Silver House: Legal

Why “Dementia Care” and “Memory Care” No Longer Work

The terms Dementia Care and Memory Care have been commonly used in the past to describe services aimed at individuals with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. However, the word “care” often implies medical intervention or active treatment of a medical condition.

This can create confusion or misalignment of expectations for families when, in reality, these services are more about support and safety rather than medical procedures or intensive healthcare services. For instance, many families expect that “Memory Care” will include direct medical treatments for memory issues or round-the-clock medical attention, but that’s rarely the case.

Instead, these services focus more on providing a safe environment, supervision, and help with daily activities, such as bathing, eating, and dressing. The focus is on maintaining the resident’s quality of life and managing their day-to-day living, not delivering direct medical treatments.

Why “Support” is a More Accurate Descriptor

Using the term support better reflects the actual services provided, which primarily center on helping with daily life and providing emotional and environmental stability. The goal is to maintain the resident’s dignity and independence as much as possible, while offering the assistance needed to navigate cognitive decline.

Support, by its nature, emphasizes:

• Non-invasive assistance: Helping with basic tasks and emotional needs without suggesting an aggressive or medical intervention.
• Safety monitoring: Preventing wandering, managing confusion, and ensuring the person is in a secure environment.
• Quality of life: Aiding with emotional well-being, providing structured activities, and creating social opportunities that enhance life, but aren’t necessarily medical in nature. In contrast to care, which suggests curing or medically addressing an issue, support emphasizes safety and quality of life, which is far more aligned with what these services actually provide.

Moving Beyond “Memory Care”

We are transitioning away from the term Memory Care because it is no longer an accurate representation of the services provided. Memory loss is just one of many symptoms of dementia, and focusing solely on memory misses the larger picture. People with dementia also experience difficulties with:

• Language and communication
• Judgment and decision-making
• Physical coordination
• Behavioral and emotional regulation

Thus, services focused on supporting all aspects of dementia should not be limited by a term that only refers to memory. The shift to Dementia Support better captures the wide-ranging needs of individuals and sets realistic expectations for families.

Why We Adopted “Dementia and Cognitive Support”

The term Dementia and Cognitive Support reflects the full spectrum of services needed to assist individuals as they navigate the various stages of cognitive decline. It includes everything from providing safety and supervision to helping with daily tasks and managing behavioral symptoms.

By adopting this term, we are ensuring that families understand that we offer more than just help with memory issues; we provide comprehensive support for all dementia-related challenges.

The shift to Dementia and Cognitive  Support Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 gives families a clearer picture of the degree of assistance required, based on their loved one’s overall cognitive and physical functioning, not just their memory abilities.

These levels of support are structured to help families understand the type of supervision and assistance their loved one will need at each stage of dementia.

We have developed a Level of Care Calculator that helps families understand how we score patients when evaluating them for placement.