The onset of dementia strikes at the very core of an individual’s sense of self. As memory progressively fades, the familiar takes on ever increasing importance, providing a sense of security in a world where certainty and confidence is supplanted by growing confusion. As cognitive decline advances, new settings, varied routines and unfamiliar faces only exacerbate that sense of insecurity.

At every level, and in every possible way, The Mooring is designed to minimize the confusion and anxiety that often accompanies cognitive decline. It’s an effort that’s evident from the moment you first experience the familiarity of our setting, and it’s reinforced over time as we work to maintain familiar connections to community, to family, and to the activities that filled – and fulfilled – each housemate’s life before coming to us. At The Mooring, we focus our efforts on maintaining a sense of intimacy, security and continuity through:

A warm, familiar, home-scaled setting

The Mooring’s scale is among its most prominent distinguishing features. In many traditional care facilities, population has long been linked to economics: more residents yield higher revenues and greater operational cost efficiencies. The Mooring stands in clear contrast to that inclination, with scale designed to prioritize wellbeing and peace of mind.

Our housemate limit – twelve – plays an important role in distinguishing The Mooring experience. It’s a number that achieves a careful balance, with equal opportunity for social engagement and quiet reflection. As with a home environment, both are important to mental, emotional and physical wellbeing, and our population allows housemates to satisfy the full spectrum of community engagement – at their discretion. The number also allows our care partners to establish close, meaningful connections. That ability to connect is a key differentiator, providing housemates with meaningful, reliable relationships that enhance the sense of familiarity and dispel anxiety. For our housemates, The Mooring is home.

From a design standpoint, The Mooring evokes a sense of the familiar, from the individual  – and individually appointed – bedroom suites to the warm, welcoming kitchen, dining, living and activity areas. And while the surroundings may not be entirely familiar at first, their scale and décor feel comfortably residential, eschewing any clinical or institutional cues. As a result, housemates are able to acclimate more quickly, taking comfort in an aesthetic that’s welcoming, familiar and consistent.

Innovative, individualized programming

When developing programming for The Mooring, we focus on the individual. At the outset of each housemate’s stay, we perform baseline cognitive testing to assess both strengths and challenges. Then, we utilize that vital information to create personalized therapies that leverage cognitive strengths, while working to compensate for demonstrated deficiencies.

Our individualized approach to programming demonstrates our commitment to each housemate’s needs. While we also plan regular group activities, our focused attention helps each Mooring housemate to feel valued, recognized and welcomed. And the importance of our initial and ongoing cognitive assessments is easy to see, as housemates are able to preserve their sense of self despite the progressive nature of their conditions.

Disciplined hiring and staff retention

While the physical space and programming at The Mooring are vital to the level of comfort and familiarity our housemates feel, nothing is more important than the day-to-day efforts and interactions of our staff. At The Mooring, we recruit and hire with exceptional care, seeking only candidates with the experience, skills and empathy necessary to engage residents personally and professionally.

After going to the effort to hire the right people, we then take care to keep them on staff. This effort is among our most important, because relationship continuity provides our housemates with a sense of comfort and place. The warmth of familiar faces also provides family and friends of our housemates with the opportunity to develop relationships – and to ensure that loved ones are in good hands.

Situated in a quiet forest glade, the first impression of The Mooring is comforting: it looks and feels like a meticulously maintained farmhouse. The impression is sustained as you enter the front door and make your way to the warm, welcoming interior, where you’re immediately greeted by an abundance of natural light filtering in through the bank of windows separating the kitchen, dining and living areas from the secure backyard.

Over time, as we’ve learned more about the unique needs of those diagnosed with dementia, the importance of environment has become increasingly clear. As cognitive function declines, routine and familiarity serve as touchstones that provide orientation and a sense of security – and few inputs are more powerful than an individual’s residential setting.

Based on that knowledge, and on firsthand experience with a variety of residential settings, The Mooring was designed to replicate the scale, atmosphere and warmth of a traditional home, inside and out.

Interior: welcome home

The Mooring was designed by Gawron Turgeon, an internationally recognized architectural firm with a long history of innovation in the creation of thoughtful, human-centric residential care facilities. Gawron Turgeon worked closely with The Mooring’s development team, and translated both tangible and intangible objectives into a warm, welcoming, effective and efficient care setting.

