Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands places emphasis on caregiver mental health

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- In honor of World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month in September, Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands wants to make others aware of its day stay and respite care programs, which aim to improve the mental health of a caregiver who is caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or a dementia-related illness. Day stays are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the respite care program is available seven days a week, upon availability. Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands offers these programs to help families in the surrounding community and provides the day stay program free of charge on Wednesdays.

“Caregivers need to take care of themselves before they can take care of a loved one,” said Luis Carrillo, Executive Director of Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands. “The caregiver stress never stops when you are taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s, and it can be mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. Our day stay and respite programs allow caregivers to regroup and take some time for themselves without having to worry about if their loved one is being properly cared for.”

The programs were designed with the caregiver’s mental health in mind and are also an opportunity for future residents to experience the community and to ease into the transition process.

“Our day stays and respite care are our way of giving back to the community because we know the stress involved with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s,” said Jodie Massey, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Constant Care Family Management, the property management company for Autumn Leaves memory care communities. “It also greatly helps with the transition process if a person is planning on moving into our community. Spending time with our staff, other residents and participating in our daily activities allows them to build trust. We have received feedback from caretakers who have said that their loved one was more alert and stimulated during the evening on the days that they spent at Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands.”

“We have developed a researched-based engagement program called Inspired Connections that is exclusive to Autumn Leaves,” said Allison Hopkins, Ph.D., Director of Life Engagement for Constant Care Family Management. “The program consists of six levels of engagement that include artistic expression, physical activity, spiritual support, community connection, continuing education and lifestyle and leisure. Often times when residents come to us they are malnourished and socially isolated. After participating in this program, something magical happens. The scheduled activities reinforce cognition, motor functions and brain stimulation. We are providing quality of care, quality of life and a sense of purpose.”

Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands will conduct an initial assessment with your loved one and ask for medical consent from their personal doctor in order to evaluate where the person is in their disease process. It is very important to understand the person and make sure that the community can meet all of their needs.

“Our staff goes through a rigorous training program that involves 28 hours before they even begin work in the community, and a total of 40 hours within the first 60 days followed by 8 additional hours every quarter,” said Massey. “It is extremely important for our nurses to be trained on the different forms of dementia and how to properly care for someone living with dementia.”