King of Prussia Alzheimer's Care Program
King of Prussia Alzheimer's Care Program
An Introduction to Wellspring Village
Welcome to Wellspring Village, the Brightview Senior Living program
for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of memory
impairment. Our program is designed to create an atmosphere where both
residents and staff can celebrate life. It is a simple approach to
managing a complicated disease. Our mission is to create a community
that is full of vibrancy for both residents and staff.
Brightview
Senior Living has been focused since day one on making residential life
in Wellspring Village a truly unique and enjoyable experience. In 2006
Brightview was awarded the “Golden Q” award from LifeSpan, a non-profit
senior care organization. The Golden Q is awarded annually to an
assisted living organization that has exhibited a true commitment to
advancing senior care in a positive way. Specifically, the award
recognized the Wellspring Village program as a vibrant, innovative
approach to dementia care.
Although many residents can no longer
function in the world as they once did, each person has many
contributions they can still make if encouraged and surrounded in an
atmosphere of care and concern. Creating a sense of belonging for each
resident is essential…and associates are the key!
The Wellspring
Village program was further enhanced by the introduction of training
for all associates through the Copper Ridge Institute. Copper Ridge is
considered to be one of the premier dementia care providers in the
country. In collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Neuropsychiatry and
Memory Group, Copper Ridge has conducted ongoing cutting edge dementia
research for over a decade. Members of the management teams from each
Brightview community participated in a special dementia training course
with the Copper Ridge faculty. Following completion of the course work,
those managers were certified to provide dementia training for all
staff.
The training includes an encouragement for associates to
laugh each day with the residents and leave each evening knowing that
they truly made a difference in the life of a person coping with
dementia.
We have learned that no matter how healthy or frail,
how independent or reliant, each resident has his or her own unique
gifts. While every resident thrives on love and attention, security and
compassion, none share identical interests or needs. In Wellspring
Village we honor our residents shared needs while respecting their rich
individuality.
Our Wellspring Village Program begins with a
carefully planned environment that helps to enhance each resident’s
daily experience. Resident apartments are designed to incorporate
features that offer helpful cues for remembering. The common spaces,
including our enclosed gardens, are arranged so that associates have
plenty of opportunities to create meaningful activities for all of our
residents to participate in. We have also designed the entire
Wellspring Village neighborhood to assist residents as needed with
eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and ambulating.
Our
Wellspring Village philosophy of care has a strong commitment to
listening, observing, and individually assessing each resident, while
understanding that people with dementia change over time and our
approaches to care need to change with them. Each Wellspring Village
resident is uniquely affected by Alzheimer’s disease and we focus on
each resident’s individual needs and preferences with a personalized
care plan.
The Wellspring Village program does not focus on what the resident has lost, but rather, on what they can still do.
History of Wellspring Village
The
word “Wellspring” literally means “a source of water for a well” or “an
abundant and continual source”. At Brightview, we see our Wellspring
Village neighborhood as a place where there can and should be an
abundant source of kindness, respect, and compassion for others. And
just as people need water each day to sustain life, they also need to
feel safe, comfortable, and engaged in the world around them. In
essence, residents of Wellspring Village should receive a “continual
source” of all the things that help them maintain their dignity and
sense of self.
The concept of referring to Wellspring as “a
village” grew from the idea that villages are inclusive of all people
living within a community. At Brightview, our intention is that every
resident will feel a part of a very special group of people. Our vision
is one of residents and caregivers working together to create an
atmosphere of acceptance, cooperation, and contentment.
In
Wellspring Village we strive to meet the needs of all residents
regardless of where the progression of their illness has taken them.
Residents in the early stage of dementia may simply require
supervision, encouragement, and meaningful activities as they continue
to live their lives. Residents in the middle stage of dementia will
require greater “hands on” participation by caregivers in order to
preserve a desirable quality of life. When a resident enters the late
stage of the disease, our staff focuses their attention on providing
care and comfort to the resident, and reassurance to the family. This
late stage may require the assistance of supportive services such as
Hospice.
Wellspring Village is a wonderfully unique place to live
and work. As such, we have pledged to provide additional training and
support for our caregivers beyond the current state requirements. We
also made the decision to employ a dedicated programming associate
specifically assigned to conduct programs and activities in Wellspring
Village. We believe that taking extra-mile steps such as additional
training and additional meaningful activities sets Wellspring Village
apart from other dementia care communities.
You may wonder how
Wellspring Village “fits” into a Brightview community. The answer to
that question is very simple: Wellspring Village is just one wing of a
very large house. It is our intention that the doors that lead
residents and associates into Wellspring Village will always lead back
out again. Our plan for residents and associates is to utilize the
entire Brightview “house” to help enhance life in Wellspring Village.
Wellspring Village residents will attend lunch outings and trips to the
park. They will enjoy community parties and entertainment held in
several locations throughout the building. Residents will visit the
beauty/barber shop and watch a movie in the theatre. They will also, on
occasion and as appropriate, meet and interact with other Brightview
residents and staff.
The Wellspring Village team includes the
Wellspring Director (WSD) who is responsible for keeping things
organized and moving in the right direction each day. In addition to
the WSD, the Health Services Director (HSD) is responsible for
overseeing the highest possible wellness for every resident living in a
Brightview community.
The contributions of all associates,
working together, are what make Wellspring Village an inviting home for
our residents. Our goal is their highest possible quality of life.
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