Marama Experience Clarity

Dementia is Optional: With Marama, Your Loved One Can Reclaim Clarity

About Us

Marama, founded by Dr. Heather Sandison, is a haven for those with memory loss. Dr. Sandison’s passion for brain health led to Marama, a place of hope for those with dementia. At Marama, we don’t just offer care; we follow Dr. Dale Bredesen’s plan to reverse cognitive decline. Our holistic approach targets dementia’s causes with personalized plans to enhance memory. With our compassionate team and modern 12 beds facility, Marama empowers individuals to recover memories and rediscover joy. Join us in the battle against dementia, where every step forward reflects the resilience of the human spirit.

Marama’s Grand Opening

In February 2020, MARAMA held an open house with special guest Dr. Dale Bredesen, author of “The End of Alzheimer’s

Heather Sandison, ND

Dr. Heather Sandison is the founder and medical director of Solcere, a Naturopathic whole-brain, whole-body medical clinic, and the founder of Marama.


Dr. Sandison has dedicated her career to providing compassionate care and innovative solutions to those affected by dementia. Renowned for her pioneering work, Dr. Sandison has integrated groundbreaking, multi-modal interventions seamlessly creating clinical, residential, research and educational platforms. Her relentless dedication has not only transformed the lives of patients, residents and caregivers, at Marama, she is setting a new standard in the field of dementia care.

Dr. Sandison is the author of Reversing Alzheimer’s The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health available where you buy books on June 11th, 2024.

Find out if you are a candidate
for the Marama experience.

What does Marama mean?

Marama means ‘moonlight’ or ‘wisdom’ in Māori, which is the indigenous language of New Zealand. This is reflected in our caregivers’ who  guide residents through cognitive decline toward the dawn of reawakening.  The elephants in our logo symbolize caregiving and wisdom, embodying our commitment to caretaking and the enduring memory. Talking to your loved one about dementia can also feel like the elephant in the room. Finally, elephants are matriarchal and here they serve as a nod to women who are two thirds of Alzheimer’s patients and the majority of caregivers and can lead the way in preventing and reversing this insidious disease. 

After training with Dr. Dale Bredesen, one of Dr. Sandison’s  initial patients saw remarkable progress in just six weeks, reversing her advanced dementia. Witnessing her transformation inspired Dr. Sandison  to envision similar outcomes for countless others suffering from dementia. Marama is committed to reshaping the dementia narrative, aiming to reverse it in the majority of patients. 

Marama was created for people asking the question, “where can I send my loved one?”  Marama is the first residential care facility for the elderly offering a fully immersive experience in the protocol developed by Dr. Dale Bredesen. 

Get your conversation guide

8 tips for talking to your loved ones about memory problems or cognitive decline.

Marama FAQ

a. YES! Many of our residents use their Long-Term Care Insurance to cover their stay at Marama. We are happy to create the documentation necessary to receive reimbursement from your Long-Term Care Insurance company. We are a licensed RCFE or Residential Care Facility for the Elderly in California.

b. At Marama we do not offer health or medical care only residential care, so we do not bill Medicare or other health insurances. We do help facilitate trips to the doctor, dentist or home visits from physical therapists and other providers. Payments for those services are arranged between the patient and the provider.

We have a list of trusted partners in the San Diego region at HealthTopia, Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Scripps, UCSD and in private practice. We are happy to introduce you to and refer you to the specialists you need to establish care with. We have a list of neurologists, cardiologists, oncologists, psychiatrists, orthopedists, dentists and many others. Please don’t hesitate to ask!

When possible considering our staffing needs at Marama we may be able to take you to your appointments. When we are unable to we will arrange for transportation and caregivers are available to accompany you for the visit.

Yes!! We LOVE couples. Experiencing Marama together means you both get the health and brain benefits! You also both learn new routines around diet, exercise and meditation. These are routines and skills we hope you will take home with you as you continue on a healthy path. We are licensed for 12 beds, so both individuals would be established as residents and we are not able to offer accommodations to one resident without charging for the services.

We opened our doors to new residents the first week of March 2020. We have only existed with COVID. We continue to take communicable disease seriously and mitigate the risk of infectious disease at Marama guided by the latest updates from the CDC and state licensing. We are also partnered with your health care provider to optimize your immune system and resilience against disease.

. Double – with queen bed or two twin beds

. Single – with shared bath or private bath

. Mountain/sunrise view

. Garden views

We recommend residents plan to stay for at least 6 – 12 months. We typically start seeing improvement within 6 months, however depending on what you have been able to incorporate at home in advance of your stay it can take a bit longer. Some new community members will need 4-6 weeks to adjust to the new environment and routine. This is normal and part of the reason we do not encourage a stay shorter than 6 months. Remember, this neurodegenerative process has been going on for decades before it presented itself as memory loss. It will take a bit of time to reverse it. Our goal is to prevent and at least delay your need for long term memory care and allow you to return to independent living.

Yes. Please visit startreversingalzheimers.com to learn about our online course offerings. You can also Contact Us for individualized health coaching. We are currently working on additional programs to support caregivers in implementing this complex protocol. Please sign up for an email list to get the latest updates.

  • Room with organic Avocado Green mattress, organic cotton sheets

 

  • Weekly non-toxic housekeeping and laundry
  •  Three organic keto-flex meals per day plus snacks and beverages including non-toxic spring water only stored in glass containers
  • 24-hour care from our amazing caregivers
  • Daily individualized brain stimulating activities
  • Supplement and medication storage, organization, reordering and facilitation of implementation
  • Facilitation and supervision of your personalized exercise routine including use of devices in our Brain Gym

Environment – From the paint on our walls, to your bed sheets and mattress to your toothpaste and our cleaning products everything is non-toxic. You don’t have to do anything to get the benefits of the clean, healing environment.

Diet – Marama offers an organic ketogenic  diet with three meals per day and snacks. All you have to do is show up at the table to get an amazing, brain healing meal. We welcome your friends and loved ones to join you for a meal. Please just provide 24 hours notice so we can be fully prepared for them. 

Activities – Daily group activities include guided meditation, yoga, walks, gardening, art, live music, puzzles, games and daily supervised exercise and sauna therapies.

Gear – The following devices are currently available in our Brain Gym  for supervised training:

LiveO2

BioMat

Infra Red Sauna

Joovv light

VieLight

Unfortunately, we are not currently licensed as a day program. We hope to be able to offer this service in the future. Please sign up for email updates to get up to date information about the services we are providing.

We are committed to seeing all of our graduates thrive at home. Our goal is to support them in being as independent as possible while they are here and as they transition home. We provide graduates and families with recipes, shopping lists, guidance on activities and the implementation of a non-toxic environment through the Reversing Alzheimer’s Course as you make the transition home.

At Marama we are in constant communication with family members, community members, Marama staff, and medical providers to determine if Marama is the best place for you or your loved one. Although our hope is that our residents return to independent living after 6 to 12 months there are times when the team decides the best place for their loved one is at Marama long term.