Location
SECU Center for MemoryCare
100 Far Horizons Lane
Asheville, NC 28803
Hours
Monday to Friday
9:00 am to 4:30 pm
MemoryCare’s model is designed to fill a gap in the care for people with cognitive impairment and their caregivers.
The medical field is making great strides in treating cancer and heart disease, with associated increases in life expectancy. For many people, longer life means dealing with cognitive impairments. People with dementia are no longer able to function independently, and they must rely more on their loved ones for support. However, as our founder Dr. Margaret Noel pointed out, “due to privacy safeguards, a physician in a primary care practice doesn’t always feel comfortable talking to anyone other than the patient, yet the diagnosis of early dementia often relies on the observations of someone other than the patient. The greatest frustration for caregivers is that the medical system will not engage them.”
Dr. Noel wanted to “develop a model that would uphold the dignity of persons with dementia who are too often neglected by our fractured health care system and incorporate their caregivers into the evaluation and management process. Failure to do so leads to delayed diagnosis, poor management, and great frustration among caregivers.”
The SECU Center for MemoryCare in Asheville has bridged that gap, listening to, supporting, and caring for the whole family.
By engaging caregivers early in the dementia process, MemoryCare is able to limit inappropriate use of the acute care system, promote advanced care planning, guide establishment of safety routines, prolong time in the home setting, and ease the stresses that dementia can cause.
For these reasons, MemoryCare staff and physicians spend equal time with the patient and their caregivers independently – during the initial appointment and in each subsequent appointment. We also prioritize connecting our patients’ caregivers with resources and information that will help them manage the stress of caregiving.