Needham, Massachusetts, is a safe, family-friendly suburb of Boston. The state of Massachusetts indicates that over 130,000 of its residents have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Needham, with a population of 29,000, has 5,500 seniors aged 65 and older, a population with many vulnerable to memory care conditions. To care for those with dementia and Alzheimer's, Needham has over two dozen memory care facilities.
Memory care facilities in Needham, as in all of Massachusetts, can either be separate wings of an assisted living campus or a facility devoted entirely to memory care. Stand-alone memory care facilities are referred to as dementia special care units (DSCUs). Other memory care facilities attached to assisted living communities are called special care residences (SCRs).