Brookdale University Park is an upscale continuing care retirement community in Birmingham that offers its residents an enjoyable lifestyle with a wide selection of care options to meet their changing needs.
Conveniently located off Lakeshore Drive, Brookdale provides a full range of care, including independent living, assisted living, Alzheimer’s and dementia care and skilled nursing and rehabilitation.
And that menu of offerings grew even larger earlier this year when Brookdale expanded with an exciting new addition to its facility.
The new Clare Bridge Crossings program is a stepping stone between home or assisted living and Clare Bridge Memory Care and is designed to support those living with early-stage Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
The new program “builds on the growing body of aging research that shows well-designed programs can help sustain mental functions often impacted in the early to early-middle stages of Alzheimer’s and other related dementias,” says Elizabeth Vise, Resident Program Manager at Clare Bridge Crossings.
The new facility includes unique building features, such as an exercise room, art gallery and resident-use kitchen, to help residents stay engaged and socially active.
“As a proactive discipline, the Clare Bridge Crossings program may benefit individuals whose symptoms are just starting to result in the need for additional cueing and care,” Vise says. “The Crossings’ daily path of activities features mind-and-body enhancing, socially engaging programs.”
These programs include art and music, gardening, outings, vigorous mental workouts using the latest technology and activities that recognize residents’ prior occupational skills, interests and hobbies.
“The Crossings specialized programming is designed to preserve self-esteem and enable those living with early dementia to remain engaged with peers when they might otherwise struggle socially — and be more susceptible to depression — in a traditional Assisted Living setting,” Vise says.
“We hope to create a positive, warm, happy environment for residents and their families to thrive and grow,” she says.
Clare Bridge Crossings offers numerous amenities, including “a beautiful spa” where residents are treated to weekly appointments, Vise says.
The spa is a place for residents to enjoy a calm, soothing sensory time with features like relaxing music, aroma air therapy and bathing and body lotions.
The facility’s lovely Conservatory, which features a screened porch, offers such fun, stimulating activities as gardening, bird watching and coffee chats, and will also host special events, such as church services, painting classes and musical performances.
The food served at Clare Bridge Crossings is very good, as well.
Dining in the Crossings encourages choice and participation to build self-esteem and help maintain autonomy, Vise says.
“Healthy and delicious meals featuring our optional Optimum Life brain-healthy menu help increase our residents’ nutritional health and decrease their risk for weight loss,” she says.
Clare Bridge Crossings is designed to “feel like home,” Vise says. “We want the residents and their families to feel a strong sense of community … [and] to create an atmosphere that is fun and exciting where something is always going on.”
Call 205-870-0786 to connect with one of our team members who would be delighted to help you plan your personal visit, brookdale.com.
