 | Doug Stark
is president of ComfortCare Homes, Inc. ComfortCare provides long-term care for the memory impaired at all levels of care and function in elegant, single-family residential homes. Born out of the Stark family's experience with Alzheimer's they have grown to 25 homes with 8 in Wichita and 17 in Nebraska and Virginia. A native of Wichita, Doug attended Wichita public schools and the University of Kansas. He served for 12 years as a Big Brother and has been a member of Wichita Rotary for 19 years. He is board member and Treasurer of Kansas Health Ethics. Doug can be contacted through his office at 7701 E. Kellogg, Suite #490, 67207, by calling (316) 685-3322, or by sending an e-mail to comfortcarehomes@aol.com |
Senior Living
2002-12-01 09:46:00
Memory impairment
: In looking at various care options for my Aunt who has Alzheimer's disease we liked the group home environment the best, but our concern is how long a group home would be appropriate before needing to move her again to a nursing home?
ANSWER: It comes as no surprise that you and your wife found a group home (more commonly referred to as a residential care home or personal care home) to be the most desirable model of care for your Aunt, particularly since she is dealing with an impaired memory disorder. A residential care home (a single family residential home licensed by the State to provide care for up to eight residents) is a far superior option for someone that is cognitively impaired from Alzheimer's disease or some other malady. For the memory impaired a small, familiar, easy to understand environment is simply better. The regiment, complexity, long hallways, large dining rooms and overall activity level of most larger facilities can be overwhelming as well as over stimulating for someone that no longer has the ability to reason clearly.A residential care home (group home) offers the resident the opportunity and dignity of still living like a family in a neighborhood home. Generally the care is more on a personal level fitting the schedule and desires of the resident, which is very important when dealing with the behaviors associated with this condition. It can be difficult for the cognitively impaired to fit the rigid schedules that many times are necessary for the efficiency of larger providers of care. Effective dementia (impaired memory) care is moving to the schedule of the resident's and not trying to bring them to ours, which is accomplished easier in a more intimate one on one environment. In my opinion, if there were ever a time in a person's life where they needed a calm familiar environment, now is that time! Also many homes have the added therapeutic benefit of family pets. The question of how long a person can stay in a residential care home depends a lot on the home's operator, the level of care they wish to provide, their qualifications, etc. For example, electronic security that restricts a confused resident from wandering off is a must for this type of care. Some operators are not really set up for, or even desire for that matter to deal with many of the behaviors that are part of dementia care in the latter stages. Some on the other hand, focus their efforts solely on dementia care and consequently specialize in care for Alzheimer's and other memory disorders.Regarding the eventuality of having to move your Aunt from a residential care home to a skilled nursing facility, again, that depends partially on the set up of the operator and their qualifications to provide what is considered 'end stage' care. It also can depend greatly on the care needs or potential unforeseen medical issues of the resident. Many homes cannot care for a resident needing a two-person assist to go from the bed to say a wheel chair. Some though, like our company are set up to care for individuals at most all levels, as long as there is not a need for skilled nursing procedures over an extended period of time. This is done by staging homes from mild memory loss to total care in our Advanced Services Home. Your best bet in choosing the appropriate environment for your loved one is first, facing up to the reality of the needs. I bring this up because for many this is an emotionally wrenching time. It is often difficult to objectively assess your loved ones condition, placing you in denial of what the needs really are. Then go out and do your homework. Visit the various providers. Check out their reputation in the community by talking to medical professionals or calling the various agencies like the Alzheimer's Association or the Department of Aging. Call the families of some of their current and past residents and assess their level of satisfaction. Another very important indicator of quality operators is space availability, or actually lack there of. You will usually find the better operators to be at near capacity or with a short waiting list. I would suggest you take an extra long look if you become interested in an operator with a lot of availability. Two things that go hand in hand with quality operators is they are not the cheapest and they are full most of the time.
