Ten senior citizens sit quietly in white plastic chairs arranged in a half-circle. Some have their arms crossed and are silent. Others chat softly with their neighbors. A few have their eyes closed, possibly taking a catnap or enjoying the 1940s music that is playing.
One woman wanders by the room for the fifth time in the last 15 minutes. She is waiting for her daughter and granddaughter; they are a half-hour late.
With the assistance of a young woman, a man referred to as Harry heaves a rubber bowling ball toward 10 plastic pins about 20 feet away. They all fall down. The audience cheers and claps.
These senior citizens, nearly all with Alzheimer’s disease, have found a place that caters to their specific needs. New Perspective-Wheeling is a state-of-the-art residential facility designed for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The 7,000-square-foot structure, which opened in June and houses 16 residents, is the first such facility in Illinois.
“It’s a unique housing setting for older adults. It’s more like a home than any other alternative out there,” says Diane Bjorkman, 36, of Buffalo Grove, co-owner and operator of the Wheeling facility. “Everything that takes place is just much more like a group living setting.”
According to the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 4 million adults in the U.S. at any given time. In Cook, Kane, Lake and DuPage Counties, 100,000 people have the disease.
The progressive, degenerative disease attacks the brain and impairs memory, thinking and behavior. Confusion, personality and behavior change and impaired judgment are all symptoms of the disease.
Jim Spiro, president of the Chicago area chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said homes like New Perspective fill a great void.
“It’s possible for a person with Alzheimer’s at some nursing homes to not be doing pretty much of anything and vegetate,” Spiro said. But at places like New Perspective, “the patient is more easily adjusted to different surroundings. More of their mental and physical abilities are being utilized.”
Modeled after seven existing New Perspective homes in various areas of Wisconsin, the Wheeling facility provides 24-hour care and has a staff of 15. There are daily activity programs, including exercises and games that are tailored to Alzheimer’s patients’ needs.
Private rooms cost $3,300 a month, while double rooms are $2,870. Neither Medicare nor Medicaid will pay any of that cost.
New Perspective is nestled on five acres in Wheeling and from the outside looks like a large one-story house. But the physical design of the facility, which was built specifically for New Perspective, is geared toward individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
According to Bjorkman, the interior of the home is designed in a square with open areas to allow residents to freely and safely wander. The walls are done in light colors to contrast with the dark carpeted floors. This makes residents more aware of the walls, reducing the chances of bumping into them.
An enclosed courtyard with a patio design that includes chairs, table and an umbrella enables residents to observe the changing of the seasons-to see rain, sun and snow.
“You concentrate on their abilities, not their disabilities,” said Suzanne Larson, president of New Perspective of Wisconsin and one of three other partners with Bjorkman in the Wheeling location. “In an environment such as we provide, their abilities shine.”
Larson, who opened her first home in 1987 in Mequon, Wis., said homes like New Perspective have existed for about 10 years nationally. There are similar facilities in Florida, Oregon and Arizona.
According to Larson, the public has needed these kinds of homes for more than 10 years, but society is just recently starting to respond. She said this is due to a greater awareness, as well as changing perspectives on the longevity of life.
“People with dementia for years just weren’t recognized. It was `hardening of the arteries’ and `they are getting senile,’ ” Larson said. “That whole focus has changed tremendously.”
Two more homes, which also will house 16 residents each, are under construction on the Wheeling site. They are expected to be completed in March 1995.
April, 39, who asked that her last name not be used, brought her 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Rebecca, to visit April’s mother at New Perspective on a fall afternoon.
“It’s a home. There are things to do,” April said. “They treat people like they just live here in a house. It’s not a nursing home at all. It’s nothing like a nursing home. Everybody here is like a family.”
April, her mother’s only child, decided to place her mother in New Perspective after a series of irregular and dangerous behavior problems that began about a year ago.
In a period of several months, her mother bought a car and then wanted to return it upon arriving home, locked herself out of her home, passed out on a bus, and was unable to find her way home to Lincolnwood from Chicago.
“I probably should have done something sooner, but it’s very, very hard,” said April, who works as a medical technologist and lives with her husband, Tom, and Rebecca in Glenview. “I felt like I was taking away her life and her right.
“But I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I did the only thing I could. I had to keep her safe.”
Stories like this convince Bjorkman she chose the right career.
“I think I just enjoy working with people and with people who have special needs,” said Bjorkman, who is married and has a 5-month-old daughter. “I just think I have a passion for people and I really feel that.”
In 1990, Bjorkman, who ran a consulting business in which she assisted older adults or their family members in locating long-term care facilities, happened on the idea for New Perspective-Wheeling when the family of an elderly woman hired her to find a home for Alzheimer’s patients in Wisconsin. What she found was New Perspective in Brown Deer, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee.
“I pulled over at McDonald’s on the way home and I called my husband, and said, `This is what I want to do,’ ” Bjorkman recalled.
Back at the home, the group is now eating lunch.
April’s daughter, Rebecca, is the star attraction as the residents one by one play with her. She giggles and laughs, bringing smiles to each of their faces. But in the end, the blond-haired, blue-eyed child seems to know she is there to see her grandmother and gravitates toward her.
The child is unaware that an hour earlier, her grandmother had been wandering and waiting for her and her mother. No matter. The grandmother’s smile says it all: They were worth the wait.
