A few weeks ago I was in the Denver area meeting with existing Vigil Health Solutions customers and prospects. I was able to tour some terrific communities. One of the best was my visit to New Dawn Memory Care community in Aurora. New Dawn Memory Care is an Arizona based assisted living company that focuses on providing deeply personalized care to seniors with all types of dementia.
They are part of an emerging wave of second or third generation memory care companies that have looked at what worked well in earlier generations and built on that knowledge base. The Aurora campus is their first community and has been open for two and a half years.
It is full with a waiting list.
The community consists of three adjacent buildings, each with 16 private, one bedroom one bath, residential apartments. The apartments face the outside and the core contains the kitchen and activity areas. New Dawn Memory Care has a second community under construction in Arizona and four more communities under development in Colorado Springs and Ft. Collins, Colorado and in Williamsburg Richmond, Virginia.
A Unique Population
One of the most unique attributes of this community is the ratio of men to women. The average senior community, whether independent living, assisted living or skilled nursing, has a ratio of 20-30% male and 70-80% female. New Dawn Memory Care of Aurora has a male population of 60%. I spent time exploring this phenomenon with Rebecca Sturtz, New Dawn’s Vice-president of New Home Development. They did not set out to create a community that caters to men. Rather, it turns out, this is a reflection of the local community’s demographics and needs. As New Dawn Memory Care has explored why this is true here are some observations:
- While it is not entirely clear that male dementia residents are more combative than female residents, they often retain a surprising level of physical strength. As a result, male residents frequently end up being discharged to higher levels of care, when comparable behavior in women does not result in a transfer. New Dawn has developed a number of strategies to effectively address these behaviors.
- New Dawn Memory Care has invested a great deal of time and effort to understand the unique needs of their male dementia residents. They train their resident assistants to use various techniques to distract and redirect their male residents when they are engaged in problematic behaviors. By being proactive in this area, small problems are more likely to stay small. Each New Dawn Memory Care’s staff person is trained by the Alzheimer’s Association CARES Program prior to starting work with residents so that all they better understand the challenges of the disease.
- While aged and confused, many of their male residents continue to have sexual urges, and because of their dementia, they often act on these urges in inappropriate places. New Dawn Memory Care has found ways to allow their male residents these needs in appropriate settings.
- Because they have been so successful in addressing the unique needs of their male residents, New Dawn Memory Care has become a preferred placement for men who otherwise might end up in a locked geropsych unit or skilled nursing facility.
All of these factors considered, perhaps the biggest reason they have had this amazing success with males is that they are committed to making sure that,once a resident has been accepted into their community, they will be able to live there until they pass away. This is a commitment to create the highest possible quality of life for these individuals, who are parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
Don’t miss a single issue of Senior Housing Forum, subscribe today. It is free! We do not sell or share your contact information. The posts are practical and never too long. Go to the main page of Senior Housing Forum and on the right hand side you will see a place to enter your email to subscribe. You will receive notification when a new article is posted. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Finally: If you know anyone who is looking at emergency call systems I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with them about Vigil Health Solutions.
From LinkedIn Groups
This is very interesting, I’ve never seen but the 20% or less male population in a facility. We have a similar design in Bentonville, AR, called The Legacy Village, a non-profit. Thank you for an excellent article.
Posted by Sara Cain-Bartlett
From LinkedIn Groups
Does someone explain me more of NCCAP? I am curious it is recognized by all states in US?? And how is MEPEP? I also found some courses in city colleges for activity coordinator too. SO, what are the differences among these and how to make a best choice?
Posted by Yee Htwe
From LinkedIn Groups:
I think perhaps the transition to higher care may well have to do with the mens strength. A female who is confused and perhaps quite angry seems containable, whereas a strong male who is confused and perhaps quite angry seems he could be a threat if not contained and I would be really interested if anyone who works in a dementia facility could give us the ratio of the amount of females compared to the rate of males who when confused / frightened / angry / having violent halusinations such as with parkinsons, would actually pick up a bed stick / chair or other item and threaten staff or residents during their emotional experience?
Posted by Wendy Hardcastle
That’s great! You offer a great service that has been long overlooked-appropriate training! You can pretty much deal with the different stages of Alzheimer’s with the right training. My experience has been as you stated, housing for mostly with women. It’s good to know men have somewhere to go and can be handled well with the right staff training. Good job!
Posted by valerie taylor
From LinkedIn Groups
Women outlive men and also suffer more than men. Dementia care can not be classified gender wise. A Dementia patient male or female irrespective of their physical strength is equally difficult to handle by care givers !
Posted by Himanshu Rath
From LinkedIn Groups
Lol! I like that Himanshu ;0)
Posted by Wendy Hardcastle
From LinkedIn Groups
Care can not be classified as higher care and secure dementia units v/s whatever else. End of the day we are dealing with human body and mind. The care givers, emotions play the most important role.
Posted by Himanshu Rath
I would like to know how and where they allow these male residents their sexual needs? I find the statement most interesting. It is truly a very sensitive subject, but does indeed need to be addressed. What type of training is provided. Is it redirection? Which of course is not new.
As we move forward in the care for dementia and Alzheimer’s residents I think it is imperative to offer options for male and female sleeping areas for the safety of our residents but also for the peace of mind for their families.
