Alzheimer’s and Other Memory Conditions
We often get calls to help move a loved one with cognitive impairment to a memory care community. While the quantity of items to be moved is small, the move also needs to be managed with great care. What is selected to move and how the room is arranged is of utmost importance to us and to the well-being of our client and their family.
For instance:
- Selected items may need to be packed quickly, moved, and set up within just a few hours. We coordinate with family members to ensure the timing on move-in day is just right.
- We work with the memory care community and visit our client’s room to take photos and room dimensions. This helps the family plan ahead of time what furniture and memorabilia will work best in the room and how it will look.
- The first time a client walks into their new room, it’s important that the room look warm and inviting and that they see the furniture, accessories, and pictures they were accustomed to seeing in their previous home. People with dementia feel safer and more secure when they are surrounded by familiar items.
Do you have a loved one with memory issues?
Whether it’s Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mild cognitive impairment, or any one of the many conditions that cause problems with cognition, you want to work with the move management company that understands the special needs of these individuals and their families.
Give us a call at 704-945-7108.
Two Moves at Once
Judy called us because she had finally admitted that her husband, Frank, needed more supervision than she could manage on her own at home. He was not sleeping well at night and had started to wander, which was scary. Plus, his personality was changing, and he seemed to get easily irritated and even angry at times. That concerned her and had become just too much for her. She was exhausted, and her own health was declining because of the stress.
A friend in Judy’s caregiver support group suggested she talk with her son and a care manager about various living options. After a family meeting with the care manager, it was decided that a move to one of the continuing care retirement communities in the Charlotte metro area would offer both Frank and Judy the care and support that each of them now needed.
We moved Frank to the memory care community, and Judy chose to move to a two-bedroom cottage on the campus that was within strolling distance of Frank’s building. We created floor plans for each of them and put together a transition plan that worked well for each situation.
When moving day came for Frank, Judy and her son took Frank out to lunch and then brought him to his room in memory care. We had carefully arranged and decorated the room with items we knew he would recognize from the family home. He seemed genuinely pleased with his new living quarters. Then one of the staff members suggested that Frank tour the campus gardens. Because he had always enjoyed gardening, Frank loved the idea. As staff followed behind Frank, Judy wore a faint smile as she and her son left quietly.
This process was difficult for Judy. She felt guilty about the decision to admit Frank to memory care. But it helped to have her son with her to talk about it afterward. No matter how you sliced it, it was just hard.
For this family, it worked out best for Judy’s son to move her into her cottage. And there was no need for us to do the cleanup at Judy’s previous home because he and his wife would be the next owners. (We are always flexible in terms of which tasks we do and which ones the families decide they want to do themselves.)
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