Memory care in the New Orleans area

What is memory care in Louisiana?

Memory care in Louisiana is usually a specialized dementia care program inside a licensed ARCP that separates residents with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder and is marketed as dementia care; Louisiana has no separate memory care license.

• An ARCP may run a separate and distinct program for residents with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder, with individualized care based on an assessment of each resident's cognitive and functional abilities (§6851.A).
• The ARCP must disclose the program to LDH when it starts it and when it ends it (§6851.B).
• An ARCP that markets a specialized dementia care program must keep written policies for it that are available to staff, residents and members of the public (§6851.C).
• It must have written criteria for who is included, and give those guidelines to the resident, family and legal representative (§6851.C).
• Door locking to create a secured area is allowed only where residents' clinical needs require it and the arrangement is approved by the Office of State Fire Marshal (§6851.C).
• Staff who give direct face-to-face care in the program need at least eight hours of dementia-specific training within 90 days of hire and eight hours every year after (§6867).

How do I find memory care around New Orleans?

Start with the larger Level 3 and 4 ARCPs, which are the most likely to run disclosed dementia programs, and ask each for its written program policies and criteria, because LDH does not publish a list of programs.

Only 2 licensed ARCPs in the six parishes carry memory care in the licensed name itself (Laketown Village, Residential Care & Memory Care, Anderson Memory Care LLC), but many more market dementia programs, which is why the written program policies matter. Our memory care page lists the larger ARCPs to call.

What does memory care cost in Louisiana?

No memory care median is published for Louisiana; programs quote their own rates, typically above the same building's assisted living rate, and families pay privately or with VA pension, because Louisiana Medicaid does not pay for ARCPs.

Ask for the all-in monthly rate at your parent's assessed level and what triggers a move to a higher level.

When is a nursing home better than memory care?

When a person with dementia needs continuous nursing, restraints, or cannot evacuate with the help an ARCP provides, a nursing home is the appropriate setting, and Medicaid can pay for it for residents who qualify.

See memory care versus a nursing home.

What should we watch for on a memory care tour?

Watch how staff redirect a resident who is upset, whether residents are engaged or simply seated, how the doors and outdoor areas are secured, and what an afternoon looks like, when sundowning behaviors peak.

Ask how the program handles a resident who wakes at night, how families are told about incidents, and how residents with dementia are moved and identified during a hurricane evacuation.

Where is memory care licensed across the New Orleans area?

Here is how LDH's October 2026 roster distributes memory care across the six parishes; capacity is LDH's licensed resident count for ARCPs and CMS's certified beds for nursing homes.