Comfort Homes offer personal care for Alzheimer’s in residential setting

Source: Wichita Eagle
Date: November 17, 1997

Parenting our parents is a reality that more and more families are facing. Alzheimer's disease can be more devastating to the family trying to provide care than it is to the patient. "It was either send our Mother to a nursing home or try to take care of her ourselves. I thought at the time that surely there had to be a better way," says Charles Stark, founder of ComfortCare Homes. As a result, they came up with the concept of comprehensive nursing care in individual residences, to provide comfortable and familiar home environments for adults suffering from dementia.

Parenting is a term that most often refers to raising our children. But as a large part of our population matures, the term has taken on a new meaning. Parenting our parents is a reality that more and more families are facing.

Charles and Mary Lou Stark have faced that difficult situation with Charles' parents. First his father suffered from a form of dementia and had to be cared for before he passed away in 1987. The following year, his mother began exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and soon, was unable to live independently.

That left Charles and Mary Lou with the responsibility of figuring out how to provide a safe and caring environment for the elder Mrs. Stark. "The only options that were available were so frustrating and depressing!" Charles says. "It was either send her to a nursing home or try to take care her ourselves. I thought at the time that surely there had to be a better way."

After talking it over with other family members, they decided that daughter Leigh Anne would move in with her grandmother and care for her. Six months later, Charles and Mary Lou took Mrs. Stark in to live with them. It was a tremendous struggle for everyone involved. Alzheimer's disease can be more devastating to the family trying to provide care than it is to the patient, Charles explains.

Although Mrs. Stark passed away in 1991, Charles and Mary Lou continued to reflect on the emotionally wrenching experience and talk about options they would like to have had. As a result, they came up with the concept of comprehensive nursing care in individual residences. They decided to start their own business, appropriately called Comfort Homes, to provide comfortable and familiar home environments for adults suffering from dementia.

Charles and Mary Lou set to work with Leigh Anne and son Doug to develop the kind of home they would have wanted for their own parents and grandparents. And in December, 1993, the Starks celebrated the opening of their first home. Today, they have six homes located in well-established Wichita neighborhoods, and have purchased a seventh home.

Comfort Homes offers a non-institutional alternative for adults who can no longer live alone and need around-the-clock attention. All homes are licensed by the state as adult nursing facilities.

When you drive up to a Comfort Home, it looks like any other well-kept, ranch-style residence. Inside, you'll find a familiar home atmosphere and furnishings, with modifications to meet special needs. Each resident enjoys their own private or semi-private room furnished with their own furniture and mementos.

The homes employ, a licensed administrator, a medical advisor, a nurse and certified medical assistants that provide 24 hour care.

Many of the residents have come to Comfort Homes from nursing homes. Unhappy with the nursing home environment, their families were relieved to find a more personal option.

Charles says they often see quite a change for the better in these new residents.

"We know for a fact that we've turned around the lives of many of them after they came here. You can see the improvements in both the residents and the lives of their family members. The acceptance has been outstanding and very emotionally rewarding for us," he says.

Comfort Homes provides all meals, housekeeping and laundry service, medication management and assistance with bathing, dressing and grooming. They also offer secure yards, covered decks, garden areas, and custom security and fire systems, along with the appropriate activities that you might in any family home.

If you would like more information, call (316) 685-3322.