Discover How to Choose Memory Support Services in 2025

Dementia is a brain and memory disorder that can significantly impact a person’s daily life and often requires memory support services to help manage challenges, such as cooking, driving, and paying bills on time. There may be a change in personality, problems with language, forgetting common words, or disorientation and frequently getting lost.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia among older people; it involves the part of the brain that controls thought, memory, and language. It is progressive and degenerative. The disease usually begins after age 60, risk goes up with age, and nearly half of those over 85 have symptoms. However, researchers remind us that Alzheimer’s is “not a normal part of aging.”

It is named after a German doctor, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who in 1906 found abnormal clumps and tangled bundles of fiber in the brain of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Scientists have also discovered that in people with Alzheimer’s, nerve cells die in the areas of the brain relating to memory. This affects cognitive functioning and lowers levels of the chemicals that carry messages back and forth between nerve cells. Research has not fully disclosed the causes.

Identifying Your Loved One’s Needs

Understanding your loved one’s individual needs is key to providing the right care and memory loss support. Focus on observing daily routines and recognizing areas where extra assistance may be required.
Before looking for memory support services, consider looking for changes in:

• Daily living tasks: Difficulties with managing medications, preparing meals or handling finances
• Safety awareness: Getting lost, leaving appliances on, or encountering other hazards at home
• Social engagement and mood: Withdrawing from friends or activities, increased irritability or changes in sleep patterns
• Communication: Struggling to find words, follow conversations or express needs

Open dialogue with your loved one, family members, and healthcare professionals can help identify gaps where memory loss support services may be beneficial. Early recognition allows you to implement targeted support that helps maintain independence, ensures safety, and enhances quality of life.

Signs Your Loved One Needs Memory Support Services

When you see a loved one only on holidays and special occasions, it may be harder to detect problems. Couples often cover for one another, and when the family visits irregularly, it is easy to miss the changes. Mental deterioration has “patterns of consistent neglect,” according to The Complete Eldercare Planner, Revised and Updated Edition: Where to Start, Which Questions to Ask, and How to Find Help.

Things to watch for in your loved one include:

• Are there problems with walking, talking, eating, dressing or managing medications?
• Has their appearance become sloppy?
• Have they quit bathing or cleaning their teeth?
• Are there stacks of mail around?
• Have the bills been paid? (If you call and the phone has been disconnected, go at once!)
• Are there changes in appetite?
• Are the curtains drawn all the time?
• Do they have a lack of interest in friends or activities?
• Depression?
• Abuse of alcohol?
• Loss of reasoning skills?
• Loss of short-term memory?
• Do they keep forgetting how to do simple things?
• Wandering?
• Incontinence?
• Sleeplessness?

Experts suggest you seek help but not jump to conclusions. If several of these things are going on with your loved one, you might make an appointment and talk to their doctor to see if medications or a medical condition might be causing the unusual behavior. Dementia may be caused by stress, depression, nutritional deficiencies, Parkinson’s disease, or other illnesses. When help is clearly needed, consider involving memory support services and go with your loved one to seek a professional evaluation.

Adding Memory Support Services and Alzheimer’s Disease to the Caregiver’s Job

If you choose to care for your loved one with memory loss, Alzheimer’s, or with the assistance of memory support services at home, there are a number of issues to consider:

• Can you make the home secure and safe?
• Can you hire nurses, home health aides or companions to come into your home to help and provide respite care for you, the caregiver?
• Is there a nearby adult day care center for memory-impaired seniors?
• Are there opportunities for interaction with others, and mental stimulation for the patient?
• Is off-site respite care available for the patient?

In the early stages of dementia-related diseases, home care may be the best option. As driving ceases and other losses of independence occur in the progression of the memory loss, the caregiver may have to look into a community with specialized memory and Alzheimer’s care services, Assisted Living or Skilled Nursing.

