Memory Care Residents Thrive Outdoors at Ridge Crest
The Weston-Redding-Easton, CT Patch recently featured Ridge Crest at Meadow Ridge’s Memory Care. Read the article “They Thrive Outdoors” below or click here to read.
The Healing Power of Sunshine
The associates at Ridge Crest at Meadow Ridge know firsthand how beneficial the outdoors can be for Memory Care residents. They see it every time a resident steps into the courtyard.
“That sunshine is magic,” says Maura Nemer, Memory Care programming coordinator at Ridge Crest. “Watching them walk out into the courtyard is like watching someone walk outside on the first beautiful day of summer. That emotion for us only happens a few times a year. Our residents feel that every single time they walk outside and they hang onto that feeling.”
Award-Winning Memory Care in a Beautiful Setting
Ridge Crest provides award-winning Memory Care, Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation within Meadow Ridge, Redding’s premier continuing care retirement community. It sits on 136 hilltop acres, offering the perfect backdrop for any outdoor activity.
Ridge Crest’s courtyard is surrounded by extensive non-toxic landscaping and a walking path. During the warm months, Maura and her colleagues move as many activities outside as possible—lawn games, karaoke, social hours with live music, chair yoga, gardening and more.
“We adore our courtyard. It is our little sanctuary,” says Maura.
Nature’s Benefits for Memory Care
Research shows that being outdoors has tremendous physical and mental health benefits for everyone, especially seniors living with dementia. Nature has a calming effect, enhancing mood and reducing anxiety, which is a common dementia symptom. Outdoor activities can also stimulate cognitive function and help improve sleep.
The Ridge Crest team observes these benefits daily, especially when residents tend to the garden.
“Being out under the sun and in the earth grounds our residents,” says Maura. “We observe that taking a walk outside or getting their hands into the soil of our garden changes the direction of their mindset in that moment. Taking care of something and bringing life into their outdoor space gives them a sense of purpose that we cannot create the same way during our activities inside.”
A Healing Environment at Ridge Crest
“We’re fortunate to have a beautiful setting that naturally lends itself to be a healing environment,” says Ridge Crest Memory Care Director Adelino Barata. “Our team takes every opportunity they can to use the outdoors to promote engagement, healing and joy.”
Of course, associates are diligent about making sure residents stay hydrated and protected from over-exposure. But it is clear that both residents and associates alike look forward to a sunny, summer day.
Thriving in the Outdoors
“It is really wonderful and a privilege to watch the healing benefits that nature has for our residents,” says Maura. “They thrive outdoors.”