Renovations began in September 2017 and included reconfiguring some of the rooms and investing in new furniture, appliances, showers, lighting and other frontline features, said Keith Kasin, then-executive director at Plymouth Village. The space, which first opened in 1996, offers private and semiprivate rooms for up to 10 residents.
“Our focus is for this space to continue to challenge and inspire these residents while remaining comfortable and functional,” said Kasin, adding that the upgrades will help Plymouth continue to serve the growing need for memory care in the surrounding area.
“We know that every 66 seconds, someone in our country develops Alzheimer’s, and in another 30 years that rate will double,” said Kasin. “I hope in my lifetime there won’t be a need for the services we provide here, but until then, we’re doing our small part to meet this overwhelming public health issue with dignified housing, programs and supports for area families.”
Our memory care community was the brainchild of Kay Kallander, who worked at Plymouth Village for a dozen years as director of nursing and in other leadership roles. While pursuing her master’s degree, she was driven to find a solution that better served older adults with dementia.
“At the time, dementia support was largely a clinical, medication-based system,” explained Kasin. “Kay was a passionate advocate of a more social, dignified environment, one where smaller groups of residents truly bonded with caregivers and health professionals. This approach, which you now find at our memory care community, prioritizes these relationships and makes these residents feel valued and important.”
Through a generous private donation from a local family whose mother received care at Plymouth Village, the community was able to realize Kay’s dream. Since then, our memory care community and its resident-centered approach has been adopted by nearly all of HumanGood’s 18 Life Plan Communities in the western U.S. and has inspired similar programs in countless other communities.
“It’s remarkable to think that when Plymouth Village accepted its first memory care residents in 1996, two decades later we’d see our concept be embraced by not only our sister communities in HumanGood, but similar communities throughout California, the nation and even internationally,” said Kasin.