For many with loved ones suffering from dementia, things can feel exceptionally gloomy. Isolation, confusion, and exhaustion mark their days as they care for a friend or family member with increasing cognitive decline. At Glenner Centers Town Square® in Chula Vista, both people with dementia and caregivers alike are offered a little bit of room to breathe.
When you first walk into the center, you don’t expect to see what’s in front of you. Inside of the 20,000 square foot building is an immersive, realistic replica of an entire 1950’s town, complete with a classic diner, a pub, a pet store, museum, beauty shop, department store, library, movie theater, and even a turf lawn at the center of it all. This is called the “Town Square®” and serves as a daytime care center for those suffering with memory loss. The point? To create an environment that helps participants feel comfortable and at ease, removing the oh-so-common sense of overwhelm and confusion that accompanies their disease.
“The main goal of Town Square is to help our participants to feel safe, enjoy each moment, and maintain their abilities,” says Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Tyburski. “We don’t view them from a lens of what they can no longer do, but rather what they CAN do.” The 1950s Town Square® design isn’t meant to “trick” participants into believing they are living in 1955, but rather to create a space that feels familiar, calming, and joyful. Given that long-term memory is often more accessible to people with dementia, when participants walk into a place that replicates the environments they grew up in, they are more likely to participate fully and feel at ease throughout their day.
The George G. Glenner Family Alzheimer Centers was founded in 1982 by George Glenner—a renowned scientist who discovered the Beta-Amyloid Peptide, a significant biological marker linked to Alzheimer's disease. He and his wife, Joy, opened the first center after receiving a call from a distressed caregiver. George and his wife knew at that moment that despite the growing progress in Alzheimer’s research, caregivers and patients needed support now. They opened their first center in Hillcrest with the understanding that a safe and engaging place for people with Alzheimer's to spend their daytime hours offers much needed support to everyone involved. Caregiver fatigue is real. Glenner Center's daytime care facility knows that, which is why they strive to give loved ones a little bit of their daily life back.
A journey into the past, for those who may not remember
The Glenner Centers Town Square® was designed to look like the 1950s for a reason. The majority of patients are in their 80s, which means the 50s was the time period when they experienced significant life events like graduations, marriages, and children. By choosing to replicate the look and feel of that time period, the creators are simulating an environment that feels familiar to participants and is linked to their long-term memory.
What sets the Glenner Centers Town Square apart even more is their use of immersive Reminiscence Therapy, a type of therapy that uses prompts from a person’s past to elicit memories. At the center, you’ll often see old movies running in the theater, 1950’s music playing in the background, or performers performing familiar pieces. Staff members trained in dementia care run workshops like painting, crafts, filing, or simple history lessons to jog the memory of participants and offer them opportunities for deep engagement.
The activities that participants have the opportunity to enjoy are encapsulated by the center’s signature program called S.P.I.C.E. Spice stands for Social, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Educational, and illustrates the categories that every single activity falls under. Last month, for example, participants had the chance to experience activities like bingo, pub games, sorting and filing, exercise, cosmetology, crafting, movies, “armchair travel,” mixology, puzzles, visual poetry, architecture and woodworking clubs, or jewelry making. The options for participants to explore their hobbies and interests are endless, bringing connection and engagement to everyone involved.
While in the wider society it might be more common for a person with dementia’s world to become smaller and more isolated, the Glenner Center Town Square® offers them the chance to expand. To make friends, socialize with others, participate in therapeutic activities, try things they haven’t in years, and explore their environment in a way that is intentionally designed for their safety, peace, and joy.
The Glenner Centers Town Square® is where participants and caregivers alike can find the brightness in their days again, and take their most profound journey of all—the one that brings them back into joy.