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Quality Care by Professional Dementia Care Specialists
Memory Care Living is committed to providing on-going Alzheimer’s and dementia care support services around the clock. Our personal care providers, activities coordinators, licensed practical and registered nurses successfully combine caring expertise with respect and sensitivity. Residents in our Alzheimer's care facilities enjoy encouragement and friendship through daily social and recreational activities. Planned and supervised by a professional activities coordinator, each activity is specially-designed to combine socialization with therapeutic intervention.
Our approach to memory care is holistic, recognizing that mind, body, emotional and physical health is connected.
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We meet our residents where they’re at, regardless of social and physical ability. Our dementia care specialists work with them and their families to identify what they need and want to reach their full potential. We develop individualized lifestyle plans that enable residents to use their individual skills, helping to enhance each resident's self esteem, sense of accomplishment, contentment and quality of life.
We are committed to providing the highest quality of Alzheimer’s care available. Our Alzheimer's care facilities have double the number of dementia care specialists for each resident of other related residential facilities.
Full Value at Our New Jersey Dementia Care Facilities
Memory Care Living homes are intimate home settings that offer real value to our clients at one all-inclusive rate. Our rates remain do not increase as the level of care becomes more comprehensive. And by developing strategic alliances with an institutional pharmacy, geriatric counselors and social workers, as well as our physician group, we can insure that all available Medicare utilization is taken advantage of to offer the best possible care at the lowest cost.
The dementia resident is not a typical assisted living resident. Memory Care Living at Potomac Homes has a specialized program with strategies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. Communication strategies, validation therapy, redirection and behavior management are needed to insure a high quality of life can be experienced without the use of dangerous behavior modification drugs. Our clinical director recognizes and diffuses difficult situations as they arise before they can build, staying ahead of potential troublesome issues, and characteristic of the disease process.
The benefits of validation therapy, reminiscence and creative art are fully engaged with the residents by our family of employees. And Potomac Homes has a unique understanding of medication management, behavioral challenges, sanitation, safety and emergency preparedness for complete and compassionate care.
Our employees appreciate the complexities of aging and the dementia disease progression. Employee longevity enables the staff to gain an intimate knowledge of residents' personal habits and characteristics to enable them to spot problems quickly as they arise by recognizing subtle changes in residents' condition. Many health or behavioral problems, when detected early can be managed by their physician allowing them to continue to function independently, and live in more comfort with a higher quality of life.
Most people understand that as we age, our senses deteriorate over time. Taste and smell, the two senses which primarily control the body's ability to experience the pleasures of food, contribute to a significant degree of anorexia in the elderly. As our ability to experience food decreases, the body also becomes less efficient at breaking food down into nourishment. This is especially true for those suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
In order to maintain the health of our residents and their physical ability to ward off sickness and disease, Memory Care Living has designed its own dietary program geared toward the special food issues of our memory care residents.
Based upon the latest in dementia research to offer our residents home cooked meals, rather than prepared in a cafeteria, with menu choices that are designed by a registered dietician to be familiar to them yet offer the optimum diet for our residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease. This special dietary plan makes allowances for diseased states, pharmacology, dentition, increased activity, emotional factors, past eating habits, and decreases in taste and smell.
The incidence of chronic disease conditions and other health related complications increases with age. Conditions that occur in the older adult can range from minor to severe and will result in varying degrees of inconvenience or disability. Many disease states are managed by one or more prescription or non-prescription medications to combat concurrent problems.
A significant problem that affects the elderly is the potential psychological and physical hazards associated with the array of medications they may be taking. Many elderly will be routinely taking as many as six or eight non-prescription medications in addition to those prescribed by their physician. While most pharmacies screen prescription requests for incompatibility, many do not, and doctors may be unaware of the non-prescription usage.
Our staff is licensed by the state individually through a specific medication administration-training program. Working in concert with local and institutional pharmacies, Memory Care Living at Potomac Homes insures the safe and accurate distribution of prescribed medications.
