When Delta residents living with dementia require full-time support due to complex needs, moving to a long-term care home may be the next step for caregivers or family.
Researching long-term care can be an overwhelming. The Alzheimer Society of B.C. is providing support for local residents by offering free weekly webinars, including “Considering the transition to long-term care.”
It’s for caregivers considering arranging a move and finding out how to access long-term care and what other factors need to be taken into account. The hour-long webinar is on Wednesday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m.
Tips on finding the right long-term care home include:
* Consider what your priorities and expectations are in a long-term care home.
* Contact your local community health centres for information about the long-term care application process in your area. Some communities have a number of homes to choose from. Make a list of long-term care home options and narrow the list down to ones you would like to visit.
* Visit each home on your list to see firsthand what each one has to offer. Bring your list of priorities, expectations, and any questions you may have so you don’t leave out anything important. Some long-term care homes allow the person living with dementia to visit the home and become familiar with it through day programs or respite services.
* Try to be flexible and consider whether you could work with the staff to meet the needs of the person living with dementia. Even after an extensive search, you may not find everything you want in a single home.
A follow-up webinar, “Adjusting to long-term care,” continues discussing the experience of transitioning into long-term care and explores different ways to ease the transition.
The session includes how-to’s on preparing for a move, adjusting to the move for both caregivers and people living with dementia, and working with the care team. The session is on Wednesday, September 1 at 2 p.m. PT.
To register for any of these webinars, please visit alzbc.org/webinars.
