Sparing the Guilt about Moving Your Loved One into Assisted Living or Memory Care

Many of you know, Mom inspired me to bring Fit Minds to the US. Mom had Lewy Body Disease, the same disease that Robin Williams had. Not only do people with Lewy Body have dementia, but they hallucinate and have paranoia. It is a truly horrific disease.  

That said, Mom lived the last two and a half years of her life with an outstanding quality of life. After a series of incidents that I have shared before, our family realized Mom would benefit from being in a senior living community. Looking back, we made the decision too late. 

We felt so guilty about making the decision to move Mom into a community but we shouldn’t have. Mom thrived in assisted living.  

Allegro Hyde Park was life-changing for her. She made friends. She played cards at night and exercised five days a week. She loved going to the dancing events and listening to musicians in the lounge. She stopped hallucinating and her paranoia ebbed to the point of being non-existent.  

In my case, and so many others I have seen, moving your loved one into a community improves their quality of life. So many of our clients have thrived. They feel less isolated. They make friends. There are engaging in activities and with kind, supporting professionals.  

We should never have felt guilty. We should have toured communities with Mom years ago. And, we should have asked, “Do you have cognitive stimulation programming?” Luckily, Allegro did but I hadn’t known to ask!

-Janet