Fragrance is an essence of long-term memories. Scent has the potential power to activate a number of physical and emotional responses. Certain aromas can set a childhood memory in motion, bringing back long forgotten thoughts, faces and feelings. The sense of smell is an effective way to connect with a person with even late stage dementia. Just like the smell of home-baked cookies wafting from our kitchens, aromatherapy is a wonderful and pleasant way to reach our residents.
Aromatherapy is the ancient art of using essential oils to benefit a person’s physical, spiritual and psychological well-being. Essential oils have been used for centuries as healing agents, fragrance for promoting health and relaxation, as well as a guard against bacteria, molds, fungi and other microorganisms.
Many essential oils are very complex fragrance molecules that float in the air. Millions of receptor cells line the nose, and aroma causes these nerves to fire and send messages to the limbic area of the brain. From there, the messages travel to other parts of the brain, activating thought and memory. The pituitary gland is also stimulated to release chemical messages that travel via the blood to glands and organs that create physical body responses.
Scientists have referred to essential oils as the life force of a plant. Particular oils can trigger a number of responses in the human body. Essential oils are stored in minute quantities in special cells, ducts, or glandular hairs that are distributed among the roots, leaves, bark, stems, and flowers of the plant. When concentrated, a single drop or two of distilled therapeutic-grade oil can produce quick and significant results.
Essential oils can be absorbed in several ways; through our sense of smell, through our skin, even as a dietary supplement. Aroma is absorbed through our nose to the brain where memory, hunger, moods, and even sexual responses are evoked. Before knowing we smell an aroma, our subconscious mind reacts to it. Aromatherapy can benefit stress-related problems and promote a positive state of energy, health and well-being.
All essential oils are "GRAS" - Generally Regarded as Safe (by the FDA) for internal use or certified as Food Additives, which can be safely taken internally as a dietary supplement. Food grade oils such as valerian, lemon, grapefruit, orange and tangerine can be more effective when taken orally.
Some oils such as Peppermint, Rosemary, Jasmine, Lemongrass and Grapefruit stimulate and have an uplifting effect on the body. Others such as Lavender, Rose, Geranium, Sandalwood and Ylang-Ylang have a relaxing or sedating effect on the body. With Alzheimer's residents, we can use uplifting oils in the morning to stimulate residents' appetites and energy levels by diffusing the oils into the room or applying them directly to clothing or tissues.
In the afternoon when many dementia sufferers often experience anxiety or "sundowning", relaxing oils can be used for individuals or in a small group setting to relieve the anxiety without the use of psychotropic medications. Blends of oils have been developed specifically for this purpose, such as the blend of Peace and Calming, which includes the essential oils of Tangerine, Orange, Ylang-Ylang, Patchouly and Blue Tansy. Residents who have a habit of wandering during the night or with interrupted sleep cycles can find relaxation with a spritz of lavender oil on their pillowcase. A few drops on a tissue or diffused into their room can actually help with insomnia.
Other oils can be used to boost self-esteem and create a grounding effect for tearful residents. A special blend of Spruce, Rosewood, and Frankincense called Valor has been used successfully to restore well-being in people. Another blend called Thieves was tested at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, and found to have a 99.96 percent effective rate against airborne bacteria. Diffusing these oils can be very effective during the cold and flu season. Many hospitals in Europe routinely diffuse essential oils to purify the air.
Revered for centuries for their restorative properties to the body, mind and spirit, essential oils have been used for a multitude of symptoms. We have found that the sense of scent combined with the sense of touch will reach the inner most parts of the person through the fog of Alzheimer's disease. When fear, agitation, restlessness, or anxiety mounts for our residents, the use of aromatherapy can often help to control or ease the effects of these common behavioral issues in a natural, harmless, holistic approach.
Memory Care Living has made it possible for those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia-related illnesses to enjoy the benefits of full-time professional care in a comfortable residential setting. To learn more about Potomac Homes call us at (800) 935-9898 to arrange a private tour.
Take a look inside a Memory Care Living dementia care facility
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