Built for a maximum capacity of twelve individuals, The Mooring’s floor plan is arranged around its shared living areas – much like a traditional residence. Individual living spaces feature a private bathroom and bedroom area furnished with the housemate’s own personal effects, including the bedroom set, art, personal photographs and other mementos that make the space feel like home. Each room features three large windows with clear views of the surrounding woods and wildlife, which brighten the space and enhance the sense of calm familiarity.

Each of the twelve residential suites opens onto shared living space, including the open kitchen and dining room, lounge areas and the activity room. These community spaces provide the opportunity to socialize, work on a group or individual project, take a meal or to simply relax and enjoy the view through the walls of windows bordering the porch, patio and gardens just outside.

In addition to our shared living spaces, The Mooring also has a designated day spa, where housemates can enjoy beauty treatments, whether for special events or as part of a welcome routine. Our laundry area, situated just behind the kitchen, lends to The Mooring’s familiar atmosphere, while also affording us the flexibility to address each housemate’s everyday needs.

Exterior: natural beauty

Few areas of The Mooring are more appreciated than our secure backyard. As weather permits, housemates, often accompanied by family members and friends, are free to stroll, work in our raised garden beds or enjoy a relaxing break in the spring, summer or fall sun. And while we’re more likely to fire up the grill during the warmer months of the year, the appetite for barbecue is alive and well all year ‘round.

The setting for The Mooring was deliberate. Our vision always acknowledged the importance of nature in the lives of our housemates, and the spacious backyard was always considered an essential element. Beyond the garden, views extend into the forest, where seasons are marked by foliage, and wildlife is active all year long. And despite the impact of progressive dementia, housemates identify with our natural surroundings, finding familiarity, serenity and security in vistas that continually change – while somehow remaining universal.

As a distinct specialty, the concept of memory care is relatively new. For decades, the impact of age-related dementia was addressed within the context of “elder care,” which glossed over the nuances of the countless mental and physical declines associated with aging. The designation also overlooked the fact that memory decline is sometimes diagnosed in people to whom the label “elder” simply doesn’t apply, with some patients first learning their diagnosis as early as their forties and fifties.

Over time, a greater understanding of dementia – and the unique needs of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of progressive memory loss  – has made it clear that at its best, memory care is highly specialized. At The Mooring, our unique approach to residential dementia care, curated through firsthand exposure to dedicated industry professionals in other outstanding memory care settings, sets us apart.

The Mooring is, in effect, the culmination of a career’s-worth of on-the-job observations by founder Lynn Peel. Over the course of her nearly two decades of experience in and around residential care settings, Lynn developed a keen sense of best practices to maintain an ever-evolving wish list that formed her vision of the ideal memory care facility.

As her career progressed from direct caregiving and administration to residential care consulting, Lynn spent more and more time with families of dementia sufferers, guiding them in their pursuit of ideal residential living options. Lynn’s familiarity with residential facilities throughout northern New England allowed her to match families with facilities and professionals she knew and trusted. And while Lynn was always confident in the quality of her recommendations, she remained aware that the facility she envisioned did not yet exist. Armed with experience and knowledge, Lynn decided to bring her vision to reality – and The Mooring took shape.

Over the course of The Mooring’s development, Lynn and her team handpicked the project’s vital resources. To bolster their experience, they turned to:

• The design and architectural services of Gawron Turgeon, an award winning firm with a demonstrated track record in innovative, human-scale residential care design;
• Therapy and programming consultation from a select group of trusted memory care professionals, each contributing his or her best practices to produce the protocols that now guide each housemate’s individualized therapy regimen;
• Insights from successful field care models, including Eden Alternatives and the Greenhouse Model, to align The Mooring’s infrastructure, aesthetic, flow and resident care philosophy into a cohesive program;
• Staffing experts, who helped to translate The Mooring’s team philosophy into defined care partner and administrative roles that reflected both our high staff-to-patient ratio and our goal of long-term employee retention.

In May of 2017, The Mooring at the Downs welcomed its first housemates. Scaled for intimacy, the facility was designed with twelve individual rooms, and a limit of no more than twelve housemates at any given time. From the very first day of operation, it was clear that The Mooring is different – a place where both housemates and their families felt welcome, comfortable and at home. Since then, our initial vision has taken shape, and the model for The Mooring has exceeded both our expectations, and those of the families we serve.