Summit Hills to Provide Home Health Services
08-13-2009
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Spartanburg, S.C., August 13, 2009 - ) One South Carolina retirement community is diving head-first into an aquatics program designed specifically with Alzheimer's and dementia patients in mind.
Summit Hills, a Spartanburg, S.C.-based retirement community, is spearheading a new program they believe will alleviate some of the symptoms afflicting community members who suffer from dementia. The new program, called "Waves," is led by Summit Hills Wellness Coordinator Tonya Ray and combines low impact aerobics with the therapeutic benefits of warm water.
Although Summit Hills offers a variety of aquatic programs for all members in conjunction with their wellness program, the community is among the first in the Southeast to extend their offerings to members needing a heavier standard of care. In preparation for the program's launch, Ray led in-house training sessions for Summit Hills' staff members including Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) who currently care for members eligible to participate in Waves.
By combining the familiar faces of their caregivers with low-impact exercise, Ray believes residents will reap the benefits of increased activity without the added stress of strange surroundings.
"Waves offers a host of benefits for our memory-care residents," Ray said. "An increase in activity helps promote emotional well-being and a sense of personal accomplishment while improving appetite, reducing stress and helping members get a great night's sleep."
Summit Hills is owned and operated by Senior Living Communities (SLC), based in Charlotte, N.C., and the campus was the first of 10 to implement the Waves program. Kelly Stranburg, SLC's director of wellness, chose Summit Hills as a launching point due to Ray's stellar record of accomplishments as wellness coordinator.
"Tonya was recently recognized as the SLC Wellness Coordinator of the Year, and the award was well-deserved," Stranburg explained. "She is determined, motivated and supported by an exemplary staff . all factors that contributed to my decision to introduce Waves at Summit Hills first."
According to the Alzheimer's Association's Web site, www.alz.org, activities can enhance a person's sense of dignity and self-esteem by giving purpose and meaning to his or her life.
Waves is one of a list of initiatives all 10 Senior Living Communities will implement as they focus on delivering "person-centered care" to all community members. Person-centered care includes operational changes and increased activity offerings for assisted-living and skilled-care members that preserve members' dignity, enhance their quality of life and make them feel at-home in their surroundings.
Stranburg is confident that programs like Waves will go a long way in changing the way caregivers develop activities for Alzheimer's and dementia patients.
"What we're doing at Summit Hills is much more than adding an activity to our event calendar," Stranburg emphasized. "We're changing mindsets and breaking ground on a new standard of care, bringing us one step closer to nurturing the person, not the disease."
