ATLANTA: Dementia care providers are deeply divided over care delivery methodologies.
Existing seniors housing providers are attempting to reinforce their hegemony in the sector by either ramping up development of stand-alone memory care models, expanding existing facilities or building new ones to add memory care to existing senior housing communities.
Others are choosing to ape the Dutch Retro Community (Hogeway), but are all caught up in a care timewarp. The care models are changing rapidly and most providers, despite their best intentions are the “institutionalisers” of the 21st century, ruling via restraint and chemical coshing.
Despite the existence of enlightened providers, the vast majority of dementia minders rely on four walls and locked doors.
Here are 10 views and/or methodologies:
1. Inventive care settings
Currently, there are “thousands” of skilled nursing homes with memory support floors or secure units, says one operator.
While skilled nursing homes will continue to be an essential aspect of memory care in the end stages of dementia, people with memory care needs in the future likely will have a broader array of options to choose from.
“My feeling is there is no one model [for memory care], I think there are multiple models and some we don’t even know about yet, that haven’t been invented.”
He sees some senior living providers purchasing residential property in urban areas and converting it to offer memory care in something like a group home setting. These properties might be scattered throughout a metro area, as an alternative to the model in which a small number of residents—usually about 10—live in homes that all are located on a single campus.
While the so-called “small house” model might increasingly catch on for memory care, there also could be a growing demand for even more intimate settings within nursing communities serving people with dementia, says a second operator.
He has built a small-scale, affordable housing model. It consists of 10 enclosed and secured units and is appropriate for couples facing cognitive challenges. It has been successful since launching 15 years ago and could be ripe for replication…