In-home dementia care in Boca Raton

This guide explains dementia home care in Boca Raton for families nearby and far away: schedules, costs, clinics and respite.

Boca is in Palm Beach County, not Broward

Because Boca Raton sits right on the Broward line, families sometimes assume it shares Broward’s services. It does not. Boca Raton is the southernmost large city in Palm Beach County, and county aging services come through the Area Agency on Aging of Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, which covers Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties. The statewide Elder Helpline, 1-800-963-5337, routes you to the right office. Our West Palm Beach page lists more Palm Beach County resources, and our Fort Lauderdale page covers the wider South Florida area we serve from.

An older city, by the numbers

About 97,000 people lived in Boca Raton in 2020. The median age was over 45, and roughly 23 percent of residents were 65 or older. Add unincorporated West Boca, with its many gated and country club communities, and you have one of the largest concentrations of older adults in South Florida. Many are retirees who moved from the Northeast and whose children still live there, which is why a large share of our calls about Boca come from out of state.

Gated communities and condos

Getting a caregiver through the gate is the first practical question in West Boca. We register your companion with the gatehouse or guest system ahead of the first visit so there is no delay and no confusion for your loved one. In east Boca condos near the beach or downtown, we arrange guest parking, elevator access and front-desk lists the same way. If your loved one uses the clubhouse, pool or card room, a companion can go with them so they keep the social life they built.

Places for a calm outing

A dementia program at the local hospital

Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health South Florida, is home to the Marcus Neuroscience Institute. In May 2025 the institute announced it had joined Medicare’s GUIDE Model, a national program for coordinated dementia care that includes caregiver support and training. Ask your loved one’s doctor whether it fits your situation. A companion can drive your loved one to appointments, sit with them, and send you notes, but companions do not give medications or provide clinical care. They work well alongside a medical team. See companion care versus home health care.

Practical notes for Boca families

• Season. Traffic on Glades Road, Federal Highway and I-95 swells from roughly November through April. We schedule companions who live nearby and avoid rush hour where possible.
• Snowbirds. If your parents split the year between Boca and the North, visits can pause and restart. There is no contract.
• Heat and storms. Summer outings happen early. East of the Intracoastal, check your loved one’s Palm Beach County evacuation zone before hurricane season.
• Scams. Affluent retirees are common targets. Companions can flag suspicious calls or mail. See our scam protection guide.

Planning a typical week of dementia home care in Boca Raton

Boca schedules usually reflect two facts: many parents live in gated West Boca communities, and many of their children live out of state. Sample weeks (our rate is $35/hour for 40+ hours a week; call us about shorter schedules):

The clubhouse plan keeps someone with early dementia in the social life they built: the companion walks them to the class or card room, stays nearby, and brings them home before they tire. The spouse plan protects the healthy partner’s own friendships and health. The six-morning plan is for a parent living alone whose children need daily reassurance; each visit ends with a note they can read from New York or New Jersey.

CareScout’s 2025 Florida medians help put home care in perspective: about $67,320 a year for assisted living and about $146,000 for a private nursing home room.

Memory evaluation and respite in south Palm Beach County

Boca Raton has its own state-designated memory disorder clinic: Florida Atlantic University’s Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center, (561) 297-0502. The other Palm Beach County clinic is at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Together with the Marcus Neuroscience Institute’s GUIDE program, described above, that gives Boca families unusually good access to dementia expertise. Under Medicare’s GUIDE model, participating providers can offer up to $2,500 a year in respite for eligible patients.

For day programs and caregiver help, Alzheimer’s Community Care runs specialized Alzheimer’s adult day centers and Family Navigators across Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, (561) 683-2700. State-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative respite, which can be in-home, facility-based, emergency or extended up to 30 days, is screened through the Area Agency on Aging of Palm Beach/Treasure Coast helpline, 1-866-684-5885.

Questions out-of-state families should ask

1. Will you register the caregiver with the gatehouse or guest app before the first visit?
2. How will I hear what happened at each visit, and how often will we review the plan?
3. Can visits pause if my parents go north for the summer?
4. Will the caregiver flag suspicious phone calls, mail or visitors?
5. Who is the local emergency contact if something happens between visits?

With us: gate access set up in advance, a note after every visit and a monthly plan review by phone or video, companions screened for dementia care experience, no contract, and companions who report anything that looks like a scam. Choose a neighbor or friend as a local emergency contact, and give them a spare key.

Before the first visit

• Gate or guest-app instructions, condo parking and any clubhouse guest rules.
• A current medication list and doctors, including any at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
• Your loved one’s routine, favorite activities and the friends they still see.
• Your Palm Beach County evacuation zone if they live east of the Intracoastal.

We turn this into a written care plan and adjust it as needs change.

As needs grow

Many Boca families start with three visits a week and add hours over time. Signs it is time to increase support include food going untouched between visits, missed medications, getting lost inside a large gated community, or new confusion at night. Adding hours with the same companion keeps the routine familiar. When bathing, dressing or toileting gets harder, families add a licensed home health agency or aide for that hands-on care, and the same companion keeps visiting alongside them; if medical needs grow, a nurse or hospice team can join too. Our guide to the stages of dementia explains what usually changes, and your loved one’s doctor can speak to their situation.

Numbers for Boca Raton families

Managing care from out of state

If you are in New York or New Jersey, the hardest part is not knowing what happens between your phone calls. After every visit, the companion sends a short note on mood, meals and anything unusual, and we review the care plan with you monthly by phone or video. Our page for long-distance families explains how to set up help, documents and emergency contacts. Nearby, we also serve Delray Beach to the north and Pembroke Pines and Hollywood in Broward.

Watch a caregiver before you choose

Families watch video interviews like these and choose their companion. No one is sent to your parent's home until you have watched them and said yes.

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