Memory Care

The Memory Care Cottage

We know the heartache families experience as Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder carries a loved one farther and farther away from them and from the lifestyle he or she once enjoyed. And we understand that reaching the point at which a beloved relative is placed in a care home can be one of the most difficult journeys a family ever has to make. For these valuable people with special needs, we have created the special environment that is The Cottage at Highgate.

A gentler kind of Alzheimer’s care

The quality and depth of care provided in The Cottage is truly unique. It starts with providing a specialized staff training program, designed by our own Highgate professional, who has a passion for providing excellence in skilled, warm, and highly personal care to every Cottage resident. It is a passion that is shared by every caregiver in The Cottage.

Our “Memory Care” program for The Cottage is based on the acclaimed “Best Friends” model of care (developed by David Troxel and Virginia Bell) delivered within the context of Validation Therapy which advocates validating what the resident feels to be real and enjoying the moment together. More simply put, each resident has a “best friend” staff caregiver, someone who gets to know them well, shares part of every day with them and is in a position to speak knowledgeably and accurately to other staff and the resident’s family about them.

Our staff to resident ratio enables us to know each of our residents extremely well. And each of our 24-hour staff members is extensively trained in the progressive losses Alzheimer’s disease brings. Each resident’s individual capabilities are encouraged, their inabilities understood, no matter what the level of care required. They are encouraged to enjoy each and every day to the fullest extent of their abilities - with independence, privacy, friendship and dignity.

We provide a high level of care for each resident’s physical well being. But more importantly, we also believe in “taking care of their heart.”

At The Cottage, our residents are always among friends

We understand that Alzheimer’s is an irreversible and degenerative disease which affects each resident differently. Our staff is trained in behavior management, at recognizing stress, fear and agitation in our individual residents. And because we know them so well, we know what attention each individual needs to feel relaxed, safe and happy again. The ambience in The Cottage is calm, gentle and supportive. Our residents feel and respond to it.

Our residents’ home with us is their home for as long as they wish to stay. As their awareness and condition moves through the stages of disease, our care adjusts to accommodate these changes and continues to maximize the pleasure we can bring to each resident, each day. And when palliative care is necessary, we comfortably and caringly provide it.

At Highgate, we respect our residents for who they once were…. we love them now for who they are.