Practical Tips for Caring for People with Memory Loss or Alzheimer’s Disease

• Talk with family and friends as soon as you know the diagnosis and continue to communicate.
• Ask for and accept practical help.
• Try to keep a balanced schedule for you and your family member.
• Learn everything you can about the disease and how memory support services can aide.
• Simplify the environment for your loved one.
• Do things slowly for the affected person.
• Distract if there’s confusion.
• Acknowledge the disability.
• Treat the person with dignity.
• Praise the person for what they can do.
• Avoid confrontation.
• Be sure the person has something to do.
• Keep your sense of humor intact.
• Acknowledge the person’s feelings.
• Don’t threaten abandonment.
• Reassure if the person shows fear.
• Use lots of physical contact – touching and hugs – to show things are okay.
• Know that fantasy may be a coping device.
• Use the person’s name when speaking to them.
• Avoid memory questions to limit frustration.
• Approach the person from the front to avoid surprise or fear.
• Use repetition.
• Use statements instead of questions.
• Make positive statements, unless it’s a safety issue.
• Use specifics like “chair and table,” instead of “it” or “there.”
• Break tasks into smaller parts.
• Allow time for a damaged brain to understand and process information.

You may also want to learn more about soothing a loved one with dementia. Understanding calming techniques helps you respond effectively, reduce stress, and create a safer, more comfortable environment for your loved one.

Choosing a Special Care Community with Memory Support Services

When you choose a new environment for your family member, whether it’s at a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), freestanding assisted living community, skilled care or specific memory support and Alzheimer’s community, there are a number of questions to ask:

• Is it specifically designed for memory support and Alzheimer’s patients?
• Does it provide for safe wandering indoors and out?
• Is the overall lighting even?
• Are there personal private areas?
• Are there colors or other cues to define areas?
• Are the bathrooms identifiable and safe?
• Do the furniture arrangements encourage interaction?
• Are there private places for the family to interact with the patient?
• Are there opportunities for nurturing?
• Is it comfortable and clean?
• Is the location convenient for you and your family?
• Who does the initial assessment of your family member for memory support services?
• How often are subsequent assessments done?
• Are behaviors accommodated without the use of restraints?
• Is there a full daily schedule for residents?
• Are current residents engaged?
• What’s the philosophy of care?
• What training does the staff receive?

Unless the community has specialized memory loss and/or Alzheimer’s dementia care, transfer to another unit as the disease progresses will be required. Federal regulations require any long-term care home or community to provide 30 days’ written notice and an appropriate discharge plan. They cannot just tell you verbally you must relocate your loved one.

An individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related memory loss may no longer have the capabilities to initiate or manage important legal documents, such as a living will or healthcare proxy. You may want to talk to your legal advisor about becoming your loved one’s guardian for memory support services.

Memory Support Services at Lake Forest Place

Choosing the right support for a loved one is a deeply personal decision that requires careful consideration of their needs, safety, and quality of life. From recognizing the early signs of dementia to evaluating specialized care communities, being informed and proactive ensures your family member receives compassionate, personalized support.

At Lake Forest Place, our Memory Support services are designed to provide a safe, engaging, and nurturing environment for those living with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of memory loss.
Give your loved one the care and attention they deserve. Contact Lake Forest Place today to learn more about our offerings and schedule a tour of our community.

Further information is available online at:

www.alzheimers.org | The Alzheimer’s and related Dementias Education and Referral Center (ADEAR)
www.alzfdn.org | Alzheimer’s Foundation of America
www.seniorresource.com | Senior Resource: The E-cyclopedia of housing options and information for retirement, finance, insurance and care

Resources: “A Practical Guide for Caregivers of People with Dementia, a Dean’s Scholar Project (2004–2005)” by Sarah Price and Louisa Young, under the direction of Dr. Nancy Pachana (Australia); The Complete Eldercare Planner, Revised and Updated Edition: Where to Start, Which Questions to Ask, and How to Find Help by Joy Loverde; How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders by David Solie, M.S., P.A.