Birch and Spruce are our Assisted Living Cottages for residents with Alzheimer's disease or other memory disorders. These cottages are the first of its kind in Anchorage.
What sets the cottages apart from other assisted living apartments is that we tailored our home and our services to our residents' special needs - from room design to staff training, The result is a philosophy of caring for our residents like family.
The cottages are attached by a walkway to the Horizon House apartments, and the goal in its design was that a resident never feels lost. Everything about the cottages, from bathroom design to staffing has been determined by best-practice research on Alzheimer's building design and care planning.
Having the look and feel of a family home, the cottages are designed with "memory-triggers" so that a resident can come out of his or her room and immediately see what is going on, see familiar items such as a dining room table and wander easily to activities. Residents who want to get up in the middle of the night to make themselves a sandwich or have some conversation can do so in the company of trained team members.
Special features of the Birch and Spruce cottage include:
- Two large 10-bedroom cottages with private rooms
- A secure landscaped courtyard, patio and walking area
- Secured exterior doors to ensure resident safety
- Large "farm style kitchen" family/dining room
- 24-hour staff supervision
- Assistance with bathing, dressing and grooming
- Medications and health needs management
- Nutritious meals and snacks with mealtime assistance
- Specially designed programs and life skills activities
An emerging philosophy in the care for people with Alzheimer's is that services should be designed to fit the demands of the disease and not the other way around, That's what we've done in developing the cottages.
A guardian of a resident who lives in the cottages calls the facility "Fantastic." She no longer has to worry about her friend wandering away, getting lost or falling. The security she feels knowing that her friend is with trained staff in a secure and loving environment is a bit overwhelming. "I can't imagine a place that is more suitable or better run", states the guardian, "I lived everyday in fear, that feeling is gone."
For more information
To learn more about The Cottages, please call (907) 261-4140, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To find general information and specific health topics, visit our online
health library.