The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence, Hardin Valley, is being purposely designed to address specific Alzheimer’s and memory care concerns and behaviors, to allow residents to live as meaningful and joyful lives as possible.
The community is under development at 2433 Reagan Road in Knoxville, next to the current Morning Pointe of Hardin Valley Assisted Living and Memory Care. It is on track for an early 2025 opening.
Alzheimer’s Support Strategies
The Lantern will feature 60 apartments with two distinct levels of memory care. Along with the traditional Lantern wing already on the campus (which is designed for more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia), the new community will add Morning Pointe Senior Living’s signature early-stage memory care wing, Lamplight.
The new Lantern community will expand the Hardin Valley campus as the original community becomes assisted living-only. The Lantern will include purposeful spaces and designs, stage-appropriate environments and approaches and programs that have been shown effective with the Alzheimer’s and dementia population. These include the Best Friends™ Approach, Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach™ to Care, Meaningful Day™ purposeful programming, music therapy, art therapy and cuddle therapy. Care staff will be specially trained in dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Greg A. Vital, Morning Pointe Senior Living co-founder and president, shared: “Alzheimer’s is a very hard disease on seniors and on their families, and as Alzheimer’s is affecting more and more seniors, we are increasing our commitment to supporting these individuals and their families. We want to help them through the disease process and provide the best quality of life for these mothers, fathers, grandparents, and long-time contributors to our wider communities. They deserve the best care and research-based approaches to helping them live the rest of their days with dignity and a sense of well-being.”
Distinctions Between Care Levels
In early-stage Alzheimer’s, loved ones may notice memory loss that disrupts daily life, challenges in planning or solving problems, difficulty completing familiar tasks, increasingly relying on memory aids (notes) and family members for things, or making financial mistakes. Advantages of early-stage memory care communities include clinical and care staff on-site to assist with medication administration and medical appointment scheduling. Associates ensure residents are having their nutritional and grooming needs met, using an approach that allows an appropriate measure of independence with assistance where needed. The Lamplight wing will also be a large, expansive environment where residents can engage in lively activities that stimulate brain function to help residents find social connections and (in some cases) slow the progression of the disease.
Beth Janney, RN, director of memory care for Morning Pointe Senior Living, pointed out that individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer’s or other dementias tend to isolate rather than continue to engage in the socialization and activities they enjoy. “We provide residents with a safe environment for being themselves wherever they are cognitively,” Janney shared. “They absolutely blossom, and they start living life again.”
In later stages of Alzheimer’s, families may notice their loved one withdrawing from social activities, becoming confused with time and place, having trouble understanding visual images and spatial relations (such as judging distance well or identifying colors). They may have problems following or joining a conversation, repeat themselves or stop in the middle of a conversation and not understand how to continue. They may also experience changes in mood and personality. Memory care communities can address these issues with safe and calming responses in environment and interactions. They establish routines and employ gentle redirecting.
More About the Hardin Valley Campus
Services and amenities at both Morning Pointe communities in Hardin Valley will include:
- Licensed nurses providing oversight of health, wellness, and medication management
- Single-level living
- Licensed, clinical, and care staff available 24 hours a day
- 24-hour personalized care services
- Medication assistance and reminders
- Periodic check-ins
- Personal grooming assistance, such as bathing or getting dressed
- Assistance with transferring to a bed or chair
- Escorting to meals and events
- Incontinence management
- On-site occupational, physical, and speech therapy
Programming campus-wide will include a variety of life enrichment such as arts and crafts, wellness offerings like exercise classes, and intergenerational activities, including partnering with local schools. Residents will also benefit from Morning Pointe’s Farm to Table program with local, farm-fresh and seasonal ingredients.
Founded in 1997 by healthcare entrepreneurs Greg A. Vital (president) and J. Franklin Farrow (CEO), Morning Pointe Senior Living operates assisted living and Alzheimer’s memory care communities in five southeastern states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama and Indiana. Other locations in the greater Knoxville area include Clinton, Knoxville, Lenoir City and Powell.
The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence, Hardin Valley will be the 41st Morning Pointe Senior Living community.
The philanthropic arm of Morning Pointe Senior Living is the Morning Pointe Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to provide clinical scholarships and caregiver support.
