Featured Program of Excellence

Memory Care Program

Fred Marshall, M.D.

The Memory Care Program is an integrated, multidisciplinary clinical program devoted to the evaluation and care of individuals and families faced with progressive disorders of memory and cognition. Located in dedicated office space at Clinton Crossings (Building C), the MCP brings together clinicians from a wide-variety of backgrounds, including nursing-practice, social-work, marriage-and-family therapy, neuropsychology, neurology and psychiatry. The MCP collaborates closely with the Alzheimer’s Association, the University of Rochester’s AD-CARE program in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and the URMC’s Cognitive Rehabilitation program. Patients generally should be older than 50 years of age at the time of referral to the program, which offers comprehensive diagnostic assessment and collaborative follow-up with patients’ primary referring physicians.

A core philosophy of the MCP is that progressive disorders of cognition impact not only the individual, but require the support of a wider nexus of caregivers, often including the person’s spouse and children or other close relations. The MCP strives to provide not only a comprehensive medical evaluation as to the underlying cause of the problem, but a "wrap around" approach to caring for the individual in the context of the family unit. This often leads to a focus on educating care-givers about the nature of dementia and the underlying diagnosis, careful review of medical treatment options, and supportive social-work counseling. As needed, patients and families are sometimes encouraged to participate in short-term supportive family therapy exploring issues of concern.