Assisted living and memory care in Ohio both operate under the same Residential Care Facility license. Memory care is delivered through a special care unit within that RCF, requiring a written disclosure under OAC 3701-16-07(F)(5) covering staffing, training, programming, costs and physical design. It is not a separate state certification or license.
How to know when the move to memory care is warranted
The signal is usually a change in safety risk rather than the diagnosis itself: wandering, exit-seeking behavior, an inability to recognize danger, or care needs a standard RCF is not staffed or secured to manage safely. Because Ohio does not certify memory care the way some states do, this judgment rests more on direct observation and the special care unit disclosure than on a state quality label.
What actually differs on the ground
- Physical security — secured exits, door alarms, enclosed courtyards — that standard assisted living units generally do not have.
- Staff dementia-specific training, described in the written disclosure.
- Typically higher staffing ratios and higher cost, though no published Ohio median exists for memory care pricing specifically.
