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Section: Being Well
Schofield Launches its Adult Wellness Center
By Christopher Schobert
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Karen Daigler, RN, takes Joy Starkweather’s blood pressure.
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Schofield administrator John Malicki meets with Laurie Doak and Daigler to review Wellness Center plans for 2009.
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Schofield Residence in Kenmore is known for its wide range of services and community programs, and this list just got a bit longer, as Schofield recently launched a new Adult Wellness Center. Based at the Kenmore facility, the Center offers community support programs for wellness screening and education, including such topics as CPR training, long-term care insurance information and medication evaluations. John Malicki, Schofield’s administrator, recently walked us through the details of this exciting new offering.
Are people surprised to hear about the types of programs offered in the Adult Wellness Center program? After all, a lot of the community probably thinks of Schofield primarily for the Schofield Residence facility and the Adult Day Health Care programs.
People are surprised to hear about the programs we’re offering. While we have done some wellness-oriented education programs in the past, we haven’t had a space dedicated to this service. What many people might not know is that through our two home health care programs and our Adult Day Health Care Program, we care for many more people who live in their own homes than we do in our nursing facility. Because of this, the Adult Wellness Center is definitely an extension of our health care services, where we’re keeping people independent and living in the community as long as possible.
It seems like these services are a natural extension from the other programs Schofield offers. Where did the Wellness Center idea come from?
I suggested the idea when we were looking at options for the room that was left vacant when our Adult Day Health Care Program relocated to Sheehan Health Network. The staff here at Schofield has been incredibly enthusiastic about planning the programs for it.
It looks like a nice mix of topics and events — everything from diabetes education to Medicare info. How do you come up with these themes?
We have a committee of several professionals from Schofield, and some of our consultant agencies, who meet to come up with the program ideas. We look at the major diseases affecting older adults and other relevant topics that people need to know about as they age. As we expand the program, we’ll also look at suggestions from attendees.
A central tenet of the events seems to be the importance of knowledge to health. When dealing with senior care and health, why is knowledge so vital? How can it help the day to day lives of seniors?
Knowledge is definitely power. There is so much information available about disease prevention and treatment, especially regarding heart disease and diabetes. We want to share this information, because if people are proactive and know what to do, they can live healthier and longer lives.
What kind of speakers and experts run the classes? Where do they come from?
We recruit experts in each field we are looking to cover. Our committee members suggest speakers from their professional network. Some of our speakers are from Schofield and some are from other local agencies. For example, our registered dietician at Schofield, Mary Degnan, provided a program on “Smart Nutrition for Diabetics,” and our nursing staff did blood glucose testing afterwards. We’ve also had staff from Buffalo Ultrasound provide cardiovascular ultrasound screenings and our partners at Diversified Hearing Services provided free hearing evaluations.
What can participants expect from a typical event?
At a typical event, they’ll come to Schofield Adult Wellness Center — which is located at Schofield Residence Nursing Facility, 3333 Elmwood Avenue — and be greeted by either a staff member or volunteer, sign in to register and have an opportunity to look at educational information about the topic of the event. If it’s a class, they’ll gather with a small group and listen to a lecture. If they’re coming for a test of some sort, they’ll sign in and wait for their turn. We’re booking our programs so that nobody has to wait for a long period of time, and so that people have an opportunity to ask questions.
What are some of the other future themes you’re considering?
We have a long list of programs we are considering including stress management, dealing with depression, osteoporosis prevention and screening, elder-care options, age-related vision changes and problems, family caregiver education, emergency preparedness, healthy cooking and memory wellness. These are only some of the topics and we’re open to suggestions and community partnerships as well.
How has the community response been so far?
It’s been great. We’ve had full classes for most of our events, and our future events are filling up fast. We’re already planning to schedule some programs for a second time due to heavy demand. Professionals are asking about providing programs at the Adult Wellness Center, which makes planning a lot easier. Many people have also called to get on our mailing and email list to learn about future events. When we update our website this year, we plan to add an Adult Wellness Center page where people can learn about upcoming events and sign up for our email updates.
Individuals can contact Schofield at 995-3851 to register for any of the events, or to ask questions about the programs.
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