Welcome to South Mountain Memory Care "Small House"

Our ultimate goal at South Mountain Memory Care is to enrich the quality of life of our residents. To do this we built SMMC in the small house model that has been found to be the most successful environment in providing that sense of home, connectedness and ultimately, happiness. Research indicates that residents in small house communities were significantly more socially engaged and displayed few non-aggressive behaviors, such as wandering, than residents in larger, traditional settings.

While the small scale is critical, there are other design elements we included:

• Separate bedroom suites with clear paths from the bedroom to bathroom designed to reduce the stress associated with toileting and bathing.
• Abundance of natural light that helps regulate circadian rhythms which can alleviate sleep disorders, sundowning and seasonal depression.
• Way finding and orientation with the use of colors, aromatherapy and artwork, including views to the outdoors that promotes the use of exterior spaces and walking.
• Safety and security, not only is it important for residents to be safe and secure they must perceive themselves to be safe and secure. This can be achieved with restricted window openings and secure garden fences. Secure outdoor spaces give people with dementia a secure place to go outside and helps reduce elopement attempts because residents no longer feel “cooped up”.
• Consistent staff assignments with the same staff assigned to the same house at the same time in order to foster a sense of familiarity, an ability to truly know each individual and cater to their needs.
• Smaller, intimate gathering places for those residents that feel overwhelmed by larger crowds.
• The design and layout of SMMC minimize overstimulation as many residents become overwhelmed by large groups and spaces and can be susceptible to confusion and distraction. This is where more intimate settings should be provided. We mitigate the size of our 24 room small house by linking two 12 room houses around a central “Town Hall” that can be used for arts and crafts, dining and group activities.

Alzheimer’s and dementia profoundly affect families and need to be addressed delicately. The individual living with cognitive impairment needs special care in all facets of life. Similarly, the physical and emotional effects on the caregiver and other loved ones are difficult. For these reasons South Mountain Memory Care Community will have a holistic approach to resident care, staff training, amenities, programming and incorporating the needs and thoughts of families.

Memory care celebrates the life that remains and cherishes the memories that were made.

As more is learned about dementia each day best practices evolve in memory care. South Mountain Memory Care will have a strong commitment to proven strategies and best practices in resident care.