The point is to recreate secure, nurturing, familiar home environments, enabling mid-stage AlzheimerÍs patients to remain engaged in and mentally stimulated by the comforting routines of normal daily life, Darin Hopping, Beverly Enterprises director of business strategy and development, said Monday. Hopping heads BeverlyÍs AlzheimerÍs Initiative, set up three years ago to develop and package a product line to meet the growing demand for AlzheimerÍs care.

The grand opening of BeverlyÍs newest unit was Tuesday at Beverly Health & Rehabilitation Center, 228 Pointer Trail West, Van Buren. By yearÍs end, the Fort Smith-based eldercare provider will have opened 82 units nationwide and plans more than 100 by the end of 2003, Hopping said.

AlzheimerÍs, a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, is the most common form of dementia, the AlzheimerÍs Association states.

BeverlyÍs units contain full kitchens, living and dining rooms, multipurpose activity rooms, courtyard/gardens and other amenities appropriate to each locale. ResidentsÍ individual 24-hour-a-day programs are designed to "give them purpose and meaning when they wake up each morning," Hopping said.

Developed in partnership with the national AlzheimerÍs Association, the program differs from what people are used to seeing in AlzheimerÍs care, he said.

Business Strategy and Development initiates a business plan, arranges facility renovation or expansion, oversees training and unit operations for up to six months, then rolls the new unit over to Beverly Healthcare, the nursing home operations overseen by Chief Operating Officer David Devereaux.

Average financial investment is $225,000 to $235,000, Hopping said. The remodeled 18-bed Van Buren unit ran about $160,000, Jim Griffith, senior vice president for corporate communication and investor relations, has said.

It opened July 22 with five patients and now has 13, said Unit Director Valerie Oliver. Due to its success, Beverly is considering expanding or adding a transitional unit to care for those whose disease progression requires total nursing care, Oliver said.

The focus is on treating the person rather than treating a disease with a person attached, Oliver said, adding, "WeÍre not just a locked hall. "

The garden is fenced and the exterior is locked to prevent wandering, but residents are encouraged to roam the entire unit. Independent activity is encouraged as well as structured program activity, she said.

"Some of the program principles are not brand new, but doing it on such a large scale is very leading edge," Hopping said.

How many units Beverly ultimately opens depends on need in particular markets and financial situations of individual facilities, Griffith said.

Four million to 6 million people are affected by AlzheimerÍs, and itÍs estimated that half of all nursing home patients have a form of dementia, Hopping said. The AlzheimerÍs Association says by 2050, 14 million Americans will have the disease. Most are diagnosed after age 65. Most live an average eight years after diagnosis. Average lifetime care cost is $174,000.

"What Beverly gets out of it (financially) is it helps us build census in the host facility," Griffith said of the new care approach.

The Van Buren unit is staffed by a nurse and two CNAs during days and evenings and a nurse and a CNA at night. A second night aide is planned, Oliver said. Oliver spends much of her time on the unit, too.

Staff training is titled "Enabling Freedom," and training is on-going, Oliver said. Staff and ancillary workers receive at least 20 hours training before entering the unit, Oliver said.

With some units open about two years, Beverly has asked the AlzheimerÍs Association to return to help redefine the program and aid in future training, Hopping said.

"ItÍs a continual learning process. We donÍt think we have everything perfect. ThereÍs always room for improvement," he said.