What Is the Difference Between Memory Care and Dementia Care?
Occasional forgetfulness is normal, particularly as we age, but frequent episodes of memory loss can sometimes point to a more serious condition. If you know someone experiencing difficulties with memory, we encourage you to become informed about cognitive conditions like dementia. Understanding how it differs from normal memory loss can prepare you to seek support when your loved one needs it most.
What Is Dementia?
Dementia is a group of conditions that includes Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease dementia, and Lewy body dementia. All dementia conditions impact memory, thought, and reasoning, and some forms may cause behavioral or personality changes. Specific signs and symptoms of dementia may include:
- Memory loss
- Confusion
- Impaired judgment
- Repetition of ideas or questions
- Wandering or getting lost in familiar places
- Balance or mobility challenges
- Difficulty expressing or understanding thoughts
- Difficulty finding the right words
- Difficulty completing daily activities or remembering important tasks
- Difficulty controlling emotions
These symptoms arise because the nerve cells in the brain have stopped working properly, lost their natural connections with one another, and begun to die. The loss of nerve connections is normal as we age, but people with dementia experience it at a faster rate and to a greater extent.
What Are the 7 Stages of Dementia?
Dementia is a progressive disease, meaning that it becomes more intense over time. It consists of seven distinctive stages, which we describe below:
No Cognitive Decline
In the first stage of dementia, your loved one may not show any clear signs of memory loss or cognitive decline. It's one of the pre-dementia stages, when the disease process is just beginning.
Forgetfulness
In the second stage, you may notice your loved one becoming more forgetful, misremembering names or where they've placed items. The signs associated with this stage are identical to normal age-related memory lapses.
Mild Cognitive Decline
The third stage is the last of the pre-dementia stages, when the signs of cognitive decline become clearer. Your loved one may begin to have difficulty concentrating or retaining information, remembering the placements of important items, or recalling the names of friends and family members. It's also common for them to get lost easily, even in familiar places. Because of the impact of the disease on daily living, a clinical evaluation is highly recommended at this point.
Mild Dementia
Increasing forgetfulness of important information and decreasing levels of independence are the major signs that arise in the fourth stage. You may notice your loved one having difficulty recognizing familiar faces, retaining knowledge of recent events, or remembering things about their life. Multipart or coordinated tasks, like making travel plans or handling finances, may start to become challenging, too.
Moderate Dementia
People in the fifth stage of dementia often become unable to remember deeply held knowledge, like their address, phone number, or the names of their close friends and family members. There may also be other signs that interfere with their ability to live independently, such as disorientation to time and place and difficulty making decisions.
Moderately Severe Dementia
Those in the sixth stage of dementia may begin to forget the names of the people closest to them, like their partner and children. They may also show behavioral changes, like anxiety and agitation, and experience hallucinations or delusions, such as believing they must get to work even though they’re retired.
Severe Dementia
In the seventh stage, the brain appears to end its communication with the body, which may result in the loss of motor skills and speech. People living with severe dementia need caregiver assistance to eat, drink, dress, walk, and use the bathroom.
While there's no cure for dementia, healthy lifestyle choices and medications can help. If diagnosed early, your loved one may benefit from regular exercise, a healthy diet, mentally stimulating activities, and prescriptions like cholinesterase inhibitors, all of which might slow the progression of the disease. We encourage you to speak with a health care provider to learn more about treatment options and other helpful habits to add to your loved one's routine.
How Is Normal Memory Loss Different From Dementia?
The difference between normal memory loss and dementia comes down to the impact had on a person's life. People with normal memory loss may sometimes feel inconvenienced by temporary confusion or taking longer to remember things, but they can otherwise live normally.
Dementia, however, isn't a normal part of aging, and its impact is more serious and broader-reaching. People living with dementia may lose even their most important and cherished memories, like the names and faces of the people they love, as well as their control over emotions. Over time, it affects their ability to perform daily activities, too, so it's no longer possible to live without daily support from a caregiver.
What's the Difference Between Memory Care and Dementia Care?
Generally, memory care and dementia care have different objectives and levels of care. Memory care is an early intervention for when someone begins to show signs of memory loss or cognitive decline, often with dementia as the cause of the symptoms. The goal is to help manage the condition and promote the care recipient's independence by improving brain function or slowing the impairment. A care provider might accomplish these goals by establishing routines and encouraging the recipient to take part in engaging activities — brain games and creative tasks, for example.
In comparison, dementia care centers on serving those who are living in the later stages of dementia, and it usually features more direct caregiver involvement. It provides monitoring and activity assistance for those who've become disoriented and unable to perform daily tasks. The main goals are to maximize comfort and create a safe environment.
How Do We Help Seniors Living With Dementia?
At Visiting Angels Spokane, our dementia care service helps seniors at any stage by providing for both their physical and emotional needs. In addition to uplifting companionship and emotional support, our highly compassionate caregivers are trained to deliver a wide range of assistance activities, including:
- Transportation to medical and therapy appointments
- Healthy meal planning and preparation
- Safety monitoring and wandering prevention
- Medication Reminders
- Help with ADL's
- going through photo albums to remember old memories
- Memory games
The specific activities we provide depend on the needs and wishes of your loved one, which we gather during a complimentary in-home consultation. Every care plan we create is personalized to the individual and customizable at any time, as we always strive to meet evolving requirements.