MemoryCare Corporation
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Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

MemoryCare is a provider of outpatient therapy services specializing in all stages of Alzheimer’s in addition to memory disorders related to stroke, Parkinson’s and other types of dementia. Our services take place in your home and are often reimbursed by Medicare. Our Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are professionally licensed in the state of Illinois and trained to help your loved one cope with any of these disorders.

While a physician must diagnose Alzheimer’s, we can complete a full evaluation and develop a customized plan of treatment. As certified clinicians, we also deliver personalized treatment sessions and will provide you with a comprehensive resource guide to plan for your loved one’s future. Our goal is to help your loved one remain as independent as possible through compassionate and creative interventions. We can supplement pharmaceutical treatment with direct behavioral intervention, environmental modification, and caregiver training, all of which can have a significant impact throughout the stages of the disease.

MemoryCare therapists are also trained to treat deficits related to other neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s, stroke, or traumatic brain injury. We are dedicated to working with you to preserve your loved one’s dignity at all times and to maximize independence, safety and function in all situations.

Click the following links to see the evaluation and treatment plans offered by our SLPs:

 
 
Alzheimer’s Disease

For those coping with Alzheimer’s Disease, only SLPs are professionally certified to perform the following evaluations:

  • Comprehensive Speech, Language, and Cognitive Evaluation
  • Evaluation of Swallowing Function

After the evaluation, we develop a customized plan of treatment based on the problems your loved one is facing. Click each problem heading below to see our SLP treatment strategies.

Memory Loss
 
Short-Term Memory Loss
  • We can train your loved one to use compensatory strategies to help with activities of daily living and to attend appointments and events (such as using writing, calendars, journals, timers and other devices).
  • We can train family members and caregivers on everyday strategies to help take the emphasis off of short-term memory (the key is to place the focus on your loved one’s strengths, such as long-term memory).
Difficulty Managing Medications
  • We can recommend strategies or devices to assist with medication management and train you and your loved one to use them.
Forgetting Names of Important People, places, and events
  • We can formulate memory books and other visual memory aides to facilitate the recall of important information.
  • We can use a strategy called “spaced retrieval training” to directly target the recall of specific functional facts at increasing intervals.
Forgetting Personal Information
  • We can formulate “external memory aides” such as laminated sheets and wallet cards containing personal information (e.g., address, phone number, emergency contact).
Difficulty Using the Telephone
  • We can recommend telephones allowing for pre-programmed numbers for important family members and train your loved one to use the new device. We can also recommend strategies to help your loved one use his/her existing phone with color coding/written cues.
Difficulty Doing Laundry
  • In the early stages, we can formulate external memory aides to help your loved one correctly sequence steps for doing laundry independently.
Losing/Misplacing Everyday Items
  • We can help your loved one develop strategies to help prevent the constant search for everyday items such as keys, wallets and reading glasses.
Difficulty Orienting to Time & Attending Appointments or Events
  • We can work with you and your loved one to formulate schedule boards/daily routines to help your loved one recall order of daily events and to increase participation in stimulating activities. We can also recommend devices to assist with orientation, such as large display clocks that include the day and date.
Repeating the Same Question or Phrase Over and Over
  • We can train family members and caregivers to use written cues and other visual reminders to help decrease the repetitive statements.
Confusing Fiction with Reality
  • We can train family members and caregiver in appropriate and compassionate ways to respond to statements such as, “I’m going to see my mother tonight” or “I need to get ready to go to work”.
Difficulty Navigating
  • We can help your loved one to navigate outside in the early stages or in the home environment in the middle and late stages with external memory aides and memory books. This problem also may occur if your loved one has just moved to a new environment (from home to an assisted living facility).
 
Communication Problems (Difficulty Speaking)
 
Difficulty Thinking of the Right Word During Conversation
  • We can train family members and caregivers on verbal/visual cueing strategies to help your loved one think of the correct word and prevent conversation breakdown.
Frequent Communication Breakdowns Because of Loss of Speech
  • We can form communication books with key pictures/captions to enable your loved one to more easily communicate his/her needs.
Difficulty Comprehending Conversations or Commands
  • We can train family members and caregivers on strategies to help your loved one better comprehend conversation and directions, such as simplifying your speech or using gestural/tactile cues to aid verbal communication.
 
Cognitive Decline
 
Decreased Problem Solving Ability/Decreased Safety Awareness
  • We can formulate visual/audio aides to promote recall of safety precautions (e.g., to help prevent falls/wandering).
  • We can train family members and caregivers on ways to modify the home environment to promote safety.
Difficulty Sequencing Everyday Tasks
  • We can develop strategies to help your loved one sequence everyday tasks as independently as possible (e.g., getting dressed, making simple meal).
 
