While science is still looking for a cure, local caregivers are adopting an intimate, detail-oriented approach for residents suffering from Alzheimer’s at a Kirkland retirement home.

Welcoming visitors to the Aegis Lodge at Totem Lake last Saturday, the assisted-care facility on 116th Avenue Northeast re-opened a specially renovated wing of its building, called “Life’s Neighborhood.” The secure facility of 11 rooms is designed to resemble a “large family home of the 1940s to encourage and environment of socializing in a nostalgic setting.”

Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable brain-wasting disease that typically affects the elderly and is the most common form of dementia. According to a 2006 United Nations report, it is estimated that 26.6 million people have the disease worldwide and the number could quadruple by 2050. Over one-third of Kirkland’s population was over 45 years old according to 2000 U.S. Census data, and over 10 percent was over 65 years old.

Consultant David Troxel, MPH, who has also written several books on looking after those who are suffering the effects of Alzheimer’s, was on hand to answer questions and offer copies of his latest book, A Dignified Life. Visiting with residents, family members and curious visitors, Troxel described the differences between certain types of dementia and Alzheimer’s and how best to manage care for those in that condition.

“Everyone who has Alzheimer’s has dementia, but not everyone who has dementia has Alzheimer’s,” he said.

Recognizing the symptoms and trying to engage them in activities are an important preventative treatment, he said. Common symptoms of Alzheimers are memory loss, using and understanding words, the ability to recognize familiar objects or remember tasks and the decline in motor skills or dexterity. Using an approach to stimulate the senses, Troxel and Aegis have set up the “Life’s Neighborhood” living residence for residents most in need of the additional care.

Treating and managing the symptoms of Alzheimers disease and dementia is a growing sector in the health-care industry as the so-called “baby-boomers” — a disproportionately large segment of the U.S. population — enters retirement. To match the increasing demand and improve their own business, retirement and assisted living concern Aegis Living has added a new feature to their assisted living care facility in Kirkland. According to an Aegis fees schedule, the typical cost of living at a residence there is around $2,800 per month. Headquartered in neighboring Redmond, the concept represents the company’s recent efforts to retain and offer specialized care to their residents.

In a brief tour of the concept, Aegis Lodge Marketing Director Andrea Knight detailed the suite’s numerous amenities, all oriented toward stimulating memories of a familiar setting or activity that the resident can actually take part in. An outdoor walking path with an aviary, a mailbox where staff delivers mail to residents and a bus stop and bench where the bus never comes — but a place where caregivers can engage the residents in a familiar, comfortable setting.

In the hallway, the staff had assembled “life skills stations,” or displays opposite their door that reflected a particular interest or passion of the resident.

Facing the entrance of man who once worked in the apparel business, a desk adorned with a typewriter, a writing tablet and black-and-white photographs evoking sport apparel lined the wall. Further down the corridor, a baby’s crib and a wardrobe including Knight’s own wedding veil, set to be used in her wedding ceremony next April, were on display. She said sharing and involving the residents in her real life gave them an interest they could relate and look forward to the next time they saw her.

“Working here, you share your life with the residents,” she said. “You make them part of your family.”