Secured Memory Care Homes vs. Non-secured Assisted Living Facilities

First of all, many families will say that their loved one is not at risk for wandering and as such do not need a secured environment. They also believe that mixing resident populations will somehow improve their loved one’s memory by socializing with alert, cognitive residents.

This is a myth and in fact can cause more confusion, anxiety and even increased behavior issues for the memory impaired resident. Sometimes even a simple problem like a memory impaired resident repeating a question over and over to an alert, cognitive resident can eventually escalate to frustration, anger and isolation between the residents. The staff in regular assisted living facilities have only the basic skills for working with a resident with dementia, so they are not properly trained in using behavior management techniques such as redirection or diversion.

Another issue in mixing the type of residents is the activity programming. Residents who do not have dementia will want to watch regular TV programs such as “Soap Operas”, daytime talk shows, the news, etc., that will just cause more confusion to the resident with dementia. This is just “Noise” to the dementia resident that could lead to increased anxiety or behavior outbursts, which in turn is often times controlled by unnecessary anti-anxiety or behavior medications for the dementia resident.

It’s not really fair for any of the residents, as the cognitive residents have the right to set their own activity programming and the dementia resident needs to be in a calm, structured environment to reduce anxiety and behavior issues. Mixing the two types of residents can be a recipe for problems for the residents and overwhelming to the staff not trained to work with residents with dementia.

So when it comes to needing Secured vs Non-secured it really is about the home being “Dementia Specific” with the programming, staff and environment that is specialized for the care of residents with Memory Issues. The “Secured Door” is only a safety precaution.

Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive disease and you want to ensure that your loved ones will actually be able to “Age in Place” through all stages of the disease. You also want an environment that is a calming, structured environment that is conducive to the dementia resident’s unique needs, especially as the disease progresses.