Assisted Living vs. Memory Care: 5 Key Differences

While assisted living communities may offer features such as in-room emergency alert systems and daily check-ins, memory care communities provide additional security features to ensure the safety of residents who have memory loss and may be experiencing wandering, aggression, and falls. Such features may include:

• Locked entrances and exits
• Keypad entries
• Obscured exits
• Doorbells that signal entering and exiting
• Design elements that minimize confusion

Of A Place for Mom’s partner memory care communities, about 91% feature a wandering management system and 88% are secure facilities. Additionally:

• 50% offer services to address anxiety, aggression, or agitation
• 89% offer services to manage restlessness, pacing, or wandering
• 82% provide services to address exit-seeking behaviors

According to A Place for Mom’s proprietary data, the national median monthly cost of assisted living is $5,190 and the national median monthly cost of memory care is $6,450.^[01] Factors that affect the cost of both assisted living and memory care include:

• Location
• Room size
• Whether a space is shared with a roommate
• Services provided

Let our care assessment guide you

Staff at assisted living and memory care communities have experience supporting residents with day-to-day tasks and activities of daily living (ADLs). Memory care staff, however, are specially trained in dementia care and are trained to manage difficult behaviors caused by dementia, such as wandering and aggression. Of A Place for Mom’s partner memory care communities, 78% provide specialized memory care training for staff.

“Memory care communities tend to have a much higher caregiver-to-resident ratio. This is important because it can take longer to provide ADL care, and people in memory care often need more direct oversight for safety and social engagement,” says Maureen Bradley with A Place for Mom.

Read related article: Read more: Person-Centered Care and Its Role In Assisted Living: A Guide

Amenities vary greatly from one community to the next, but most assisted living communities offer the following:

• Gyms
• Beauty salons and barber shops
• Outdoor spaces like gardens or courtyards
• Pet-friendly accommodations
• Transportation services
• Library, TV, and game rooms
• Arts and crafts studios
• Spas or relaxation rooms

Memory care communities often feature many of these same amenities, but you’ll also find unique layouts and design features to help orient residents and reduce confusion. For instance, design elements in memory care communities may include the following:

• Clearly defined common areas
• Color-coded walls to make it easier for residents with memory loss to find their way
• Outdoor gardens to prevent residents from feeling trapped or confined
• Increased opportunities for personalization, like memory boxes outside of residents’ doors to guide and help them feel at home

Approximately 75% of A Place for Mom’s partner memory care communities are specifically designed to accommodate residents who have memory loss, and 78% offer an enclosed courtyard.

Read related article:Memory Care Architecture and Design: A Human-Centered Approach

Assisted living communities offer activities such as:

• Exercise classes
• Book clubs
• Games
• Parties
• Karaoke
• Outings

Some of the specialized therapies available at memory care communities may include the following:

• Music therapy, which promotes relaxation and reduces agitation in seniors with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia
• Art therapy, which may help slow cognitive decline
• Reminiscence therapy, which uses senses like smell, taste, touch, and sight to help seniors remember people, events, and places
• Pet therapy for companionship

In memory care communities, Bradley says, “There’s focus on structure, sensory stimulation, getting direct sunlight whenever possible, and cultivating engagement. All these things minimize or even eliminate sundowning, help with sleep patterns, and allow residents to enjoy their days.”

Many of A Place for Mom’s partner memory care communities offer:

• Light therapy (32% of communities)
• Reminiscence programs (60% of communities)
• Art classes (79% of communities)
• Fitness classes (80% of communities)

Read related article:Find Assisted Living for Adults with Mental Illness: A How-To Guide

* – National median monthly cost^[01]

Bradley encourages families considering assisted living and memory care to be mindful of their loved ones’ prognosis.

“The average age in assisted living these days is around 85, and that age group makes up nearly three-quarters of the people who have dementia. What this means is that it’s very common for people in assisted living communities to be in the early stages of dementia,” Bradley says.

“It helps to understand the kind of dementia your loved one has and how quickly it is expected to progress,” Bradley says.

Choosing assisted living

Assisted living may be a good fit for your loved one if memory loss isn’t an immediate concern or if they’re in the early stages of dementia.

It may also be a good fit for seniors whose dementia is more advanced, provided they don’t wander.

“Assisted living communities can be very helpful with things that matter during the early- and mid-stages of dementia, such as managing medications and helping with reminders for showering, meal times, and the like,” Bradley says.

If you’re unsure about how advanced your loved one’s dementia is, you may want to speak with their doctor to determine if you’re noticing signs that it might be time for memory care.

Choosing memory care

As dementia progresses and symptoms worsen, many families choose memory care.

“Oftentimes, safety is the driving factor for deciding it’s time to make the switch to memory care,” Bradley says. “If someone is prone to going for walks and getting lost, for example, assisted living is no longer an option. They may also start doing things like trying to drink their shampoo or get restless later in the day.”

The additional safety and security features of a memory care community, as well as the specialized activities and therapies, can provide families with essential peace of mind.

About 80% of A Place for Mom’s partner assisted living communities offer memory care. Seniors who have early-stage dementia can begin in assisted living and transition to memory care without having to move away completely.

“As dementia progresses, moving someone can be very hard on them and even trigger a big decline in condition,” Bradley says.

It’s less traumatic for the person living with dementia to simply change rooms or locations in the same community, she says. “They know the staff, recognize the surroundings, and oftentimes there’s intermingling for activities and events. They can still see their friends.”