The Ecumen Awakenings dementia care program used at Ecumen’s St. Mark’s Living in Austin received national recognition as the winner of the LeadingAge Excellence in Dementia Care Award presented March 17 at the Great Minds Gala in Washington, D.C.

The care program emphasizes managing dementia without highly sedating drugs. Residents, their families, doctors and care staff work together to replace traditional drug therapies with individualized techniques that reduce anxiety and difficult behaviors while improving quality of life.

Ecumen, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit providers of senior housing and aging services headquartered in Shoreview, was honored by LeadingAge, a national association of nonprofit aging services providers. The award honors extraordinary leadership in the quest to improve lives of those touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.