My father is a resident at a memory unit in an ALF. His possessions have a habit of disappearing. In the past this has been a combination of him misplacing things and theft by other residents. As common an occurrence as this is in facilities like this, I begrudgingly accept it as an inevitability . The current lost items though are his hearing aides, which were pretty expensive. Is the facility financially responsible for replacing these if they can't be found?
Hearing aids are astronomically expensive, and we considered getting a lockbox while they were there but figured that would just confuse him even more or he would tell people where the key was or any number of other problematic behaviors.
But honestly, at the end of the day, no you aren't going to recoup that money.
But most items it would not be worth the expense to insure them.
When my Husband was in rehab I brought an electric razor each time I visited so I could shave him. And I took it back with me.
I would say begin "replacing/exchanging some of the expensive items with resale items.
Dad or Mom's watch, get one at a resale if the one they have is an expensive one.
Replace any jewelry with resale items.
Any "good" clothes can be replaced with resale clothes cuz you know they will get stained or they also walk away.
Also, don’t give up on finding the aids. Check not only his room and clothes, but any shared shower rooms, furniture, lounges, etc. Talk to the director and all the staff directly in a non- judgmental way. This happens in ALF all the time and I doubt that the facility could cover the loss. My dad lost his twice. First, I found them in a stack of towels in the “shower room”. Second time a nurse had taken them with the charger case to the nurse prep station since my dad couldn’t keep them charged. The nurse forgot to tell anyone or leave a note before she left for the weekend. Good luck.
I wrote mom's room number on all of her clothing labels and most came back. Save some of her clothes in your home for exchanges and replacement. It might be best to just have a weeks worth of clothes depending on how laundry gets done. It helps reduce the resident clothing choices if they are indecisive
I aso caution about hearing aids. My mom threw hers away. Her brain stopped processing hearing. They may help in early stages. At one point, i kept a hearing device in her drawers where I fully used when visiting for our conversations. Or doctor visits.
Label everything, and put a GPS tracking device on expensive items.
Consider some clever way of keeping things put, like Patathome's idea. Tie it down, if you can.
Where my mom was, quite a few of the residents would go from room to room opening drawers and closets and helping themselves. The rooms all looked alike so confusion over where your room and whose drawers you were opening was rampant.
And in answer to your question, I always report missing hearing aids to the Director. I think only once or twice they found a missing one, but never offered to replace anything. Mostly clothes or sheets/towels go missing, and nothing is ever reimbursed. I label everything, and return things that are not Mom's that end up in her room.
Hearing aids are difficult - expensive, small and easy to lose, but necessary.
Find out if the old-fashioned larger ear pieces are still available to buy, as they'd be more difficult to misplace and easier to spot. Also, see if cheaper ones are available. Make sure they're insured and can be replaced fairly quickly.
Many people with dementia simply forget to wear their hearing aids. This will probably continue to be an issue, including when he goes into memory care.
For everything else, make sure that nothing valuable is left with him at the AL and label all clothing and other belongings to at least make it easier to find and avoid mix-ups.