It has been a painful process. The decision to move your 84 year old mother into an assisted living location was difficult. The fact that your mom is showing the very beginning stages of memory loss, however, necessitated the move. With an option of moving from her current room to another location within the facility offers the possibility of a less disruptive future move, though, so at least that part of the move was made easier.
Decisions that involve limiting the independence of a parent or a grandparent are not easy. Few of these conversations, however, will get easier or better if they are delayed. Working with residential care experts at assisted living centers can help younger family members gather the appropriate knowledge from their elders, while at the same time understand the services that are offered in that residential setting.
The care of a growing population of people who are suffering memory issues is an issue that needs to be addressed by many families as well as many communities. Although not everyone who is need of these services can afford the best care options, the lack of any care can endanger the individual, as well as provide complications for a community. As a result, a growing number of options are available to people with varying degrees of resources.
Consider some of these statistics about the increasing need for elderly care, some situations which involve memory care, and some that do not:
- Alzheimer’s is currently the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.
- 35.6 million people worldwide show signs of dementia.
- 66% of U.S. Alzheimer’s patients are women.
- Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease is the only top 10 cause of death in America that cannot be prevented, slowed, or cured.
- 63 is the current average age of retirement in America.
- 15,655 is the number of skilled nursing care centers in the U.S., according to American Health Care Association data.
- 40% of people who lived in residential care facilities in 2010 received assistance with three or more daily living activities.
- 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s, but that number is predicted to increase to 16 million by the year 2050.
- Although there are 100 different types of dementia, Alzheimer’s is the most common, and it accounts for 60% to 80% of current dementia diagnoses.
- $450 million was allotted in 2011 by the U.S. government for Alzheimer’s research.
- 64% of people 65 and older in nursing homes have Alzheimer’s disease, or another form of dementia.