Chicago Senior Living Advisors Blog
My client had travelled to Florida to bring her parents back to Chicago to live. On the way home, my client’s elderly father suffered a heart-attack in the car and died in a hospital in Tennessee. To make matters worse, this happened over the Thanksgiving holiday.
My client’s mother has mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease. My client had no idea how much her father had been doing for her mother until she moved her in with her family. After a while, the tension started to mount. My client’s mother would often ask to be sent back to Florida or ask to move to a retirement community. At her mom’s request, they looked at one community and liked it. But they wanted a second opinion and hired me.
Upon visiting with my client and her mom, I realized that the community they visited would be inappropriate for her in the long-run. It didn’t offer any activities that were geared toward mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The choice was either to attend the activities for the regular assisted living residents or participate in the activities offered in the locked unit where she eventually might have to move. There was nothing offered for those residents who fell in between those two categories. I was able to place her in an assisted living community that offered a structured program geared toward mid-stage Alzheimer’s. The program is much like adult day care with mind-stimulating activities. These are conducted under the guidance of a team leader. But, unless you have thoroughly investigated the available programs, the average consumer would never be aware of their existence. If my client’s mother needed to move to the facility’s more secure, higher level of care section, there would be no change in price. I was also able to negotiate a two-year rate guarantee.
Contact Andrea Donovan if you need help evaluating services for your loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Andrea Donovan Senior Living Advisors
361 Nuttall Road Riverside, IL 60546 708-442-7174 708-415-2934 (cell)
andrea_donovansla@yahoo.com