Page 43 - BusinessWest March 7, 2022

during orientation.”
That orientation, when staff are taught how to
engage with people with dementia, is followed by annual reviews and specific skills-training events during the year, she added, noting that JGS will be using grant funds to expand that skills training.
“We’re a person-centered campus, and we deal with memory impairment across our entire cam- pus the same way,” Halpern added. “You take the approach that you’re meeting the person where they are.”
Added Schelb, “we’re finding a lot more people suffering from memory loss at earlier ages. Early- onset dementia and Alzheimer’s is something very real that a lot of people are experiencing, so we need to pivot and shift to make sure we can care for our folks here on the campus in any way, shape, or form.
“We’ve even got our home health dealing with folks with memory loss, or even end-stage Alzheimer’s in hospice,” she went on. “Unfortu- nately, we have seen more of it, across the board; I think healthcare in general has seen a lot more. And we want to be able to give our residents as fulfilled a life as possible.”
Many times, Halpern said, a senior-living facil- ity is one of the first places family members con- tact when they suspect a memory issue.
“People reach out to us when they need help. And when do families need help? Often, it’s when they have a loved one who’s suffering from dementia and memory impairment, and they’ve tried to work with them at home. So we’ll work with them at home with our Spectrum Home Health Care, but then it can get to a point where you just can’t handle it. Maybe it’s the inconti- nence, maybe it’s the wandering and the risk of
“We just wanted to make it this gorgeous, park-like environment. A lot of people like to walk, and and here they can be outside, and it gives them that sense of freedom.
that, but we find that families are reaching out to us when they’re willing to give up their loved one. And it is a tough decision to place your loved one in a care setting.”
Even people with dementia who are able to live at home with family members can benefit from Wernick’s day programs, Halpern added.
“We were one of the first adult day health cen- ters in Western Mass., back in the ’70s. We get a lot of people needing adult day care who have memory impairment and forgetfulness, and they are benefiting from being in social settings — and we offer social settings, be it in adult day care
or assisted living, that helps people not feel iso- lated, and we help give them experiences that are failure-free.”
High-tech, Human Touch
Some of those experiences at Ruth’s House
JGS
Continued on page 50
”
Ruth’s House’s memory-care residents take part in both indoor and outdoor activities intended to engage their minds.
“As a campus, we’re caring for elders, and it sort of goes hand in hand that, as people get older, they’re suffering memory loss,” she told BusinessWest. “So we take the care of people with dementia, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s disease as a central care delivery that we train our staff on
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