GOVERNMENT: PROGRAM TO HELP ALZHEIMER'S CARE

A new state-regulated program will enhance Alzheimer's patient care at one Cape Girardeau facility by providing social-based care for patients, a statewide networking system for staff and a new licensure category for the home.

The Lutheran Home for the Aged, 2825 Bloomfield Road, was one of 16 facilities chosen to participate in the program, which will focus on a social model of care for Alzheimer's patients instead of the typical institutional medical model used at many nursing homes.

"It's a brand new project. What they're attempting to do is bring some major changes in the treatment and care of individuals with Alzheimer's in Missouri," said Janice Unger, administrator of the Lutheran Home.

The program is a first step in establishing a new state licensure category for long-term facilities that provide care for Alzheimer's patients.

Currently, many facilities treat Alzheimer's patients but cannot promote themselves as Alzheimer's care facilities. The new licensure category will allow them to do so as long as the facilities meet certain state requirements.

Jerry Nachtigal, director of communications for Gov. Mel Carnahan, said the program came about because experts determined that traditional nursing homes aren't necessarily the most appropriate setting for Alzheimer's patients.

Designs in the carpets or long hallways can disturb or frighten Alzheimer's patients, he said, and homes involved in the pilot program will be constructed or modified to suit the needs of people with Alzheimer's.

"As a knowledge of care for Alzheimer's patients has grown, these conclusions have been drawn about how best to care for Alzheimer's patients," Nachtigal said. "The problem in Missouri is that our state law really didn't provide the proper licensing for setting up Alzheimer's-specific facilities."

Nachtigal said many homes do the best they can to care for Alzheimer's patients, but the pilot homes, which will not receive any additional state funding, will shift focus of care to a more social model.

"Nursing homes, for the most part, are set up to care for folks with debilitating and kind of long-term aging-related illnesses, whereas many of your early to mid-stage Alzheimer's patients can still readily interact with others," he said.

The social model is intended to delay a patient's mental decline by stimulating their social skills and interaction because for most Alzheimer's patients, mental confusion is more debilitating than medical problems.

The Lutheran Home, unlike some of the other homes involved in the program, is already set up as an Alzheimer's care facility, having had a program since December 1989.

For instance, the home's Alzheimer's unit has additional staff to care for its patients and is equipped with electronically controlled exits and closed-circuit monitoring. The unit has 32 beds, all of which are filled.

But, Unger said, she applied for the program knowing that it is essential to learn as much as possible about Alzheimer's care.

"I got involved because I thought it was a way to learn from other experts in the field what we can do in our facility and in our area to help Alzheimer's patients," she said.

"I'm confident that all our efforts put together will bring some lasting changes to the care and treatment of individuals with Alzheimer's. The day you hang it up is the day you don't learn anything."