International Council on Active Aging
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Profile: Wellness for function and quality of life
CRSA serves 35 senior living communities in 20 states, providing professional services to develop, market, manage and finance senior living communities for nonprofit and for-profit owners/sponsors and for investors committed to providing a quality lifestyle for senior adults.
“Part of the CRSA philosophy is that residents in a communal setting cannot age well unless they are active. We do not build our communities without a wellness center; it is part of the pro forma for lenders and pre-sale for prospective residents. We are not just offering a lifestyle, we are offering an active-aging lifestyle to make the ‘resident’s journey of aging’ healthier than anticipated.
“When conducting resident focus groups prior to developing a community, people always ask about the wellness program. Wellness programming helps attract residents. Our average age is 82, and some communities are attracting younger residents because they are looking for that active lifestyle. We tell new residents, ‘this will be your home, and we will strongly encourage you to be active.’
“Upon move-in, we have found that 69% of our residents score within the range of depression on our wellness assessment. So the minute they move in, the staff starts promoting the wellness program to combat depression. We emphasize social connections, using six dimensions of wellness, and we find residents are more interested, more active and therefore happier and healthier.
“Wellness absolutely helps continuing care retirement communities function as designed. Every year MetLife does a review of residents in Assisted Living. MetLife reports that of all transfers from independent living units to the internal healthcare center, 8–10% go back to their independent setting. At CRSA-managed communities, on average 30–36% go back to independent living.
“Our overall campus wellness program has resulted in fewer falls, symptoms and acute transfers to hospitals. The majority of our residents that participate in the wellness program experience higher strength, better balance and improved joint mobility. In turn, there is a decrease in the need for walkers, canes and ambulatory devices.
“There is no question in our minds that not having a wellness program would thoroughly stagnate our communities. It is a huge report card of what we are doing.”
Vicki Sherrard
Executive Vice President, Health, Wellness, Management, CRSA
Memphis, Tennessee
Continued...On Top of the World Communities profile: Lifestyle sells the communites
