Special Homes Aid Alzheimer’s Patients

Michael Grace will never forget the day he brought his mother, Louise Grace, home from the hospital, and found she could only hold a thought for a few seconds at a time.

“It is a panic situation,” Grace said. “It’s like waking up in the morning with both your arms cut off. What do you do? You think, ‘I’ll telephone for help,’ then you realize you can’t reach a phone. That’s what it’s like--there is no help at all.”

Louise Grace had been an active, independent woman who played golf just a few weeks before. Her dementia, thought to be caused by a stroke during heart surgery, posed a dilemma for her son, who was loath to place her in a nursing home.

Michael Grace is one of about a dozen people who have turned to Aggie LeBoeuf to find care for elderly relatives left helpless due to memory impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. LeBoeuf, a nurse and public health specialist, three years ago opened her first home for Alzheimer’s patients in Granada Hills, one of a growing number of such homes designed to be an alternative to traditional nursing homes.

LeBoeuf now operates two private group homes in Granada Hills, and is looking for property to open a third in the same area.

Unlike most nursing homes, which LeBoeuf said are designed to meet the needs of the frail and bedridden, the homes are tailored for disease that ravages the mind more than the body.

“Many Alzheimer’s patients are in good health; it’s not appropriate for them to be in nursing homes,” said LeBoeuf. “The stark white walls, the noises that resound--these things are disorienting,” she said.

About 150,000 people in Los Angeles County are estimated to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-impairing conditions, said Debra Cherry, a clinical psychologist and program director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Alzheimer’s Assn. A wide range of institutions are available to help families cope with the disease, but group homes such as LeBoeuf’s are becoming increasingly popular. A handful have opened in Southern California, she said, including ones in Orange County and a new one scheduled to open soon in San Gabriel.

The Granada Hills homes, both located within a few blocks of each other off Balboa Boulevard, at first appear to be ordinary houses. But a closer look reveals the locked iron gates that surround the property, allowing residents to wander freely without getting lost.

Inside, the decor is carefully calculated to help stimulate memory and protect residents’ safety. The furniture is typical of the ‘30s and ‘40s, a jukebox plays Frank Sinatra tunes, and the kitchen is barricaded behind wooden gates.

Although Alzheimer’s patients are not expected to recover or improve significantly, a familiar environment can help improve their ability to perform basic tasks such as bathing, and can help calm the anxiety and agitation that sometimes accompanies the disease, LeBoeuf said.