Thoughtful connections

Spring

BY JILLIAN ATELSEK JATELSEK@NEWSPOST.COM

Gentle, 1940s-style music drifted from a set of speakers as Salome Yahaya made her way through the halls of Spring Arbor of Frederick.

Employees of the assisted living facility refer to its memory care unit as a “neighborhood” or a “cottage.” It offers scheduled group activities, and it’s full of apartment-style living, craft and activity rooms and lounge areas where classic television shows are screened and books are stacked on shelves.

But what sets the facility apart from a typical senior center are its high staff-to-resident ratio and tailored services, said Yahaya, Spring Arbor’s executive director.

The memory care cottage at Spring Arbor is specifically designed for seniors with memory loss. There are features throughout the unit that aim to make life more comfortable for people whose dementia can cause frustration or fear, Yahaya said.

In the living rooms, for instance, there are “baby stations,” where heavy, life-like baby dolls are in cribs. There are changing stations and blankets, too. Often,Yahaya said, the residents don’t recognize their adult children when they come to visit. But for some, holding the dolls can spark memories of when their children were small, bringing the resident comfort and encouraging them to reminisce.

“We talk about it,” Yahaya said. “They’ll call the baby by their child’s name.”

Other activity stations are scattered throughout the memory care unit, too. At one, residents can craft bouquets out of artificial flowers and sort them into an array of pots and vases.

There’s a beauty salon residents can visit weekly. Employees often search for photos of the resident as a young person and ask them if they want their hair styled like they wore it back in the day. This simple practice can help patients recognize themselves in the mirror, a skill that can fade as dementia progresses, Yahaya said.

There are more practical accommodations, too,Yahaya said. The living spaces are kept small, since dementia patients can become overwhelmed in large, open spaces. And the security systems installed throughout the building mean the residents can’t get themselves into harm’s way if they start to wander.

Late last year, Spring Arbor’s memory care unit doubled in size. The unit is housed in a building that’s split into two identical sides, but until Nov. 1, only one side was in use. Now, each side is its own functioning “neighborhood,” complete with its own residents and staff.

Residents on one side are in the earlier stages of memory loss, while residents on the other are in more advanced stages. The separation allows Spring Arbor staff to better manage each group’s needs.

Each side can accommodate 26 residents. Some spaces, like the beauty salon, spa and industrial kitchen, are shared, but for the most part, the two neighborhoods remain separate.

The goal of the employees on each side remains the same, though. Nurses and caregivers work hard to learn personal details about their patients. On a recent winter day, relatives helped residents decorate large poster boards with photos and facts about their lives.

On one, a young woman wearing a collared shirt and pearl earrings smiled up from a series of black-and-white photos.

“I enjoy reading,” the board said. “My favorite color is blue. I love my springer spaniel, Dolly.”

Old photos of the woman and her children and a series of images of her on horseback, her favorite activity as a young person, were on the poster board.

Making the boards can be therapeutic for the residents,Yahaya said, but it’s also helpful for the staff. Studying the boards gives them the ability to strike up a conversation with a resident who may be yearning to talk about their past.

“Just to fulfill that need,” Yahaya said, “that missing piece.”