How One Life Care Services Community Blends College Life, Memory Care Programming

A new memory care wing is coming together at a Life Care Services community that will allow residents living with cognitive decline to interact with students and faculty.

The Life Care Services  community Broadview at Purchase College on the campus of Purchase College in Purchase, New York. The community is set to open its memory care wing, the High Point Center for Care, later this month.  

The dedicated memory care space includes a two-story building with 32 private suites on the first floor and 36 assisted living to meet the needs of higher acute senior living residents through its memory care program, Heartfelt Connections. The memory care wing also has its own suite of amenities, including a wellness suite and salon, and integrates some of the community’s positioning on a college campus for life enrichment and spurring intergenerational connections.

Memory care residences include a photo kiosk on the door to personalize the experience for future residents and the suites are designed for residents with mobility and cognitive impairments, with low desks and ergonomic finishes like auto-sensing faucets. Within the shared spaces of the memory care and assisted living, Wade said the design was “structurally intentional” to be safe for residents.

For example, the activity space includes a test kitchen to allow residents to participate in cooking classes and a dedicated salon for memory care residents.

The new memory care wing is unique in that it combines design elements and programming geared for residents with high acuity needs while still connecting residents with the unique intergenerational environment around them.

“We’re certain that we are enhancing their lives in every way that we can and be cognizant of the fact that they have a disease process that is likely progressive,” said Broadview at Purchase College executive director Ashley Wade. “We want to be able to meet their needs but also enhance their quality of life and engage with the best technology and medicine and practices that are evolving in memory care.”

Some senior living operators in recent years have built communities on college campuses or within close proximity to higher education institutions to build intergenerational connections between older adults and students, and allowing for more enriched programming through seminars and events.

Broadview at Purchase College is the first LCS community to be affiliated with a higher education institution, and is connecting older adults with students in various capacities, from joint events to residents and students sharing meals together.

Some recent partnerships between the community and college include pairing for events with the department of music and fine arts, something that could be applied in the memory care component with music therapy included in the program, Wade noted.

“Those will be wonderful, wonderful programs to be able to knit into part of the community life,” Wade said. “We’re starting to see a real push of students that want to engage, especially at High Point and especially in memory care, because they’re now beginning to see potential career tracks.”

Wade said she’s seen a “real push” from college students that want to engage with older adults with cognitive impairment.

Zooming out the lens, Wade sees the opportunity to inspire resident and student connections while helping to inspire young professionals to enter health care careers in senior living. That could mean future internships, and build career tracks for students seeking health care careers.

Student engagement is already woven into the fabric of the community, with pre-med students, law students and film students having already participated in joint events. A recent example includes partnering with students and the Business Council of Westchester for a networking skills event.

The community’s dining area and commons are open to students and residents alike and has led to many residents sharing a meal with students, creating organic intergenerational connections, Wade said.

“We need dietitians, we need social workers, we need physicians and we need to be specializing in the elder sector and the two main ways we would engage in that is life enrichment and community experiences,” Wade said.

With over two decades of senior living experience, Wade said she’s witnessed how memory care programs have evolved from seeking only to provide a safe space for residents with cognitive decline, but have now grown to include life enrichment and improve the quality of life for those living with dementia.

While safety remains a foundational aspect of memory care, Wade said she sees a path ahead in which dementia care can be personalized and provide robust engagement and programming for higher-acuity residents.

“I think we shied away from the engagement piece because we wanted to do harm. Well now we understand that the engagement piece is vital for preventing harm,” Wade said.

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