Memory care
Assisted living built for dementia. A secured setting, with staff trained in memory loss, confusion and the behavior that comes with them.
This is probably the right level when
Your parent has dementia and is no longer safe in an ordinary setting — they wander, get lost, or cannot be left alone.
What it costs
Roughly $5,500 to $9,000 a month in Colorado. It costs more than standard assisted living because it needs more staff.
What makes it different
The building is secured, so a resident cannot walk out unnoticed. That single feature is often the reason a family moves a parent here.
Staff are trained specifically in dementia. Routines are simple and repeated. Activities are built around what someone can still do, not what they have lost. The layout is designed to reduce confusion.
When it is time
The usual signs are safety ones. Leaving the stove on. Going out and not finding the way home. Up all night. Becoming frightened and angry in a way the family cannot settle.
It is also about the caregiver. When the person looking after them cannot sleep, or cannot leave the house, that is a reason on its own.
A note on how we list these
Colorado licenses these communities as Assisted Living Residences. It does not publish a list of which ones run a secured memory-care unit. So we record that ourselves, as our advisors visit each community. We do not guess it from a community’s name.
That means our memory-care filter is still filling up. Ask an advisor — they will know which communities near you can take someone with dementia today.
Questions worth asking on a tour
- What dementia training do your care staff have, and how often is it refreshed?
- What is the staff-to-resident ratio overnight?
- How do you handle someone who becomes distressed or aggressive?
- Can residents go outside safely on their own?
- What would make you say my parent needs to move somewhere else?
How families pay for it
- Usually private pay, because most memory care is priced above the Medicaid rate.
- Some Medicaid-certified residences do provide secured care — an advisor can tell you which.
- Long-term care insurance commonly covers memory care when a doctor confirms the diagnosis and the need.