Health and Wellness Article - May 2008Whole-person Wellness
“Senior living communities are increasingly focused on cultivating a culture of wellness for their residents, staff, and community—to improve quality of life and to avoid illness and reduce health care costs.”
Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging, Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, and Ziegler Capital Markets carried out the first National Whole-Person Wellness Survey. As outlined in the introduction, “This extensive Web-based survey sought to identify wellness program components in continuing care retirement communities by determining current and projected program features in six areas. These areas include programming, activities, space and campus design, and financing. In addition, respondents were asked to provide their perspective on the benefits of programs to their residents, staff, and organization.”
Their conclusion was that communities that have a deeply rooted culture of wellness share common characteristics:
- “Wellness is fully integrated into the organization
- Programming is comprehensive, including all six dimensions of wellness, and engages both residents and staff in the process
- Benefits of the wellness program are extended to others (beyond the resident population)”
The respondents were grouped into three categories. About half (51 percent) were identified as “tenderfeet,” with almost no culture of wellness. Twenty-eight percent were labeled “travelers”—communities that are moving toward a culture of wellness. The third group was referred to as “trailblazers,” because they had most or all of the components.
For several years, Touchmark has embraced the six components of wellness, and in the last five years has established the Touchmark Full Life Wellness & Life Enrichment Program in all 11 of its communities operated in the US and Canada. I work with the executive directors and Life Enrichment/Wellness directors to implement and audit the program, and I can tell you with tremendous pride that Touchmark communities are in the trailblazer category. In fact, we outdistance most competing providers in the organizational components related to wellness that were used in the survey.
The Touchmark program is dynamic and based entirely on the strengths, skills, and interests of residents. To learn more about theTouchmark Full Life Wellness & Life Enrichment Program, contact the Life Enrichment/Wellness director at any Touchmark community.
© 2008 Touchmark