Prestige Assisted Living of Kalispell is using technology, art and storytelling to tap into its residents’ memories.

Hollie Fowler, senior director of brand and product development of Prestige Assisted, said the new lifestyle program, Celebrations, launched in Kalispell in January and uses cognitive exercises to strengthen skills that often slip away with age.

“People are living longer and we need to be ready to provide programs that fit their lifestyle,” Fowler wrote in an email.

She said the longer people live, the greater their chances of experiencing memory loss.

More than 5 million Americans live with some form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. That number is predicted to increase to 16 million by 2050.

In Montana, 18,000 adults faced dementia in 2014. The association predicted that number would grow to 27,000 by 2025.

Fowler said Celebration uses art, communication and socialization to strengthen minds and help delay memory loss.

Prestige began developing Celebrations over the last several years and piloted it in two of its 70 communities scattered throughout the western United States before it reached Kalispell. So far, Prestige has 800 participants in Celebrations, with 62 members from Kalispell.

Fowler said beyond cognitive programs, Celebrations aims to foster physical wellness, giving back to the community and reflecting on life experiences.

“With the large baby boomer generation heading towards their senior years, we understand that this group of people is going to envision retirement differently than previous generations,” she said. “This program … gives Prestige Care residents the opportunity to continue to live an independent, active lifestyle.”

Patty Cordell, the executive director of Prestige Assisted Living’s Kalispell branch, said Kalispell’s program began with a cloud-based online therapy engagement platform called Linked Senior. The program introduces pattern recognition using games the residents played throughout their life such as sudoku and chess.

She said Linked Senior has also taught seniors computer skills, leading many residents to learn how to video chat with family members hundred of miles away.

Cordell said the initial stages of Celebrations have moved the program beyond memory care.

“We have seniors asking for classes on how to use technology like iPads,” she said. “These are people who have learned their entire life and they want to keep that going. We can shape this effort around that desire too.”

Cordell said the program also focuses on creating friendships among residents. She said many people lose their sense of identity when they leave their homes for assisted living.

The program using art classes such as Paint and Sip — an event that featured wine and instructor-led group painting — to form relationships with other residents and create a new sense of home.

Celebrations also offers a new speaker series, Celebrate Your Neighbors, for residents to share with the community the adventures they’ve lived through.

“It’s really hard when you first move into assisted living, you feel like the new kid in school and you’re not sure where to sit in the lunchroom,” Cordell said. “I’m seeing this program bring people out of their rooms — isolation really — to enjoy where they are in life.”

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.