Difficulty Swallowing
 
Risk of Aspiration (Food/Liquids Going Down the Windpipe)
  • We may recommend Fluoroscopic Video Swallow Study to further assess swallowing function, if necessary.
Difficulty Chewing or Swallowing Current Diet
  • We can recommend diet modifications to ensure your loved one is able to safely chew and swallow his/her food and liquids (e.g., finger foods, soft diet, pureed diet or thickened liquids).
  • We can recommend swallow compensatory strategies and train family members or caregivers to help implement strategies during mealtimes.
Difficulty Swallowing Pills
  • We can recommend strategies that will help your loved one to swallow pills more easily.
Inability to Swallow Food; Food is Remaining in Mouth
  • We can train family members and caregivers on strategies to help prevent “oral holding” of solids and liquids, a common problem in the later stages of Alzheimer’s.
Playing with Food/Becoming Distracted During Meals
  • We can train family members and caregivers on strategies to help your loved one remain focused on the meal to encourage increased nutritional intake.
 
Agitation/Behavior Problems
 
Repetitiveness/Perseverative Questions
  • We can train family members and caregivers to use written cues and other visual reminders to help decrease the repetitive statements.
Paranoia/Hallucinations
  • We can train family members and caregiver on strategies to respond to these behaviors to help reduce further agitation. We can also help families identify possible causes of these behaviors and identify solutions (e.g., modifying lighting to help eliminate shadows at night).
Defensiveness/Accusatory Behavior
  • We can train family members and caregiver on strategies to respond to these behaviors to help reduce further agitation. We can also help families identify possible causes of these behaviors and identify solutions.
Sexual or Other Inappropriate Behavior
  • We can counsel families on these behaviors and possible ways to respond to the behaviors when they occur.
Wandering
  • We can use a variety of strategies to manipulate the environment to help prevent your loved one from wandering out of the house alone.
Anxiety
  • We can help determine possible causes of your loved one’s anxiety (e.g., environmental distractions, perseveration on disturbing memories from the past) and help to form strategies to reduce anxiety. We can also refer you to appropriate medical professionals if necessary.
Excessive Napping During the Day
  • We can help determine possible causes for the napping (typically boredom in the early and middle stages) and can help family members and caregivers plan stimulating activities to prevent napping during the day and to promote better sleeping patterns at night.
Reluctance to Bathe
  • There are many reasons why your loved one may be reluctant to bathe. We can recommend strategies tailored to your loved one and his/her normal routine to encourage regular bathing.
Toileting Problems/Incontinence
  • Our OT’s specialize in this area – SLP’s will make referrals when appropriate. We can recommend many strategies to help reduce incontinence (e.g., regular toileting schedule, clothes that are more easily removed, lighting at night to illuminate bathroom).
Decreased Ability to Recognize Everyday Objects
  • We can train family members and caregivers on verbal, visual, and tactile cueing strategies to help your loved one recognize objects and use them for the correct function.
Decreased Ability to Recognize Familiar People
  • We can formulate memory books that include photographs plus captions to facilitate recognition of family members and friends. We can also incorporate the photographs into our “spaced retrieval training” to increase recall of key important names.
Difficulty Separating Fact From Fiction
  • We can train family members and caregiver in appropriate and compassionate ways to respond to statements such as, “I’m going to see my mother tonight” or “I need to get ready to go to work”.
 
 
Stroke

Our SLP’s also specialize in the treatment of deficits resulting from a stroke, including:

  • Dysphagia (swallowing difficulties)
  • Aphasia (loss of speech/difficulty getting words out)
  • Agraphia (difficulty writing)
  • Alexia (difficulty reading)
  • Slurred speech
  • Cognitive Deficits
    • Memory Loss
    • Orientation
    • Attention
    • Insight/Problem Solving
    • Math (difficult with money or time management)
    • Abstract Reasoning
    • Organization
    • Sequencing

Please contact our therapy coordinator if you would like to learn more about how we can help your loved one recover from a stroke.

 
 
Parkinson’s Disease

Our SLP’s are trained to address the deficits commonly resulting from Parkinson’s disease, including:

  • Speech/Voice deficits – soft, whispery voice that may make it difficult for your loved one to be understood during conversation.
  • Cognitive deficits – 20% of those with Parkinson’s experience “Parkinson’s Disease Dementia” (PDD), which may cause confusion, disorientation, memory loss, distractibility, and slowed thinking.
  • Dysphagia (swallowing deficits) – Parkinson’s can cause difficulty with chewing and swallowing solids and liquids.

Please contact our therapy coordinator if you would like to learn more about how we can help your loved one cope with the deficits resulting from Parkinson’s Disease.

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