Parc Provence in Creve Coeur, MO is an over 125-bed long-term care community designed exclusively for persons with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. We worked with the owners back in 2003 and 2004 to establish this community. The owners desired to provide the best care possible for seniors with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
They committed to working with a wonderful architect and have a great design, and they brought our team in to help them
develop the care model and program and to make some decisions around where people with dementia might reside within the community and how to organize the households. We also established the
training program.
It was really fantastic to go back there recently and celebrate their 10-year anniversary. Parc Provence has now served over 500 people with dementia. I was extraordinarily pleased to see how well the entire care model and program and all of the training concepts and techniques have really sustained over the 10 years.
The #1 Key to Success
Some of the things I think are important for success—to really sustain this high-quality care model—is first and foremost the people. You have to have the right people on the team. At every level. And those people have to be truly committed to the well-being of persons with dementia—truly committed to the mission.
Parc Provence is an example of that. The owners themselves were very involved from the beginning in learning about the different stages of dementia—and what it would take in terms of the care techniques, approaches, environment, time, specialized knowledge—they learned everything about what it would take to enable those in their care to really thrive.
They stayed committed to that as they hired leaders who also have that same passion and dedication. At every level within Parc Provence—owners, managers, frontline staff, behind-the-scenes staff—everybody is truly committed to the people they serve, making sure that their residents live in well-being.
That’s the number-one key for success. Because we can teach most anybody
Dementia Capable Care skills, but you have to find the right people with the right heart and passion.
Key #2
The second thing that I think makes a real difference of why Parc Provence is thriving 10 years later is that they have specialized staff in place. They have strong partners with medical leaders like Dr. David Carr at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who’s still their medical director. So there’s a real team of experts highly trained in dementia—again from the frontline staff to resources like Dr. Carr and the therapist team, which again is essential if you’re going to excel in memory care.
Key #3
I think the third key for success is having a care model or system, and not veering once you’ve made that commitment. So in the case of Parc Provence, there is what’s called a peer-to-peer living environment, in which persons at similar stages of dementia reside together. There are many benefits to that—functionally, socially, specializing our staff—so that really works.
Key #4
The other key for Parc Provence that they have not at all strayed from is this focus on the individual. Learning as much as they can about each and every resident, gaining their life history, and then bringing that into a plethora of activities that are run throughout the day. There’s an extraordinary amount of high-quality activity programming going on throughout the day at Parc Provence—seven days a week. That really is very unique, and it’s very important for persons with dementia to thrive. They have many choices of activity throughout the day, and those choices represent their ability level and their interests.
So I was really pleased to go back and celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Parc Provence, to see this care model and our training techniques that we established 10 years ago—sustaining and growing with the leadership and passion of those who work at Parc Provence.
I hope that Parc Provence will inspire others to reach higher, just as Parc Provence did 10 years ago—to accomplish more. Persons with dementia and their families deserve it.
Dementia Care Specialists helps facilities meet their goals of blending dementia-friendly design with person-centered care. Want to find out how your community can excel in memory care too? Browse our Consulting Services Checklist [PDF] and Consulting Services Menu [PDF].