‘After going from crisis to crisis, Joan is finally in a place where they have the time and training to really help,’ said her husband, Terry, 76, a retired math teacher and businessman from Shoreview. ‘How many places can you get kicked out of? Let’s see, for us it was four in one year.’

Terry and Joan are pictured above in the photo by Minneapolis Star Tribune photographer David Joles. Joan lives at an Ecumen community called Prairie Lodge in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, that is providing a very specialized memory care service in its Summit House residence. Read the powerful Star Tribune story here as told by Warren Wolfe. We thank Joan for living at an Ecumen community and for Terry for sharing his family’s story for others.Every 72 seconds in America someone gets Alzheimer’s. And some people are so ravaged by the disease their mind leads them to do things they would never do otherwise, such as threaten to kill their loved ones or urinate on the floor. As Ecumen’s Janelle Meyers, who leads Ecumen’s Prairie says:

‘A resident isn’t trying to be nasty or disruptive. It’s the disease talking. If someone is screaming, they’re trying to communicate something. We need to figure out what that is. Drugs may be a good answer, but it should never be the first answer.’

Last week at Ecumen’s Leaderhip Conference, members of the Prairie Lodge team were honored for their innovation in creating Summit House and enhancing the lives of people (and their family members) who are dealing with the complexities of extreme behaviors caused by Alzheimer’s. They are helping us all achieve the Ecumen vision for ‘Changing Aging,’ We envision a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways.