KarunaNews Story

The number of memory care units in the US has grown 62% in the last decade. But Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing in Springfield, Massachusetts, is different. It's a continuing care retirement community that is part of a movement to make living with dementia less segregated and more integrated. CCRCs offer multiple levels of care, from independent living to assisted living to memory care to a skilled nursing unit. Wanting those with dementia to live the best life they can, in community, they train staff and residents on how to interact with someone with dementia. Kirsten Jacobs of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit and mission-driven providers of aging services, points to a movement called "Untie the Elderly" which discouraged use of restraints. She adds that there's a practical reason for a more inclusive approach to dementia care. "We cannot build enough … separate memory care communities to meet the needs of those living with dementia. So we have to be more expansive in our thinking."