Mesa-based The Summit at Sunland Springs, under the medical direction of A Mind for All Seasons, is opening its memory care services to outpatients, allowing participants to remain in their homes while receiving care.

The Summit, 2415 S. Signal Butte Road, strives to help people experiencing cognitive decline function better, detect early onset cognitive decline, according to a press release.

Over the last decade, researchers studying dementia have made several discoveries that operate beyond the assumptions of dementia research conducted in the 20th century.

According to this research, Alzheimer’s may be at work for up to 10-20 years before symptoms begin to surface. It is, however, a lifestyle disease that is largely preventable and, in some cases, reversible.

Research by Dr. Dale Bredesen, identified close to 50 distinct factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s, more than any single pharmaceutical drug could treat.

Instead, Dr. Bredesen used a multi-factorial approach that leverages how diet, physical activity, nutrients, hormones and toxic exposures contribute to cognitive decline, and how those factors can be adjusted to slow, stop, and even reverse the effects of dementia.

This led to the creation of The Enhance Protocol by A Mind for All Seasons, a release states.

The Enhance Protocol will be available to 10 individuals this October as part of a six-month group treatment, complete with full lab panels and access to a memory coach.

By testing dozens of different factors on an individual level, The Enhance Protocol addresses the root causes of dementia rather than masking the symptoms.

This cognitive profile for each patient leads to a personalized treatment summary, culminating in a concrete set of recommendations that allow patients to tip the scales away from cognitive decline and back to cognitive health.

This summary is then condensed into a daily checklist that addresses the personal factors causing the cognitive decline, a release states.

“The power of The Enhance Protocol is incredible,” Robeson Flynn, memory coach at The Summit, said in a prepared statement.

“It’s time we stop looking at memory loss as inevitable and start looking at the individual factors that cause it, and what we can do to mitigate it. Don’t let people tell you nothing can be done — there is so much we can do to help.”

With treatment, many patients that were experiencing decline left assisted living care and moved back with loved ones, while others with more serious decline recognized loved ones again. The program is available outpatient or as a resident of The Summit at Sunland Springs.