Hearthstone
Alzheimer Care
23 Warren Ave.
Suite 140
Woburn, MA 01801
781-674-2884
888-422-CARE
Fax: 781-674-2326
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Hearthstone wins award
for healing design
November 26, 2001
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by Rob Borkowski
CRIER STAFF WRITER
HOPKINTON - Hearthstone Alzheimer Care was listed among the top
10 care centers in the nation by the Center for Innovation in Healthcare
Facilities in Houston, Texas, last week for their Alzheimer wing's
architectural layout - conceived in 1992.
John Zeisel, president of Hearthstone and co-architect of the layout,
said he and Mark Maxwell of Cambridge put the design together nearly
10 years ago at the behest of an Alzheimer's care center in Indiana,
which wanted to build an environment their patients would feel as
comfortable as possible in.
When they set out to create the design, they realized that physical
cues, like photos from the past or a familiar object, could bolster
an Alzheimer's patient's memory, decreasing the stress they feel
when they can't remember things.
Also, the map portion of a person's brain is inaccessible to Alzheimer's
patients, he said.
"But if you're in an environment where you don't need a map
because it's so clear, all the destinations are visible, you feel
quite comfortable," Zeisel said.
So, he and Maxwell designed the center's dog-bone-shaped wing, with
a common room at either end of a row of apartments, in the middle
of which is another common room. No matter where you are in the
center, you can see the other portions, Zeisel said.
"There are no obstructions, no corners," said Sean Caulfield,
spokesman for the center, "Your subconscious mind would say,
'I'm going to walk in this direction and I'm going to get back.'"
After they put the design together, Zeisel and his partner decided
to incorporate it into their own plans for an Alzheimer facility.
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Hearthstone's Program Director Patricia
McKinney shows off the award the healthcare facility recently received
for the design of their Alzheimer's wing. |
"If we're giving them advice, and it's good, why not take it?"
they reasoned, Zeisel said.
Other elements of the strategy include showing the residents photos
from recent events or parties, picking out those that get the most
response from the patients and then using those as decorative portraits
throughout the center, Caulfield said.
A photo of a baby who has managed to smear birthday cake all over
himself and a kitchen with a mop standing against a wall are primary
examples, he said.
"For some reason, our residents find that a very stimulating
photo," Caulfield said.
So putting posters up around their living area makes them feel safe
and comfortable, allowing the center to avoid more intrusive methods.
"As a result, we don't have to use many of the medications
that our peers have to resort to," Caulfield said.
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Hearthstone's award was actually based on elements of the design
they've built into each of their four sites, including Marlborough,
Woburn and Brockton.
Caulfield said that the nearly 10-year interval between using the
design and being recognized for it stems from the business's tendency
to avoid self-promotion in the past, a trait Caulfield is trying
to remedy.
"We were really just brought to their attention," he said
of the Center for Innovation in Healthcare Facilities.
Even though it happened almost a decade after they started using
the techniques, the awared is still welcome
"We were very proud to have received this," Zeisel said. |
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