When a person starts to experience signs of dementia, both themselves and their families have to quickly adapt to a new set of complex problems and challenges both mentally and physically. Not only will this mean having to potentially commit to a high level of care, but also consistently helping your loved one achieve a better quality of life.
To ease the stress placed on the family, one of the ways to support people coping with dementia and memory loss is to consider a suitable memory care program. There is a lot of considerations to choosing the best memory care for your loved one and your family, including aspects like level of care, service, and curriculum offerings. For those who are exploring this option, read more to find out what is memory care and where the top memory care programs in South Carolina are.
What Is Memory Care?
To begin with, it is important to explore how memory care differs from other retirement living communities like assisted living and independent living in order to have an idea of its true value. Memory care is a highly specialized form of long-term support where the team has dedicated training in how to manage the different symptoms and experiences that older adults with memory loss, dementia, or Alzheimer’s disease will face. This will come across in different aspects in the memory care community.
One of the first most obvious specializations is that a memory care community has a highly secure environment. Due to the likelihood of wandering and getting lost, many memory care communities will feature higher levels of supervision and have exterior doors secured with keypad entries. More importantly, there will also be additional features like doorbells or more team members to ensure that they can monitor the movements of those within the building. On top of that, the courtyard may be more enclosed and also feature clear signage that helps reduce the possibility of getting lost.
Top Memory Care Programs in South Carolina
After assessing the different memory care programs that are offered in the state, we would highly recommend that the following providers:
- TerraBella Summerville
- TerraBella Spartanburg
- TerraBella Marchbanks
- TerraBella Summit
This is due to the holistic approach where multiple elements of wellbeing are addressed by leveraging on different scientific principles that play a part in the lives of people living with dementia.
TerraBella Summerville, in particular, has been able to ensure a higher quality of life across different aspects of a person’s everyday routine through the range of engaging activities and amenities available. For example, dining experiences have been thoughtfully designed to provide an engaging experience. Each meal is extremely nutrient-rich and is easy to eat, accommodating for the individual’s mobility and motor control abilities. On top of that, the eating environment is purposefully kept calm and quiet to leverage sensory cues that help improve appetite and focus. Another aspect that TerraBella Summerville excels at is the level of communication that they uphold, both to the individual as well as with the family. Special moments are captured to ensure that everyone is involved and able to be included in meaningful milestones in life.