A steady routine
The same Caregiver whenever possible, visits planned around your loved one's best hours, and a rhythm that repeats. Familiarity is the point: routine is one of the kindest things you can give a person living with dementia.
Dementia & Memory Care
Dementia Care at Home, with Patience and a Familiar Face
A dementia diagnosis changes the shape of every day, for your loved one and for you. Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home care services bring calm, steady, non-medical support into the home your loved one knows, from Caregivers who are seniors themselves.
Quick answer
Seniors Helping Seniors® Scottsdale provides non-medical dementia care at home across Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, and Northeast Phoenix: steady routines, companionship, personal care, and safety support from Caregivers who are seniors themselves. As a Medicare GUIDE respite provider, we also help eligible families with Traditional Medicare receive up to $2,500 a year in GUIDE respite care at home.
Key facts
- Care type
- Non-medical dementia and memory care at home
- Where care happens
- Private homes, assisted living, independent living
- Our Caregivers
- Seniors themselves, matched by personality, pace, and routine
- Medicare GUIDE
- We are a Medicare GUIDE respite provider; up to $2,500 a year of GUIDE respite for eligible families with Traditional Medicare whose loved one lives in a private home
- Reach us
- Mon-Fri, 8 AM to 6 PM · 24/7 for emergencies · (480) 674-5400 · info@shsscottsdale.com
Day to Day
What does dementia care at home look like?
Dementia care is not one thing. It changes with the stage of the condition, the person's history, the household, and how much the family is carrying. The constant in every visit is a Caregiver who arrives unhurried, keeps the day familiar, and treats your loved one as the adult they are.
Meaningful activity
Music from their era, photo books, card games, short walks in familiar places, conversation that meets them wherever today finds them. Gentle redirection when a moment gets tangled, never correction.
Meals, hydration, reminders
Meal preparation suited to their diet and preferences, hydration through the Arizona heat, and medication reminders on schedule. Small things, kept from becoming big things.
Personal care with dignity
Patient, private help with bathing, dressing, grooming, and getting safely around the house, delivered slowly and respectfully by someone of the same generation.
A safer home
An extra set of eyes on fall risks, clutter, and wandering worries, plus light housekeeping, errands, and rides so the household keeps working while you catch your breath.
Notes for the family
After visits, you hear what happened, what your loved one enjoyed, and what changed. Especially valuable for long-distance family who cannot be there every day.
Dementia care is one of our fifteen services. For the short version alongside everything else we do, see memory and dementia care on the care services page.
The Peer Difference
Why does it help that our Caregivers are seniors too?
Dementia narrows the world to what is familiar. A Caregiver from the same generation walks in already familiar: they know the songs, the sayings, the pace of a slower conversation, and they are in no hurry to finish it. That shared history is often the difference between a stranger in the kitchen and a friend at the table.
- Familiarity. Shared music, memories, and manners give your loved one solid ground to stand on.
- Patience. Nothing is rushed. Hard moments are met with calm, redirection, and time.
- Routine. Consistent faces and consistent visits, because predictability is comfort.
We match every Caregiver to your loved one by personality, background, and interests, and we brief them on the routines, preferences, and history that make each visit feel familiar from the first hello. If your loved one served in the military, our Veterans page explains the VA benefits that may also help.
Medicare GUIDE Respite
Can Medicare help pay for dementia respite care?
For eligible families, yes. GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) is a Medicare model from CMS, and Seniors Helping Seniors® Scottsdale is a Medicare GUIDE respite provider. Eligible families with Traditional Medicare and a dementia diagnosis can receive up to $2,500 a year in GUIDE respite care at home. Most families have never heard of it.
CMS describes the respite benefit as
up to $2,500 annually per eligible patient for services that temporarily relieve qualifying caregivers of their caregiving responsibilities
Likely eligible
- Traditional Medicare, Parts A and B, with Medicare paying first
- A dementia diagnosis: Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body, frontotemporal, vascular, or another form
- Living in a private home, which is where GUIDE respite happens
Not eligible under current rules
- Medicare Advantage or Special Needs plans
- Living in a nursing home or a memory care unit
- Enrolled in hospice or PACE
Living in assisted living or a similar community? Your loved one may still qualify for GUIDE care management and support for you as the family caregiver, but Medicare pays for GUIDE respite only when the person lives in a private home. We can still send a Caregiver to their community; that part is arranged privately with the family.
