NPR Story Highlights Ecumen Awakenings Approach to Dementia Care

Ecumen Awakenings™ once again received national attention for its innovative approach to dementia care.

This week National Public Radio (NPR) aired a three-part series on the dangers of medicating elderly dementia patients with antipsychotic drugs.  The third segment — titled “This Nursing Home Calms Troubling Behavior Without Risky Drugs” — focused entirely on Ecumen Awakenings™ as an example of a better way to care for those with Alzheimer’s.

NPR Reporter Ina Jaffe visited Ecumen Pathstone Living in Mankato to take a first-hand look at how Awakenings works.  “It seems residents can always find something to do around here,” she reports. “That can help to relieve the agitation common in some people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia — agitation that in other nursing homes might be managed with antipsychotic drugs.”

Click on the audio report below, or go to NPR for the written report.  Also click here to see more stories on Awakenings that have appeared in the media.