Deciding on Care for Alzheimer’s Patients

By Patricia B. Smith, Mary M. Kenan, PsyD, and Mark Edwin Kunik, MD, MPH

Part of the Alzheimer’s For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Choosing care for an Alzheimer’s patient involves many factors: the needs of the patient, money restrictions, desire to keep the patient in his or her own home, and availability of family and friends to help. Some options when looking into care for an Alzheimer’s patient are

Care Choice	Care Provider	Location	Cost
In-home care	You or another family member	Your home or your loved one’s home	No out of pocket cost other than medical bills, but you may have to give up your job to provide care
In-home care	Home health aide	Your home or your loved one’s home	U.S. Department of Labor reports average is $8.17 per hour. Agency referred $12 to $25 per hour
In-home care	Visiting nurse	Your home or your loved one’s home	$25 to $50 per hour
Adult day care	On site staff and volunteers	Day Care Center or Senior Center	$35 per day and up; may include transportation; services such as bathing cost extra
Day health care	On site staff and volunteers	Day Care Center or Senior Center	$50 per day and up
Respite Care	On site staff and volunteers	Day Care Center or Senior Center	$8 to $30 per hour
Assisted living	On site staff and volunteers, family members	Assisted Living Center	$18,000 a year and up, most affordable overall
Licensed residential care home	On-site non-medical staff,	Residential Care Center	$850 to $4,000 per month, depending upon location
Dedicated Alzheimer care center	On-site medical and non-medical staff, visiting medical staff	Alzheimer Care Center	$115 per day and up
Nursing home	On-site medical and non-medical staff, visiting medical staff	Nursing Home	$36,000 to $100,000 annually, depending upon location