A little before noon at the Silverado Senior Living home in Calabasas, Calif. six ladies sit down to tea in the chandelier-lit dining room. Down the hall in the pub an elderly gentlemen clumsily shoots pool with the help of a young assistant. Just outside the back door another fellow strolls down the gravel path toward a putting green, a yellow Labrador retriever trotting behind. The genteel vibe here, more country club than old folks' home, represents an experiment in elder care. With 14 homes in southern California, Texas and Utah, Silverado specializes in residents with severe dementia. Most assisted-living homes quarantine such patients in separate wards or ship them off to nursing homes when their behavior becomes too unruly. Silverado deploys small armies of staff to keep residents engaged in activities like aerobics, art classes and group outings. The hands-on approach allows Silverado's doctors to swear off physical restraints and limit the use of mind-numbing sedatives.
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