Memory care therapy is gaining momentum in assisted living communities, helping to improve the social, emotional, and physical health of residents who are beginning to experience the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Memory care therapy uses a mix of physical therapy, occupational therapy, memory games, and social interactions to strengthen memory retention and positive thinking.
In addition, memory care therapy also releases stress, spawns happy memories, and improves functional abilities to help seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia to live a longer and happy life.
We’ll explain what memory care therapy is, how our partnership with HealthPro Heritage provides world-class on-site memory care therapies, and how your loved one can benefit from a high quality of care from a loving staff in a community-like setting.
What is memory care therapy?
Memory care therapy is a set of psychological and physical therapies aimed to help people with early-to-mid stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia improve cognitive abilities, hand-eye coordination, tactile stimulation, memory, and behavior.
Memory care is usually administered in a special wing or section of an assisted living community that’s specially designed to help seniors experiencing memory loss, or who are prone to wandering off or are a fall risk.
Memory care neighborhoods often feature a smaller staff-to-resident ratio to create a more familiar environment and promote social interaction with trusted care providers. In addition, they also are designed to minimize outside noise and feature more sunlight to create a peaceful atmosphere. Memory care is usually open concept to allow for better monitoring of the residents and offer better security to prevent wandering during the late hours of the day.
Types of memory care activities and therapies include:
- Tactile stimulation, such as setting up dining tables
- Music therapy
- Art therapy
- Puzzles and games
- Reading through memory books filled with pictures
- Occupational therapy, to improve hand-eye coordination and motor skills
- Physical therapy to increase strength and balance to reduce fall risk
- Speech therapy to aid with communication and memory
How does The Kensington’s partnership with HealthPro Heritage work to improve the lives of those with memory loss?
The Kensington Reston partners with premier rehabilitation specialists, HealthPro Heritage, to help improve our memory care residents’ mental, social, and physical health.
HealthPro Heritage’s rehabilitation specialists are on-site, utilizing The Kensington’s own fitness facility and community settings to create a customized and robust plan tailored to each resident’s physical and mental needs.
Our memory care rehabilitation services include the following therapies.
Physical Therapy
This is aimed to maintain maximum movement and mobility to increase residents’ function abilities. Physical therapy improves balance, range of motion, and physical strength to promote good health and prevent injuries.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is designed to help residents adapt to life changes and improve their functional abilities. This includes providing training and guidance on self-care skills such as bathing, dressing, feeding, and grooming.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy aids with improving all aspects of communication and memory. Speech therapy not only deals with speaking but also with chewing and swallowing problems.
Our very own Executive Director, Angela Bailey, offers her expertise to the community with additional background knowledge as well – as she is also a licensed speech therapist.
Is a community setting the best for your loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia?
One major contributing factor that worsens the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia is social isolation. Social isolation can lead to worsening depression, which leads to a lack of exercise and stimulating mental activities that can have a compounding negative effect on cognition.
Increased social interaction has been shown to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and may prevent the progression of the disease.
For this reason, memory care communities feature an open plan to allow for more social interaction and communication between residents and their caring staff.
Community settings are adaptable to change and feature specialized staff for all levels of memory loss. They also include life enrichment activities and on-site therapy for social, physical, and emotional health.
Memory Care at The Kensington Reston
The Kensington Reston specializes in customized care to emphasize independence and self-sufficiency of all our residents, especially those who are experiencing the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
We offer on-site rehabilitation and memory care services to our residents with our partner HealthPro Heritage, offering world-class care for your loved one.
Our care provided extends to clinical services and an on-site physician during business hours, as well as a full-time registered nurse who coordinates the specialized care of every resident.
You can rest assured knowing our loving staff of licensed nurses provides additional care and medication administration 24/7.
The Kensington Reston features two neighborhood settings for residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia, both of which are fully secured and safe, loving environments for your loved one.
Connections
A neighborhood for residents who are experiencing early-to-mid stages of Alzheimer’s, but still can retain their sense of independence.
This neighborhood has a patio, lots of sunlight, and garden areas where residents can enjoy fresh air freely.
Through an ever-changing life enrichment calendar of live music performances, art classes, or happy hour – our residents are kept happy and fulfilled with new experiences each day to look forward to.
We offer activities for all residents 7 days a week, from morning until evening. Life Enrichment coordinators work full-time with our team to keep the schedule of activities diverse and exciting. Additional activities staff assist and even participate with our residents – much like your family would.
Haven
A neighborhood for residents with mid-to-late stages of Alzheimer’s, who need more routine care to help with complete their activities of daily living, including bathing, and dressing.
This neighborhood has a fully-secured outdoor terrace to create a cheery environment. It also features a more adaptive setting, filled with memory boxes, motion sensors, and specially designed carpet to reduce fall risk and to minimize confusion.
From hands-on crafts, flower arranging, live music, and special clubs for interests such as gardening or baking – residents in this neighborhood are actively engaged with others and expressing themselves in creative ways in a soothing and relaxing setting.
Whether it’s creative arts or a passion for cooking, our life enrichment team celebrates the uniqueness of all residents’ personalities, and best cater daily activities to their hobbies and passions that bring them joy.
Our Pocket Programming hosts specialized small-group activities that cater to each resident’s interests and abilities, leaving the opportunity for every resident to find something that they enjoy best. This lends the opportunity for new friendships and a boosting to their social activity with those who share similar interests.
Our Kensington Promise to You
The Kensington Reston understands that memory loss and Alzheimer’s is a complex situation that affects both your loved one and your family.
Perhaps your loved one needs help transitioning from living at home to moving into an assisted living or memory care facility. Or they’ve just spent some time in the hospital and now you’re determining how to provide them with the level of care they require.
You can rest assured that our loving staff members and our HealthPro Heritage rehabilitation specialists can offer you and your loved one a smooth transition to help them ease into our loving community.
At The Kensington Reston, we promise to love and take care of your family as we do our own.
Contact us today to learn more about our memory care therapy and floor plans available.