PORTSMOUTH—
The Mark Wentworth Home in Portsmouth has earned the nationally recognized, Excellence in Care Distinction from the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) for the nineteen-bed Garden Place Memory Care Program. The Home’s Program, which is only one of the Assisted Living services available at the residence, is the first in the Maine and New Hampshire Seacoast areas—and is one of only two memory care programs in New England—to have earned the distinction.
The Excellence in Care program is an AFA initiative created to establish a nationwide standard of excellence in care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.
The program, which was created with the input of dementia and Alzheimer’s industry experts, consists of a comprehensive on-site evaluation of participating programs and ongoing consultation on strategies to achieve established standards for quality of care and to sustain performance. Key areas of review include: environment, education, staff-client interaction and programming geared toward memory care initiatives. Only the care settings that successfully reach the standards established by this initiative will earn the status of Alzheimer's Foundation of America Excellence in Care Dementia Program of Distinction.
The Mark Wentworth Home’s Garden Place Memory Care Program is lead by Assisted Living Administrator Verna Brewer, RN, and coordinated daily by Sandra Osborne, LNA, and Suzanne Rapozza, RN; each of whom earned the designation of Dementia Care Specialist from the Foundation. More than twenty members of the Mark Wentworth Home’s Enrichment and Licensed Care Staffs have earned the distinction of Dementia Care Professional by participating in a specialized AFA certification process.
More information about the Mark Wentworth Home’s Garden Place Memory Care Program and the Excellence in Care Distinction can be found on the Home’s website at www.markwentworth.org.
Returning in mid February of 2012, the Home’s series of informational and support sessions for families of loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia is open to the public. Session dates will be posted on the website.
Photo caption: Members of the Garden Place Memory Care team with Garden Place Coordinator Sandra Osborne, LNA, DMC (back row, center) and Mark Wentworth Home Executive Director Debbie Rodier (front row, left) proudly display the “Excellence in Care Distinction” plaque. (Courtesy photo)
