BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — Great news today for families throughout Boca Raton and nearby areas that are dealing with a loved one with memory loss. The Memory And Wellness Center at FAU is poised to expand.
Florida Atlantic University’s Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing recently received a commitment from Louis and Anne Green to expand the current facility on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.
“Louis and Anne Green’s support of the Memory and Wellness Center is amazing,” said Kathleen Valentine, R.N., Ph.D., director of the Center. “Their gifts continue to live through the people who are suffering from memory loss who spend their days with us, and through the caregivers who find support and respite here. We are deeply appreciative of the Greens’ generosity.”
Construction will begin in spring 2013 on a 5,000-square-foot building (under air) connected to the current Day Center via a covered walkway. The new building will house a large multipurpose room for Day Center activities and community education as well as a kitchen, an art studio, nurse practitioner and case manager offices and treatment rooms. The building is expected to be completed in late 2013.
“The Memory and Wellness Center serves as a vibrant learning laboratory for our nursing students and faculty as well as students from the College of Medicine, the School of Social Work, the Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion, the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, and more,” said Marlaine C. Smith, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., Helen K. Persson Eminent Scholar and dean of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. “Louis and Anne Green are not only positively impacting people suffering from memory loss and their caregivers on a day-to-day basis; they are supporting the education of those who will serve this population in the future.”
The Memory and Wellness Center averages 16,000 visits per year and offers a wide range of services and programs to individuals with mild to moderate memory disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. Visits begin with a comprehensive memory evaluation. The evaluation results often help diagnose a memory disorder and develop a treatment plan in cooperation with a patient’s physicians.
The Day Center provides an active and secure place for families to bring spouses or parents who are experiencing memory loss, and the caregiver support programs have a positive impact on life at home.
