Northern Kentucky dementia patients may be able to stay closer to home with the addition of a new facility.
A local residential assisted living company, Sages of All Ages, is asking Fort Mitchell for a zoning change. The Kenton County Planning Commission recommended the zoning change in September and now needs the OK from Fort Mitchell, where the business would be located. At the October Fort Mitchell city council meeting, Sages of All Ages owners presented their business plan and council heard a first reading of the proposed zone change.
Sages of All Ages would provide residential assisted living for dementia patients. Business partners Crystal Wilmhoff and Marky Kennedy own the company. To operate this facility, they are asking for a zone change on General Drive.
The area is currently a business park zone. Sages of All Ages is requesting it be changed to a community commercial zone. According to the Planning and Development Services of Kenton County, a community commercial zone could include an “architecturally unified development [ . . . ] at a small scale.”
“I consider this a small change,” Edwin King, Fort Mitchell city administrator, said.
LINK asked Sages of All Ages owners Wilmhoff and Kennedy about their business model.
“Our home will be licensed for dementia care,” Wilmhoff said. “The residents will be of varying stages [of dementia] and have varying abilities to participate [in planned activities].”
Planned activities and consistent social interactions are a significant part of their philosophy at Sages of All Ages.
“Instead of focusing on the end project—a completed cookie, painting or craft—the focus is on participation in whatever capacity they can,” Wilmhoff said. “Often physical activities will trigger memory and activate parts of the brain that are locked otherwise.”
LINK asked Dr. Rhonna Shatz, division director for Behavioral Neurology at the University of Cincinnati and dementia expert, about how social environments affect dementia patients. Shatz said she was speaking as a general dementia expert and was not commenting directly on this project.
“There are studies showing benefits to cognition and activities of daily living with combined physical and cognitive tasks,” Shatz said. “In addition, activity variety rather than social contacts also associates with better cognition.”
At the October council meeting, Wilmhoff said that Sages of All Ages would serve to “keep Kentucky money in Kentucky.” LINK asked her to expand on that.
“Currently, Kentucky families are sending their seniors over to northern Cincinnati for residential assisted living homes,” Wilmhoff said. “Ours would be one of the first of its kind here in Northern Kentucky.”
This is one reason that the Kenton County Planning Commission was in favor of the zone change. Families of patients from Northern Kentucky would have the opportunity to visit their loved ones more often. Shatz said that this can have a positive influence on both patients and family dynamics.
“A key reason for independent living is to restore the normal relationships among family members and individuals with dementia that have been overshadowed by caregiving duties,” Shatz said. “Regular visits by family members also help the staff know more intimately about the individuals in their care and provide more personalized interactions.”
At the October council meeting, Wilmhoff also spoke about the specifics of the proposed facility.
The campus would include “as much green space as possible.” Staff chefs will prepare dietician-approved meals. In terms of structures, there will be 2 buildings, each with 16 bedrooms. This would allow each resident their own private bedroom and bathroom.
LINK followed up with Shatz on the effects of independence on dementia patients.
“In milder [dementia] stages, when awareness of the environment is still maintained, the preference for privacy may be desired and safe,” Shatz said.
Wilmhoff explained what stages their facility will serve.
“Our residents will need varying help with their activities of daily living,” Wilmhoff said. “[This] will enable them to age in place and have hospice services at the end. The only reason they would have to leave would be if they become so medically involved that they need skilled nursing.”
Fort Mitchell city council will hear a second reading of the proposed zone change.