With Five Communities And Counting, Certus Aims To Grow Research-backed Memory Care Services

Certus Premier Memory Care is seeking to develop more research-based practices as it grows its services for the next generation of older adults living with dementia.

The Orlando, Florida-based company recently opened its fifth standalone memory care community, Certus Premier Memory Care Living at Dr. Phillips, in suburban Orlando, Florida.

The company was founded in the early 1990s and then spun off as a standalone memory care operator in 2015. Certus communities are all identical in design backed by Certus Institute, a research wing of the company that pairs with third-party organizations and academic researchers on dementia care research, while also piloting research-based programming and community design elements into memory care operations. 

The company has piloted things like circadian lighting systems, contrasting in-unit materials to ensure things are high contrast and using solid color flooring to prevent confusion and promote wayfinding for residents living with dementia, according to Certus Chief Research Officer Joshua Freitas. The company bases its operations on evidence and research, which informs practices as granular as wearing clothing with a more calming color palette for residents, Freitas added.

Certus communities include faux streetscapes with a shopping market, post office, movie theater, fitness center and salon.

After joining Certus, Freitas helped redesign the interiors of the communities, and embarked on a campaign to include resident input on future project design to achieve “therapeutic design” and lifestyle medicine principles from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Through the Certus Institute, Certus is able to pilot different things in operations to gauge whether they could have an impact on improving quality of life for those living with dementia. The company’s most recent pilot included findings that showed care staff could reduce problematic behaviors by residents by controlling room lighting aspects, brightening some areas while dimming others.

To expand the company’s ability to pilot more research-based initiatives in operations, Freitas said Certus is now pursuing grant funding, due to the high demand for education and research-backed operations in dementia care more broadly.

“We do have aspirations to grow just not super fast, but we’re actually seeing a huge shift into the need for education and research,” Freitas said.

To help fuel growth as development conditions remain tough, Freitas said Certus is in the process of launching the company’s own credentialing service for the Certus Institute based on core training from the company’s memory care program. For example, Certus is partnering with multiple health systems in Florida to ensure their campuses are “dementia-friendly.”

“We’re going into the emergency department and for all staff and we’re training the hospital on how to work with people with dementia,” Freitas said. “If you get everybody involved and provide a curriculum of understanding for everybody, it benefits our communities and residents.”

The company’s training program is also geared for caregivers and shares caregiver coaching to help families learn more about dementia.

Through the company’s wellness model known as social, physical, intellectual and nutritional (SPIN), Freitas sees opportunities to improve operations and quality of life for residents at Certus communities through social engagement and research-based programming.

“From dieting to programming, these are things we want to offer our residents twice a day,” Freitas said.

The company partners with third-party validation and verification service National Institute for Dementia Education to train, consult and review the company’s memory care practices. Certus is partnering with the University of Central Florida for a pilot of robotic animals, including cats, dogs and birds, in communities.

Certus recently received federal Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for its robotics program and it will be rolled out over the coming months.

Certus also uses its programming to reach older adults directly in their homes, helping to familiarize them with what services Certus can offer as acuity changes, from home health to community day programming.

“A big push for us this year is reaching older adults at home,” Freitas said. “Our goal is to make sure that transition from home to assisted living is smoother.”

Looking ahead, Freitas said operators should consider more non-pharmacological interventions that could improve quality of life for residents living with dementia.

“Yes, memory care is expensive, but I think that if we all take an initiative to roll out non pharmaceutical preventative measures, we can keep costs lower for families,” Freitas said.

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