American House Senior Living is evolving its memory care program to meet the needs of older adults seeking senior living, moving to a model based on resident empowerment and personalization.
Through the company’s Living Well Memory Care Program, American House oversees more than 32 communities with standalone memory care properties, memory care neighborhoods or memory care unit components in each property across its 60-community portfolio. The company has significantly expanded memory care in recent years, according to American House National Director of Memory Care Ann Coda.
“Put the person before the process,” Coda said. “Operators should keep bureaucracy at arm’s length, offer innovative programs, staff clinicians who understand different dementias and provide robust education and support for families, going far beyond a monthly support group.”
In 2025, American House acquisitions included memory care and evolved its Living Well model . The program centers on person-focused care through four pillars: healthy nutrition, physical activity, social engagement and cognitive stimulation.
“Sound nutrition should apply to all of us, brain healthy nutrition across the board,” Coda said. “That should not be any different for someone who has a progressive dementia as it should be for someone who is cognitively intact.”
The program moves away from so-called deficit-driven care delivery – meaning a move away from what memory care residents ‘can’t’ do – and coordination toward a strengths-based model that takes a celebratory approach to each resident’s memory care journey. Culinary innovation sits at the center of Living Well, ensuring that nutrition and dining are sensory and “emotionally meaningful” parts of memory care. The team adapts events and activities for older adults living with dementia to expand programming for memory care residents.
To support these seismic changes in memory care, American House has enhanced recruitment and specialized memory care training for staff to ensure compassionate, dementia-specific care delivery and coordination. The company also personalizes resident engagement with occupation-based activities that draw on each resident’s life history and skills, Coda said.
These efforts aim to adapt to rising acuity levels across communities nationwide and to strengthen clinical partnerships that support residents at all acuity levels with non-traditional or younger-onset dementia.
“Clinically, cases have risen over the last 8 to 10 years,” Coda said. “The big challenge is finding the right clinicians and partners, especially in rural areas. Many of these dementias also show up in younger people.”
To move toward a more personalized engagement model, American House in 2025 launched the “Longevity League,” a program that honors centenarian residents who reach major age milestones to celebrate residents and their life achievements. The initiative moves beyond single-site recognition of residents who reach 100 years old and creates a larger companywide program.
The American House Leadership Academy, the company’s in-house innovation lab, identified the idea as a project, and the Longevity League includes shared stories, video interviews, life advice and “secrets to longevity,” according to Longevity League founder and American House Corporate Director of Life Enrichment Amy Wallace.
American House shares interview videos of Longevity League residents on social media and the company website with plans to expand the program as the population of American House centenarians grows, Wallace said, showcasing residents’ longevity, purpose and vitality. Residents can serve as ambassadors in various roles to help new residents acclimate to communities and help build relationships among residents.
“I feel like it amplifies the American house story in generating exciting PR buzz by showcasing the vitality, spirit and legacy of our 100 year-old residents, I just feel like it just amplifies our story,” Wallace said.
To ensure memory care operations meet today’s needs, Coda said American House will continue to prioritize recruiting staff internally and externally to work in memory care communities. The company runs a training program for staff identified as potential future memory care leaders through specific training and mentorship.
In operations, Coda said the Living Well program also addresses a challenging aspect of memory care: adverse behavioral expressions of residents. Memory care leaders hold routine calls to “look beyond medication” toward finding the “whole picture” of a resident and the current care plan and engagement. When a resident exhibits adverse behaviors, staff assess the relationship with the resident’s family and the specific care plan, then adjust engagement or programming to better fit the resident’s needs.
“If redirection hasn’t helped, we loop in regional support and senior leaders. I’m proud of our hands-on, collaborative approach,” Coda said.
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