An easier environment to navigate
A residential setting means fewer long corridors, fewer unfamiliar spaces, and surroundings that can become recognizable over time.
Memory care
For families
navigating dementia
Virginia Legacy is being designed to support residents living with cognitive impairment in a safe, secure setting as part of one small, familiar household.
A predictable daily rhythm
Meals, rest, personal care and activities follow a consistent routine, bringing familiarity and structure to the day.
Purposeful engagement
Reminiscence, music, sensory activities and familiar routines are shaped around each resident's interests, abilities and life story.
Clinical eyes on cognition
Our senior clinical advisor is a board-certified gerontological RN whose doctoral research focuses on detecting and managing delirium in older adults living with dementia — acute confusion that can be mistaken for a sudden worsening of dementia itself.
The environment
What a secure environment actually means
Virginia is specific about what a safe, secure environment requires (22VAC40-73-1130 et seq.). These are the measures the rules require — we are building to them — not atmosphere, but fittings.
- Delayed-egress alarms on exterior doorsSo a door is never simply open onto a road.
- A fenced, supervised outdoor areaGoing outside should not require a negotiation.
- Memory boxes and name signs at bedroom doorsA door you can recognise is a door you can find.
- Wayfinding cues along the hallwaysIn a house this size there is not much to get wrong.
- Reduced visual clutter, a calm paletteLess to decode.
- Good lighting, day and nightPoor light manufactures confusion.
Approach
How we respond to distress
Distress in dementia is communication. It is treated as such here.
- Non-pharmacological firstAgitation, wandering and anxiety are met with person-centred technique, changes to the environment, meaningful activity, validation and family involvement. Medication for behavioural symptoms is a last resort — documented, physician-ordered, and the family is told.
- Restraint-free, by policyNo physical restraints. No chemical restraints. Side rails are not used as restraints.
- Trained before unsupervised careStaff working in the secure environment will complete the dementia-specific training required by Virginia, followed by ongoing annual education.
- Activities that reach intact memoryMusic, reminiscence, sensory work, therapy animal visits, and familiar household tasks like folding laundry or gardening.
Memory support is a care model, not a treatment. Nothing here is a claim to slow, prevent or reverse cognitive decline.
If you are deciding now
You can ask before you are ready
Many families reach us long before they are prepared to move anyone. That is a good time to talk, not a premature one — and we will tell you plainly if this is not the right setting.