If you have recently made the realization that your loved one needs to make a move into an assisted living facility, you might not realize some of the criteria around the requirements for them to be accepted. We wanted to provide some of the common guidelines we see assisted living facilities give to families trying to decide on the level of care a loved one needs.
Cognitive Impairment Evaluation
If you have never gone through the process of helping find the right care for a loved one, you might lump assisted living facilities into the same “bag” as nursing homes. However, assisted living facilities see most of their residents live an independent life needing help with only certain activities (ex. medication management).
If your loved one has been struggling with memory and has lost the ability to learn new things (ex. the layout of a new assisted living facility) then they might not meet the requirements.
A Level of Independence is Required
If you look at most of the assisted living facilities in the DFW area, they all provide assistance to residents but not in a 24/7 monitoring fashion. If your loved one has begun to wonder or have a disease that needs constant monitoring (ex. severe diabetes) the facility may tell you that they can’t meet your care needs.
Safety for Other Residents is Called into Consideration
As our loved one’s age, many will experience memory-related challenges like Sundown Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, and Dementia can be experienced as they get older. The tough part with many of these memory-related medical conditions is that the person suffering from it can often become hostile.
It isn’t their fault and is difficult to see a loved one change because of the memory condition but it’s something that assisted living facilities will take into consideration during the evaluation of your loved one. If they have concerns about them endangering other residents or staff, you might be told to find a higher level of care for them.
Your Loved One Has No Independent Mobility
As we stated earlier, most of the residents in an assisted living facility are independent compared to a nursing home. This extend to their residents being able to maneuver independently without any assistance. Does your loved one require a wheel chair? That won’t automatically disqualify them from assisted living if they can operate it on their own.
This also goes for walkers or canes too. But if your loved one isn’t able to move around on their own, the assisted living facility might not be able to provide the level of care needed.
In Closing
It is important to make an honest evaluation of where your loved one is at in their level of care so you don’t have to go through the painful process of being denied care at an assisted living facility. Senior Living Specialists is able to help you with making that evaluation and finding the right level of care in the Dallas-Fort Worth – free of charge.