Through the work of the charitable organization Hilarity for Charity, Lauren Miller Rogen envisions a world where senior living providers offer increased support and engagement for older adults living with dementia and their caregivers.
Miller Rogen knows firsthand what it’s like to care for a loved one diagnosed with dementia. A new documentary film, Taking Care, details the journey of Miller Rogen’s family – including her husband, actor and comedian Seth Rogen, along with her father – after her mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
The film tells the story of Adele’s dementia journey using old home videos, with many bittersweet moments. It’s a reminder of all that Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia can bring – and a story of how her family was resilient in the face of adversity. Beyond that, it’s also a call to action for the dementia care industry as a whole to put families and people living with the disease first.
“For memory care providers specifically, I hope it highlights the need for empathy-driven care, where staff are trained to understand not just the disease, but the person behind it,” Miller Rogen told Memory Care Business. “I hope the film encourages industry leaders to prioritize a holistic approach to care that involves family education and emotional support.”
Miller Rogen, along Seth Rogen, founded Hilarity for Charity in 2012. Since then, the organization has raised over $23 million to support families and caregivers of those impacted by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
That support is provided through an in-home respite care program offering up to six months of care to family caregivers in need of a break. To date, it has granted 430,000 hours of caregiving services.
Hilarity for Charity has also expanded its work to educate young people on brain health, reduce the stigma around dementia, and promote healthy lifestyle choices.
“When caregivers are supported, they provide better care,” Miller Rogen said. “When they aren’t overwhelmed, they make better decisions. We hope that senior living providers will engage families in the care process by offering supportive services and educational programs.”
At present, the organization has an “executive circle” for senior living providers and care professionals to further their dementia caregiving capabilities and provide expanded education offerings for senior living providers in order to “champion impactful change for patients and families,” Miller Rogen said.
Caregiver support, advanced detection key to future of dementia care
In the last four years, many senior living providers have grappled with the higher acuity nature of today’s senior living residents, with some operators tackling the problem by expanding or launching new memory care programs and developments to support families in their target markets.
Recent technological advancements, including the ability to test for indicators of Alzheimer’s disease via blood tests and the proliferation of artificial intelligence in identifying signs of dementia sooner, have led Miller Rogen to believe that access to dementia care will widen in the coming years.
“We are starting to see virtual telehealth services specifically for the neurodegenerative community, enabling individuals to access care from home, reducing stress on families, and improving access in remote areas,” Miller Rogen said. “I’m so glad to see a growing emphasis on the emotional well-being of caregivers and supporting that as a community.”
Platforms providing virtual caregiver training and peer support with dementia-specific resources, along with non-drug therapies including music, reminiscence, and art therapies, are some of the areas Miller Rogen sees “gaining traction” with senior living providers now and into the future.
Behavioral health and dementia care startup Rippl recently received $23 million in additional investment to further its digital dementia care programming, with the goal of expanding to new states and providing additional virtual dementia care support for patients and caregivers.
“This is a specialty that requires a specialized approach,” said Rippl co-founder and CEO Kris Engskov during an advanced screening of the film at this year’s NIC Fall Conference. “We have got to invest in the clinical capability necessary to take care of these patients.”
This integration of sensory therapies is something currently being used by memory care operators like Silverado, and CEO Loren Shook said the organization is “excited” about a new product that emits 40 different scents during the night as a dementia patient sleeps, which improves their senses, Shook said.
“There are so many tools we have today, in addition to what we already do. Just doing what we already do in a brain-healthy environment is already improving people’s cognition, and I don’t think this industry even knows it,” Shook said during the NIC panel discussion.
These types of non-drug therapies have been proven to reduce anxiety, spur memories, and improve the mood of dementia patients and caregivers, Miller Rogen said. She also highlighted the importance of “maintaining open, supportive communication” between memory care providers and families of patients.
Based on the Taking Care documentary screened at NIC, Miller Rogen is hopeful that senior living providers will continue to create “supportive and enriching environments” that feel more like living at home than in an institutional setting.