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How should I handle my mother with dementia's move to a personal care home?

Butterfly28 asked...

Hello. I am in the planning staging of moving my Mom from her home in Louisiana to a personal care home close to me in Texas. My Mom has about stage 5 dimentia, her speech is limited - phrases not sentences anymore. She has had 2 24 hr. caregivers for about 2 years. She is used to be in her home - the familarity of her surroundings, but I'm not sure if she relates it to being her home. I go home once a month and she realizes me, but some times it takes her a couple of hours before she can call my name. So, my question is how much do I tell her when I go home to bring her back here. I will be home several days before we journey back to Texas to her new home. What do I tell her when we are headed to Texas, and what do I say when we arrive at her new home? How can I help her be more comfortable in the transition. I picked a personal care home, because it looks like a home on the inside. I will bring pictures and things from home, but I'm not sure what to say? Please advise.

Expert Answer

Donna Quinn Robbins is the author of Moving Mom and Dad and On the Road of Life, Drive Yourself. She helps individuals, families, retirement communities, and corporations make successful transitions. Robbins is an active public speaker on the topic of senior transition services and has appeared on NBC's Today Show.

I would not go into detail. I would tell your mother that you are moving her so she can be closer to you and that she is moving into a nice home. Take her bedspread, pictures, personal items. Make her new room as close to her old as possible. She sounds as though she would not understand anything more detailed and it would also confuse her.