It was while reading through one of her resource books that Kassandra King discovered the term “rementia.”
Originating in the United Kingdom, the term refers to establishing wholeness to someone suffering from cognitive impairment; the returning of one’s personhood, regardless of how much they’ve changed. With 25 years of experience in long-term care, King has given extensive talks on the subject and now wants the lakeside community to know about it.
King is committed to making a difference in the lives of seniors, so she started Lifestyle Support Services. She works with clients, mostly those affected by cognitive impairment, assisting them to make informed choices. The inspiration for her book, “Getting Real About Alzheimer’s,” came from being a licensed nursing home administrator and working as the Program Manager for Engagement at Oakdale of La Mesa, one of California’s largest memory care communities.
Hailing from San Diego, California, 52-year-old King arrived in Ajijic last September after scouting out other Mexican towns.
“Having been a single mom for 28 years, when my youngest graduated from high school I figured it was time to see how people lived south of the border,” she says. “In January 2017, I flew to Mazatlan, looking for the most likely location to offer my services of education and guidance; particularly an expat community lacking the resources for an aging population.”
King discovered a huge need in Mazatlan, but not wanting to deal with the summer heat, she headed to Pachuca in central Mexico where a Mexican friend teaches English. There, she found the town devoid of expats.
After doing online research about the largest expat community in Mexico, the lakeside area popped up. On a whim, while heading back to Mazatlan, she stopped at lakeside and saw that it was a good match for what she had to offer.
“With lakeside’s social structure already in place with a built-in, aging population, I realized this is the place to spread my message about rementia. The U.S. and Canada have nonprofit educational organizations, but we don’t have anything like that here. In the U.S., I worked for two branches of the Alzheimer’s Association doing education and advocacy, and we could use a collaborative effort like that at lakeside.”
She continues: “The cost of long-term care in the U.S. is simply not affordable for most families. Many people fall into the income ‘crack’ where they don’t qualify for Medicaid and can’t afford the US$6,000 to 7,000 per month for long-term care.”
King sees Mexico as a realistic option for Americans to get their long-term care needs met. She also sees a need to educate the locals about Alzheimer’s disease, along with the need for more care facilities.
King has plans to teach classes at Lake Chapala Society based on the rementia theory. “I want to offer education and training for caregivers and the community at large. I also want to see society look at new approaches rather than the fixed way of fear, denial and avoidance.”
Having been a nursing home administrator and witnessing the conditions that exist in nursing homes is what got King passionate about cognitive decline and brain conditions. “Even in places where people are spending lots of money to live, the staffing ratio is way out of proportion to the level of care needed. I see neglect in both the private pay sector and the government-funded Medicaid facilities. Many cognitive impairment patients know they’re being neglected and are aware, maybe even more acutely, of the negative attention. Seeing this broke my heart.”
King notes significant differences between the U.S. care communities and those at lakeside. “In the U.S., the average ratio of staff members to residents assigned to a shift is, on the average, one to ten. The night staff can be as low as one to 20. Based on what I’ve seen, the ratio at lakeside is about one to five. I also see how many Mexican facility owners are directly involved, and how seniors are generally treated better because of Mexico’s inherent cultural reverence and tenderness toward their elders.”
Where she sees room for improvement is in education, training, and closing the language barrier gap. “The Mexican staff needs to speak more English. Also, there are no distinct memory care facilities here. The facilities are secure because they’re behind huge gates but are not necessarily designed for balance, depth perception and visual-spacial relationship changes in those with cognitive impairment. Because of my background, I’m able to offer feedback about what works and doesn’t work in all areas of a residential care community.”
Along with working with individual clients, King is interested in partnering with owners, churches – anyone interested in developing programs and services, such as day programs, volunteer groups and memory care communities, specifically for those with Alzheimer’s and related forms of memory loss. “I’m looking for people who want to join forces to create new possibilities, so that seniors don’t have to return to the U.S. for long-term care. I want them to have choices here at lakeside.”
Contact Kassandra King at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.