Continuing Care Retirement Communities

Progressive conditions such as dementia result in ever-increasing care needs. Increasing care needs often necessitate a change in living environments. In a fairly short period of time, a person with Alzheimer’s may move for their home to assisted living to memory care and finally to a nursing home. These moves are often marked by difficult transitions as the resident adapts to their new environment. This is where Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) come into play. Housed in a single location, a resident can receive whatever level of care their require. As the disease progresses, individuals are not required to move. For almost anyone with Alzheimer’s, this is preferred but the drawback is the expense of CCRCs. CCRCs often require a large upfront “move-in” fee and for many middle-class Americans, this is out of reach unless they sell their homes to offset the move-in cost.