Founded in 2002, Memory Care Home Solutions serves the greater St. Louis community. Founder & Executive Director, Lisa Baron, discovered a gap in care partner preparedness when personally navigating the care partner role. As her family struggled with the daily challenges to support her mother-in-law, who had Alzheimer’s disease, Lisa observed the lack of individualized services to help families navigate the journey of caring for a loved one at home. In response, she founded MCHS with expert guidance from researchers and physicians at the Washington University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

MCHS was created to fill this void in knowledge, direct services, and caregiving skills. MCHS provides education, skill development, and support necessary for family care partners to successfully cope with the day-to-day requirements of caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.  Through MCHS’ core program, the Dementia Care Intervention, over 200,000 people have benefitted from by learning to take better care of their families touched with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

MCHS began by serving the St. Louis bi-state region. The service area has now expanded to include 61counties, spanning the eastern corridor of the state of Missouri and into Illinois.  Nearly all care recipients are older adults, with 90% over 60 years old. The agency specifically reaches out to underserved populations, providing service regardless of clients’ ability to pay. Most program participants (73%) are low-income with a household income of $40,000 or less.

In 2017, MCHS established the structure and procedures to begin Medicare and insurance invoicing for occupational therapy services, which helps to increase organizational sustainability. Also, in 2017, MCHS was awarded two multi-year grants: one from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and one from the Missouri Foundation for Health. This funding provides the resources to expand operations to rural counties in central and southeastern Missouri.

In 2018, MCHS integrated the COPE (Care of Persons with Dementia) program into the Dementia Care Intervention, increasing the number of occupational therapy visits from four to ten and enhancing both the dementia progression assessment and the family caregiving plan. MCHS also incorporated design elements from TAP (Tailored Activities for Persons with Dementia and Care Partners) and Skills2Care into existing care processes. COPE, TAP, and Skills2Care are all evidence-based dementia interventions proven effective in university-based studies. These strategies have demonstrated efficacy in reducing upset in care partners and reducing behavioral symptoms in persons with dementia–two steps toward alleviating depressing and socially isolating behavior in both populations. Additionally, MCHS has expanded support for care partners through the implementation of evidence-based Project Present in partnership with Mohr Improv. This initiative provides an outlet for light-hearted expression and social engagement for people with dementia, and it also provides a safe space for care partners to master new communication skills.