Not sure where your family lands? We can usually clarify eligibility in one short phone call, and if GUIDE fits, we check eligibility with you and handle the paperwork.
Call to ask if your family qualifiesAvailable with Traditional Medicare. Program rules are set by CMS and can change.
An Honest Fit
When does home support fit, and when do families need more?
We would rather tell you the truth than win a client. Non-medical support at home carries many families through years of the dementia journey, and sometimes it is not enough.
Home support fits well when
- Your loved one is in the earlier or middle stretch of the journey and steadies around routine
- The familiar home, or their assisted or independent living apartment, still anchors their day
- A spouse or family member carries most of the care and needs real, regular relief
- The family wants companionship, daily help, and an extra set of eyes between doctor visits
Families often need more when
- Safety cannot be maintained even with scheduled visits and a well-prepared home
- Wandering or overnight needs go beyond what planned care hours can cover
- Care needs have become clinical rather than day-to-day support
When that day comes, we say so, and we help you think through what is next. We work alongside the hospitals, memory care communities, and geriatric care managers serving this region, and we are glad to be part of a broader care team.
For the Family Caregiver
Who is caring for you?
If you are the spouse or the adult child carrying a parent's dementia day after day, you are not imagining the weight. Per the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP's Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 (opens in new tab) study, 53 million Americans provide unpaid family care, more than 1 in 5 adults.
CMS, explaining why the GUIDE model exists, notes that dementia caregivers
commonly report high levels of stress and depression, which negatively affect their health
Respite is not a luxury. Even a few hours a week returns sleep, errands, work, and a little of your own life, and your loved one spends that time with a companion they already know. Start with respite care, on a schedule or for one-time relief, and if your family qualifies for GUIDE, Medicare may carry the cost.
FAQ
Questions families ask about dementia care
Does Medicare help pay for dementia care at home?
It can help, through respite. Under the Medicare GUIDE model, eligible families with Traditional Medicare can receive up to $2,500 a year in GUIDE respite care. Seniors Helping Seniors® Scottsdale is a Medicare GUIDE respite provider, so that respite can happen at home with one of our Caregivers, and we handle the paperwork. Medicare Advantage plans are not currently eligible.
Who is eligible for the Medicare GUIDE program?
GUIDE is for people who have a dementia diagnosis, are enrolled in Traditional Medicare Parts A and B with Medicare paying first, and are not in a Medicare Advantage or Special Needs plan. They also need to live in a private home, or in a residential community that has partnered with the GUIDE program. People living in a nursing home or a memory care unit, and people enrolled in hospice or PACE, are not eligible under current program rules. We can usually clarify eligibility in one short phone call.
Can my mom get dementia care from you if she lives in assisted living?
Yes. Our Caregivers provide dementia care in private homes, assisted living communities, and independent living communities across Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, and Northeast Phoenix, arranged privately with the family. Medicare GUIDE is a separate question. Someone living in assisted living or a similar community may still qualify for GUIDE care management and caregiver support, but Medicare pays for GUIDE respite only when the person lives in a private home, and people living in a memory care unit are not eligible for GUIDE at all. If you are not sure how your mom's community is classified, call us and we will work it out with you.
Is this medical memory care?
No. Seniors Helping Seniors® Scottsdale provides non-medical, companion-style dementia support in the place your loved one already lives. We do not provide nursing or clinical treatment. We work alongside your loved one's doctors and care team, and if a higher level of care would serve your family better, we will say so honestly.
How do we get started with dementia care at home?
Call (480) 674-5400 for a free, no-pressure conversation, or request a free care visit. We listen to where things stand today, meet your loved one at home, check Medicare GUIDE respite eligibility if it applies, then match a Caregiver by personality, pace, and routine. The first visit usually happens within a few days.
Medicare GUIDE eligibility, benefit amounts, and program rules are set by CMS and vary by individual circumstances. Our support is non-medical and does not replace your loved one's doctors or care team. We're glad to help you check your family's eligibility, and we always recommend confirming details with Medicare or your loved one's clinicians.
Andy Lask, OwnerMeet Andy →
Talk it through with Andy and his staff
You don't have to walk the dementia road alone.
Call and tell us where your loved one is right now. We will listen, answer honestly, and if it helps, check Medicare GUIDE respite eligibility while we are on the phone.
And if home support is not the right fit, we will say so, and help you find what is.
There is no form to fill out. Andy and his staff answer Mon-Fri, 8 AM to 6 PM, and 24/7 for emergencies. Emails get a reply in under 4 hours.