How Oklahoma regulates memory care

Does Oklahoma license memory care separately?

No. Oklahoma has no memory care license; memory care is a special unit or program operated inside a licensed assisted living center, residential care home or nursing home, and the facility must disclose it under the Alzheimer's Disease Special Care Disclosure Act and OAC 310:673.

That means the words “memory care” on a sign or website carry no legal meaning on their own. The legal signal is the disclosure form the facility files with the state. Across Tulsa, Wagoner, Rogers, Creek, Osage and Okmulgee counties, 6 licensed buildings have an Alzheimer's/dementia special care disclosure in their OSDH public file and 6 more carry memory care in their licensed name without a disclosure in the file index.

What is the Oklahoma Alzheimer's special care disclosure form?

It is ODH Form 613, a written disclosure that any facility offering a special unit or program for Alzheimer's disease or other dementia must complete, file with OSDH and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and hand to anyone seeking placement of a resident with dementia.

The form must describe:

• The philosophy and mission of the special care unit or program
• How residents are admitted, transferred and discharged
• Care planning and how families take part
• Staffing patterns and dementia training
• The structured activity program
• Physical environment and safety features
• What the special care costs

Ask for the current form before a tour, then check each answer against what you see. If the form says staff receive dementia training, ask how many hours and when the newest aide on the unit was trained.

What staffing does Oklahoma require in a locked memory care unit?

Where a unit or program restricts residents' access to areas outside it, Oklahoma's assisted living rules require at least two staff awake and on duty on every shift, with one of them in the restricted unit at all times.

Beyond that floor there is no numeric ratio, so the real staffing level is whatever the disclosure form and the service contracts promise. Ask how many residents live on the unit overnight and how many staff are physically there between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

How can Tulsa families tell which facilities really offer memory care?

Check the facility's public file on the OSDH survey site for an Alzheimer's/dementia special care disclosure, then ask the facility for its current copy; a name that mentions memory care without a disclosure on file is a reason to ask more questions.

Our memory care roster marks each building by the basis of the listing, either a disclosure in the state file or a memory-care name only, so you can see which is which. Public file indexes can lag behind paperwork, so a missing form online is a question to ask, not proof of wrongdoing.

Can someone with dementia live in regular assisted living in Oklahoma?

Yes, often in the early stages: assisted living centers are licensed to provide cognitive orientation and dementia care, so a resident with mild memory loss whose needs fit the service contract can live in an unsecured building.

The turning points are usually exit-seeking, nighttime wandering and the need for constant redirection. At that stage families move to a disclosed special care unit, or to a nursing home with a dementia unit if nursing needs have grown too. A diagnosis alone does not establish nursing facility level of care for SoonerCare's ADvantage waiver.