Kalwall Brightens Fading Memories

As recently as twenty odd years ago, nursing homes sometimes resorted to physically restraining residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Frustration, anxiety, and disorientation due to memory loss caused patients to become agitated easily and to roam -- sometimes out the door, down a stairway, or even off the property -- putting their very lives in danger. In New Canaan, Connecticut, however, dementia patients are not only free to move about, they are encouraged to walk right down Main Street.

Constructed inside the Waveny Care Center, this is a faux Main Street, circa 1959. Photographs of the actual Main Street, which still runs through downtown New Canaan, were used to design it. Residents stroll past or visit one- and two-story, brick-and-siding facades of a recreated barbershop complete with old-style striped pole, a bakery, a pocket-size general store. The cobblestone pavement below their feet is, in fact, a convincing replica wrought in soft carpet, thereby offering a measure of protection. Overhead, a translucent skylight fills the street scene with natural daylight that creates an outdoor feel. Real doors open onto Main Street; cheery shop windows, some astride planters of blooming flowers, reveal activities both structured and spontaneous within. Glass walls and doors cap either end of the 175-foot street; during nice weather, the doors open to enclosed gardens and courtyards.

The Village at Waveny Care Center and others like it are based on a simple idea: even when memory loss patients forget events just seconds old, their recollections of decades ago can be crystal clear. Though a recreation, Main Street's comforting, familiar surroundings cut through dementia's haze to trigger vivid, pleasant memories, in some cases inspiring residents to resume long-abandoned activities. The agitation or, perhaps worse, withdrawal from life caused by failing memory is reduced using what has been called "environmental therapy". Patients remain in touch with people and the world around them. Student volunteers from the adjacent junior and senior high schools help with activities such as walks and baking.

Of course, any illusion of a real street would be incomplete without some sky overhead. That's one of many reasons why the architecture firm of Reese Lower Patrick & Scott, Ltd. (RLPS) chose to daylight the entire area with a huge, 32-foot by 165-foot skylight from Kalwall. "Kalwall creates the ambiance of a Main Street," says project senior designer Eric McRoberts of RLPS. "You really feel as if you are outside, minus the glare of direct sunshine. It creates a very comfortable, soothing environment, important for minimizing agitation in dementia patients." Kalwall's energy efficiency also figured prominently at the facility. "Because Main Street is so large, we chose Kalwall for its structural integrity, quality of daylight, and because it had the highest U-factor."

Even though living at Waveny is not inexpensive -- one year can cost as much as $73,000 -- it still operates on a not-for-profit basis with all the budget restrictions that label implies. In addition to savings on monthly energy costs, Kalwall's design and sturdiness also reduce long-term cleaning and repair expenses. Since the panels are self-cleaning, normal rainfall creates a sheeting action to clean the surface. Kalwall is rugged, shatterproof, vandal-resistant, and maintenance-free, further lowering expenses over time by reducing capital outlays for replacement.

Waveny's approach to treating memory loss patients, which involves the design of their living quarters as well as Main Street, comes in part from research and almost accidental discoveries at other facilities. While the University of Connecticut is still evaluating the Center's success, the response from residents, their families, and staff is positive. The New York Times ran a story on the concept, a London newspaper is considering a feature, and CNN TV dedicated a piece entirely to the Village in their human interest news. Places like this make-believe downtown in New Canaan may be arriving on the scene just in the nick of time. Absent significant progress on disease prevention, treatment, or cures, aging baby boomers could generate a wave of some 14+ million Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and stroke victims by the year 2050.

Kalwall was proud to be part of an exciting and promising new type of senior care strategy; the Village's design won an award for RLPS from the AIA/AAHSA before it even left the drafting table. McRoberts calls Kalwall a "solid product" which he has used in several school projects. Besides Kalwall's translucence, energy-saving capabilities, and low maintenance, Kalwall got the nod for its "overall product quality".

Architect: Reese Lower Patrick & Scott, Ltd., Lancaster, Pennsylvania

For more information, contact:
Bruce Keller
Kalwall Corporation
1-800-258-9777