Dementia Care in East Lyme, CT
Specialized in-home support for seniors with dementia, Alzheimer's, and memory loss.
No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
You asked your father what he wanted for breakfast and he stared at the kitchen cabinet like he’d never seen it before. This is the moment a lot of East Lyme families describe: not a fall, not a crisis, just a quiet Tuesday morning that suddenly felt different. It’s the moment when you realize the house on Niantic Bay Road or the neighborhood off Plains Road that he’s lived in for thirty years isn’t enough on its own anymore. We can help you figure out what comes next.
Dementia care at home means having someone there who understands how memory loss changes a person’s day, not just someone who shows up and helps with tasks. A caregiver trained in dementia support knows how to redirect without startling, how to hold a routine tightly when routine is the only thing that still feels safe, and how to read a quiet afternoon for what it actually is. That difference matters more than most families expect until they’ve seen it in action.
Day to day, this looks like consistent morning routines, meal preparation that accounts for changing appetite and confusion, gentle reminders about medications, and staying close during the moments when disorientation peaks. It includes accompanying someone to appointments, helping with personal hygiene in a way that preserves dignity, and keeping the home environment oriented and calm. Families across all areas of East Lyme, from Flanders to Niantic, often tell us that the predictability a good caregiver brings is what finally lets them exhale.
If your parent has recently been discharged from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London after a fall, a health event, or an evaluation, the transition home is one of the most disorienting stretches for someone with dementia. We coordinate closely with what families learn at discharge and build care around that starting point, not a generic plan. We can often be in place before the first night home.
Private Duty Aides was founded by a working nurse, and that background shapes how we approach dementia care specifically. It means our caregivers are briefed on clinical context, families feel confident asking medical questions, and we know when something a family describes on a check-in call is worth paying closer attention to.
Nurse-founded from the start
Our founder is a working nurse who spent years watching families navigate memory loss without enough support. She built this agency around what she knew those families actually needed: someone who understands safety at home, who can hold a routine, and who doesn’t disappear when things get harder.
Caregivers matched to dementia care specifically
We don’t assign whoever is free. For dementia care, we look at experience with memory loss, temperament under pressure, and the ability to build trust with someone who may not remember them from visit to visit. That specific match is what makes care sustainable.
We stay reachable when things change
Dementia care isn’t static, and families shouldn’t have to leave a voicemail when something shifts at home. You call us and we answer. If the care plan needs adjusting, we adjust it. You’re not left managing this alone between scheduled check-ins.
We know East Lyme and New London County
We understand how the discharge process at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital works, what resources exist in New London County, and what East Lyme families are typically navigating. That local knowledge means we spend less time getting up to speed and more time being useful.
How it works
No intake forms, no automated system. You tell us what you’re seeing at home and we listen. We ask questions, we don’t rush you, and we give you honest information about whether we’re a good fit.
For dementia care, matching isn’t just about availability. We look at your parent’s personality, what stage they’re in, what triggers them, and what calms them. The right caregiver makes an enormous difference, and we take that seriously.
East Lyme families dealing with an urgent situation after a hospital discharge or a sudden change at home don’t have time to wait through a long onboarding process. We move when you need us to move.
Dementia changes. What worked two months ago may not work today. We stay in contact with you, not just your caregiver, so you know what’s happening and we adjust care before problems grow.
Why families choose us
Every aide is trained and supervised through an RN’s lens — not just placed and forgotten.
Personality fit matters more than skill on paper. We match for temperament, pace, and patience.
No franchise rotation. You work with the people who run this agency — direct, accessible, accountable.
Most families are matched with a caregiver within 24 to 48 hours. When something shifts at home, we move quickly.
We build a daily structure around your parent’s rhythm — meals, walks, evenings — and protect it.
You hear from us, not just the aide. Updates on appetite, sleep, mood, mobility — the things that matter.
Every caregiver clears a multi-step screening — background check, reference checks, and an in-person interview with our RN founder — before they're ever placed in a home.
Why families trust us
Private Duty Aides is nurse-founded. Every caregiver clears a multi-step screening — a background check, reference checks, and an in-person interview with our RN founder — before they are ever placed in a home. You get the same consistent caregiver, matched by a nurse, not whoever happens to be available.
Common questions
A typical day centers on routine, because routine is one of the most stabilizing things for someone with memory loss. That means consistent wake times, familiar breakfast routines, medication reminders, help with grooming and dressing, and a calm presence through the harder parts of the afternoon when confusion often peaks. We also handle light household tasks that keep the environment ordered, accompany to appointments, and provide the kind of steady companionship that reduces anxiety. It's attentive, unhurried presence more than any single task on a list.
We can often have care in place within 24 to 48 hours of your call, and for urgent situations we work to match that same day. If you know a discharge from Lawrence + Memorial is coming, calling us before the discharge date gives us time to have the right caregiver ready at the door. The transition home after a hospital stay is one of the most disorienting windows for someone with dementia, and we take the speed of that transition seriously.
We're a private-pay agency, which means we don't bill Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance. Families pay us directly, usually on a weekly basis. Some long-term care insurance policies do cover private-pay home care, so it's worth pulling out that policy and checking the language around custodial or non-medical care. We'll give you a clear picture of costs up front so there are no surprises.
A home health aide is typically a medical designation, often ordered by a doctor and covered through Medicare for a specific recovery period. The focus is clinical tasks like wound care, physical therapy follow-through, or skilled nursing visits. Our dementia care is non-medical, meaning we focus on daily living support, safety, routine, and companionship over time rather than a short post-acute window. Many families use both, with home health running its course and our caregivers staying on long after that benefit ends.
Yes, and this is one of the things we put the most thought into. For dementia care especially, the caregiver's personality has to work with your parent's, not just their schedule. We ask about temperament, what calms your parent, what agitates them, and what kind of presence tends to help. Then we match based on that, not just who's available in East Lyme. If the first match isn't right, we adjust without making you start over from scratch.
We handle coverage directly and don't leave it to you to sort out. If your regular caregiver calls out sick or has an emergency, we contact you right away and send a backup caregiver who has been briefed on your parent's routine and needs. For someone with dementia, an unfamiliar face can be unsettling, so we work to minimize disruption and make sure any substitute comes prepared, not cold. You won't be scrambling.
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No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
Private Duty Aides — East Lyme, CT
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