Move-in day can be a stressful experience if your loved one has Alzheimer’s or dementia. There are a lot of unknowns in terms of how your loved one will respond to their new home. Over the years, I’ve learned some tips and tricks as to how to make this transition go smoothly: 

Visit

Prior to moving your loved one, say your mother, into her new home, you should spend time there and even bring her to visit. This gives the staff some time to meet with her and it allows her to start recognizing the place. She might not remember that she came there on the day she moves in, but she’s going to know that it’s a good feeling. And if it’s not a good feeling for her, then it’s not the right place.

Prepare Their Room

Prior to move-in day, make sure you’ve done all the heavy lifting to make the room feel like hers. Have a pleasant comforter on the bed, a great chair she enjoys, and pictures of the family hanging on the walls. Make her environment feel homelike and something she will enjoy. You could highlight a great accomplishment and have it hanging on the wall and make sure staff know about that accomplishment so that they engage with her about it. Sometimes families will move their loved one’s possessions in on the same day they move the resident in and it can end up being hectic and disorienting. You will want a nice, peaceful, settled space for your loved one.

Time of Day

In 30 years of working in the industry, I’ve found that the most successful time for someone to move in is before lunch. Why? Because they come in, they can meet a few people, they can have lunch with a few people, and family can skitter out. Remember, we’ve already given them all the information they need, the room is set up, she’s having lunch, and the next step is that the director will give you a call and let you know that she had a great day! 

While their transition to memory care may still require some adjustment time, hopefully following these tips will help them get off on the right foot.