MONROE — This has never been done before.  Until now, there has been no safety net for caregivers when they needed help in an emergency.

There is a state-wide shortage of facilities with the capacity to provide care for residents with difficult dementia symptoms. Families in crisis are often left with no options. 

“If you are a caregiver in crisis, we have very few immediate resources to offer. We feel helpless,” said Shelley Reukauf of the Iowa County Adult Protective Services.

The problem of dementia crisis has grown as our baby boomers are entering the ages where dementia is more prevalent. This generation is stronger and healthier than previous generations. That means when dementia crisis happens, there is a greater chance of injury to the caregiver.

In previous years, the counties managed dementia crises by using the emergency psychiatric system and detaining people to mental health institutions. The process was dehumanizing and often yielded little benefit to anyone. The use of that system for dementia became illegal in 2012.

In 2019, the Green County Pleasant View Nursing Home and the four counties of Grant, Green, Lafayette, and Iowa banded together to create a solution. They envisioned a crisis unit that would provide medical/ psychiatric stabilization with a detailed assessment for those struggling in their homes with dementia.

The O’Rourke Dementia Stabilization Unit does just that. Within 28 days, the stabilization team learns details about the individual giving keys to what their behavior means. The resident receives assessment from multiple experts including medical, social, psychiatric, psychologic, and life enrichment. Once the resident is ready to go home, the caregivers are given all of that information and trained.

Across Wisconsin, people working the field of dementia are eager to see this model be successful so that it can be replicated state-wide.

Pleasant View invites the public to attend the ribbon cutting at Pleasant View on Oct. 4, 1-3 p.m.

Enjoy light refreshments and learn more about this “first-of-its-kind” facility.