From LinkedIn Groups
Well I’ve got to say the nursing staff out there do a brilliant job caring for the dementia patients out there – it must take a lot of courage and strength and it must be a roller coaster of emotional experiences. I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if we didn’t have staff who want to care for these people.
Posted by Wendy Hardcastle
Hi Judi:
As I understand it they do three things:
1. They work to contain the behavior in the privacy of the residents room.
2. They use both distraction techniques and provide printed materials to assist with containing the behavior.
3. They train their care givers to not “freak out” if thy happen upon the behavior. This means that if they walk in on it in the residents room they just step back and allow it to happen. If it happens in a public area, the residents are redirected to the privacy of their rooms.
Steve Moran
My name is Edmarie Meaux and Im the V.P Operations for New Dawn Memory Care, I have been a nurse for 10+ years and specialize in Geriatric Memory Care and after working in this industry for many years as a wellness nurse and struggling providing care for 123 plus Residents and yes my friends the typical Assisted Living/Memory Care there is usually only one nurse M-F 8 hrs a week or worse a nurse on call, and after trying to provide care for many many Residents every day and working endless hours, I knew there had to be a better way to care for our elderly where I could be proactive and focus on preventive care and after extensive reaserch I came across a new company specialized in memory care and Interviewed with my now Partner Rebecca Sturtz former Executive Director for New Dawn Memory Care Aurora now V.P of New Home Openings and she offered me the opportunity to be a part of a program that allowed me to hire nurses around the clock and give our Residents a 1:4 staffing ratio,inspired by the vision of our Owner/Founder David Daumit at that time I knew this was what I needed to help our Geriatric population struggling with this disease, I helped open up New Dawn Memory Care Aurora and partner up with Rebecca Sturtz opening up a deficiency free community for the past 3 years including a medication program that has passed 5 deficiency free surveys conducted by our Pharmacy Consultant, we also have a Medical Director,Nurse Practitioner,Director of Nursing, Assistant Director of Nursing and even our Executive Director is a nurse all specialized in Geriatric Care.We also have a group of Physiologist and Psychiatrist that provide continuous services weekly and as needed to ALL of our Residents at New Dawn Memory Care because we understand that all of our Residents are special and need more attention in order to thrive, this is why all of our staff is trained by the Alzheimer’s Association Program and receive a certificate prior to start working for us, we also have a Dining Director that consults with a Dietician and keeps monthly weights to ensure all of our Residents are getting the best nutritional meal based on their preferences and needs.The reason we have so many men is because unfortunately men are often rejected from Assisted Living facilities due to their physical strenght when exhibiting a behavior, but at New Dawn Memory Care even though we understand that this disease affect both Males and Females the same exact way we provide a new building design that won award of the future ALFA 2008 that allows our Alzheimer Residents to wander, thrive and participate in a home like setting, all 48 suites at New Dawn Memory Care have big windows and private bathrooms allowing our Residents to age in place with dignity, our nurses manage their medications 24/7 and we have Activity Directors in each one of our cottages 7 days a week 8 hours a day making our activity program the BEST in Denver 1:16 ratio and one on one 3 times a week not to mention our spectacular IN2L Program that allows the Resident to Skype, email, or see a time dated show or program he used to enjoy, we also have 3 huge activity rooms and 9 Life Skill Stations.All of our Residents are able to wander freely through all of our gardens and premises due to our Home Free Security System, a wireless GPS watch that allows our staff and Health Care Professionals see where our Residents are at all times, at New Dawn Memory Care technology is a big tool to help with all aspects of nursing from electronic records,electronic laboratories,x-rays,physicians report etc. etc. New Dawn Memory Care has many many success stories and we will continue to grow and provide excellent care to those struggling with this disease the forgotten…our elderly population and we are here to help them connect the dots.I appreciate all the comments and I hope more people out there help us make a difference . We are currently under construction in Sun City West, AZ and have 4 other properties under development that include Colorado Springs CO, Fort Collins CO ,Richmond VA and Williamsburg VA .We provide monthly support groups to our families, friends and neighboors so please feel free to join us at our community where compassionate care is our daily menu.
Sincerely
Edmarie Meaux
This is an interesting concept. I’m curious about your operational metrics. The labor percent of revenue, overtime percent of labor, PRDs and EBITDARM or NOI for this type of operation.
I totally get the care and programming component and have done this successfully in an affluent part of Atlanta. For what it’s worth, many operators would be scared to death to attempt this staffing model.
Doug, I appreciate your comment but understand I can’t discuss the operations,with that said please know we are extremely successful and our numbers and projections look excellent, Im definitely not scared of the model and staffing ratio we have created. New Dawn Memory Care has developed an amazing program with the help of many Health Care Professionals and have found many sponsors and resources to provide our Residents what they need to age in place with dignity in a real Home Like environment.
Sincerely,
Edmarie Meaux
I was interested to read this post about how this particular community is dealing with sexuality in the male dementia patient. My dad recently moved into a Memory Care unit at an assisted living location and has become inappropriate with several women there. They have told us that we need a 24/7 aide to watch him, which is financially prohibitive for any length of time. Do you have any other suggestions?