Dementia Care Plan Checklist for New Mexico

Why a Written Care Plan Matters

A dementia care plan isn't just good practice — in New Mexico, it's a legal requirement once your parent enters a licensed assisted living or nursing-home setting. Assisted living facilities must develop an Individual Service Plan (ISP) for every resident, and nursing homes must maintain a comprehensive care plan under federal and state regulations. But even if your parent is still living at home, a written care plan prevents the ad hoc, crisis-to-crisis management that leads to caregiver burnout, medical errors, and family conflict.

The best time to create one is now. Dementia is progressive, and the decisions that need to be documented multiply as the disease advances.

The Core Components

A complete dementia care plan for New Mexico should cover six areas:

1. Medical and Cognitive Baseline

Document your parent's current diagnoses, medications (with dosages and schedules), physician contact information, and the most recent cognitive assessment results. Include:

• The physician's formal dementia diagnosis and stage assessment
• Current medications — prescription and over-the-counter, including supplements
• Known drug allergies and adverse reactions
• The Nursing Facility Level of Care (NFLOC) assessment results if one has been performed
• Any completed Advance Health-Care Directive or POLST form
• The name and contact information for any specialist (neurologist, geriatric psychiatrist) involved in care

This documentation serves double duty: it informs daily caregiving decisions and it's required for Medicaid applications, facility admissions, and guardianship proceedings.

2. Daily Care Needs and Routines

Detail the specific assistance your parent needs with each activity of daily living (ADL):

• Bathing — does your parent need verbal prompting, physical assistance, or full help? What time of day works best? Do they become agitated with showers versus baths?
• Dressing — can they choose appropriate clothing? Do they need help with buttons, zippers, or shoes?
• Eating — can they feed themselves? Do they need food cut up? Are there swallowing difficulties or food preferences driven by the dementia?
• Toileting — are they continent? Do they need reminding? What incontinence products are used?
• Transferring — can they get in and out of bed, chairs, and vehicles independently?
• Medication management — can they self-administer, or does someone need to dispense and verify each dose?

For each ADL, note what the person can still do independently. Dementia care should support remaining abilities, not replace them.

3. Safety Plan

Address the specific safety risks your parent faces:

• Wandering protocol — is your parent registered with the Silver Alert system? Do they wear a GPS tracker? Are doors alarmed? Who is the first call if they go missing?
• Driving status — has the physician documented whether driving is safe? Has the MVD been notified if it isn't?
• Fire and kitchen safety — are stove knobs removed or locked? Are smoke detectors working?
• Fall prevention — are grab bars installed? Are rugs secured or removed? Is lighting adequate, especially at night?
• Emergency contacts — list primary and backup contacts with phone numbers, relationship, and legal authority

4. Legal Authority and Financial Plan

• Who holds Power of Attorney (financial and healthcare)? Where are the original documents stored?
• If no POA exists, what is the plan — execute one while capacity remains, or petition for guardianship?
• Current income sources and amounts — Social Security, pension, investments, rental income
• Whether an Income Diversion Trust is needed (required in New Mexico if gross monthly income exceeds $2,982 for Turquoise Care Medicaid eligibility)
• Current and projected monthly care costs — home care, adult day care, medication, medical equipment
• Insurance coverage — Medicare, Medicaid status, any supplemental or long-term care insurance

5. Care Team and Communication

• Primary caregiver and their available hours
• Secondary caregivers, their roles, and their contact information
• Paid caregivers (home health aides, adult day care staff) with schedules
• Physician, specialists, and pharmacy
• ADRC Options Counselor contact (1-800-432-2080) if assigned
• MCO care coordinator contact if enrolled in Turquoise Care

Establish how the care team communicates — a shared log, a group text thread, a weekly check-in call. Missed handoffs between caregivers are how medications get skipped and behavioral changes go unnoticed.

6. Review Schedule

New Mexico requires that ISPs in licensed assisted living facilities be reviewed by a licensed nurse at least every six months or immediately after any significant health change. Apply the same discipline to a home care plan:

• Review and update the plan every six months at minimum
• Review immediately after a hospitalization, a fall, a wandering episode, a medication change, or a noticeable decline in cognitive function
• Document each review — what changed, what was decided, who was present

The Facility Care Plan vs. Your Family Care Plan

If your parent is in a licensed assisted living facility or nursing home, the facility will create its own care plan. In assisted living, this is the Individual Service Plan that governs the care the facility provides. As the authorized representative (through POA or guardianship), you have the right to participate in its development and review.

Your family care plan doesn't replace the facility care plan — it supplements it. The facility plan covers what happens inside their walls. Your plan covers everything outside: financial management, legal authority, family communication, future care transitions, and the decisions that are yours to make rather than the facility's.

Getting Started

The New Mexico Dementia & Memory Care Guide includes printable care plan worksheets, an asset inventory template for Medicaid preparation, and a guardianship filing tracker — all structured around New Mexico's specific regulatory requirements and financial thresholds so you're building a plan that works within the state's actual systems rather than generic advice that may not apply.

See more New Mexico guides →