be visiting and the commute with traffic.

Finances are on everyone’s radar when looking at senior living community options.  Does your loved one have long-term life insurance, if not consider the cost for a facility.  Paying lower prices does not mean that you have to sacrifice quality of care.  Look into care homes, a small homey environment with limited number of residents.  These senior living communities offer one on one care and are usually located in neighborhoods and provide an alternative to traditional Kingwood nursing homes.

Once you have a list of places to visit, go over each one and they have their license for the state.  You can contact your local ombudsman office to check if the facility has any citations.  No senior living community is perfect but check to see that there are no serious injuries and no lapses in patient care or medication errors. 

Now it’s time to go and visit your options.

When choosing a place for your loved one there are many key factors to observe:

• Look for cleanliness, smells, dust and overall maintenance. 
• Watch the residents. Is there a common area, or are they left alone in their rooms? Are they active? If not, why. 
• Watch the employees. Are they working assisting residents? Happy and engaging? 
• Pay attention to the lay out, memory care should be easy to navigate and in a circular pattern around the common area. 
• Hydration stations should be easily accessible. 

What questions should you ask? 

• Ask the person giving you the tour how they can meet your loved ones needs, discuss what your loved one requires and what your concerns are. 
• Ask about pricing, community fees; keep in mind that a lot of homes will assess a monthly incontinence fee. Inquire about the fees for different levels of care. 
• What are the type of activities provided? 
• Do they have religious service in-home or do they take the residents to services off site? 
• Ask what the ratio of caregiver to residents is; for memory care it should be 1 to 8.
• What kinds of medical changes would require my loved one to be moved to another level of care?
• Is there a Kingwood doctor that makes regular visits to the facility, if not, do they provide transportation to appointments? 

The most important thing to remember is, this is your loved one.  Do not hesitate to ask questions, be inquisitive to all that you see.  With the proper research and investigation, you can make the right decision for yourself and your family member.  We look forward to your visit at Kingwood Memory Care and Assisted Living!