Aspen Senior Day Care Center enhances lives for those with mild to moderate dementia | Provo News

No one understands the importance of family caregivers more than Julie Smith, director of the Aspen Senior Day Care Center.

For the past 11 years, Smith and Gary Staples, owners and administrators, have cared for people with mild to moderate dementia or other health issues that need help with better life experiences.

“The Aspen Senior Daycare Center offers a wonderful program and activities to help my mother stay busy and alert,” said Jamie Schwarts, a family caregiver.

Aspen is Utah County’s only senior day care center, offering seven hours a day of activities, exercise, meals, and more.

Smith said the center has a very set daily schedule and it is very detailed but consistent.

While the state requirements say you must have one assistant for every eight clients, Smith said that is too much. So each of your employees does not help more than four customers during the day.

Many of the activities could be geared towards a person’s interests. For example, a man who loved and taught golf in his earlier years now maintains his putting skills by using the center’s putting green.

“A woman loves to hunt and fish,” said Smith. “That’s all she’s talking about. So we talked about fishing. “

This week one of the learning segments will talk about favorite things. Smith said they are very careful not to talk about things that might upset customers.

For example, they would not talk about Prince Phillip, the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, because it makes customers worry or worry about people they might know, or sometimes death themselves.

“On Veterans Day, we broke it down to avoid stress and anxiety,” said Smith. “We just finished a chapter on rationing and women were talking about rationing their nylons.”

While most clients have short-term memory loss, they have great long-term memory, according to Smith. The music time plays a lot into these memories.

“Some customers can sing when they can’t speak,” said Smith. “Art speaks to them too.”

Some of the memory games involve listing 10 kinds of things like 10 kinds of cake or 10 things to bring you to the beach. They also talk about the history of things.

It’s about keeping your mind and body going and not just putting grandma or grandpa in front of a TV.

“It’s a fantastic place for people with dementia,” said Hyde Merrill. “They have constant games, activities, parties, and crafts. My wife comes out smiling every day. “

Smith said it wasn’t uncommon for couples to come. Often times, husband and wife age at the same time, with some of the same memory problems, and find it difficult for one to take care of the other.

While an elderly daycare is unusual in this area, Smith says there are many across the country. Before COVID-19, the center had around 30 customers. That decreased significantly when they had to close for two months.

Smith said some of their best months passed after they reopened from COVID, particularly May through December.

“My grandpa was with Aspen for several years after having his first stroke and suffering from dementia,” said Carson Ruiz. “He absolutely loved going there and told me so many memories he had of being there. I firmly believe that it was a big thing in his life and had a great positive impact on him. “

Many spouses work, according to Smith, and Aspen is a great option for caregivers to find a place to house their loved ones.

How do you know if your family member has dementia? Smith offers this test.

“Can you solve a problem in an emergency, such as a water leak or fire?” Said Smith. “Many of our customers don’t know where they are and need full-time support.

“We’re the service between home and assisted living,” said Smith.

To make sure that they are doing everything possible to keep their customers healthy, they need to check-in by the roadside and take customers’ temperatures every day. The bathrooms are cleaned after each use.

There is also prep time to prepare a client for the trip home. They’re given a meal around 3:15 p.m. so they don’t go home hungry, according to Smith, and bathroom routines are done so family members don’t have to worry.

“Many of our customers use walkers, wheelchairs, or need walking assistance,” said Smith. “Many of our exercises are sitting and dancing movements. Our customers train for two hours a day. “

Every day, Aspen offers physical fitness, socialization, cognitive thinking, and nutrition. While Aspen can’t help everyone, Smith looks forward to helping new clients and their caregivers make a change in their daily lives.

The Aspen Senior Daycare Center is open from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays. They are located at 3410 N. Canyon Road in Provo. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://aspenseniorcenter.org.