Year Two, began and CEO, Tim Dressman, felt that the entire community within and outside of the campus knew this was a viable program, a commitment had been made and there was no looking back; so he added incentive for the employees to bring it about sooner, rather than later, by including Vital Life in their community strategic planning commitments, and making each department head accountable in their annual reviews to show how they had successfully supported, or enhanced the Vital Life Program at St. Leonard. Then, things really began to happen, as the program started to gain steam.

IT’S THEIR PROGRAM!  WATCH THEM GO AND GROW!

Of the many tenants within the Vital Life Program, the key tenant is the “weaning” of being “cared for”, instead, being “cared about”!  If we intend to reverse the aging process (dying) and gain back years of fun and function then we have to pay the price and become a community in motion – social motion. Social is the goal, motion is the process.  We need to fully engage.

retired001The other reason for this is that with the financial crisis crashing around our heads and every homeowner losing  home value and purchasing capacity, communities cannot afford more FTE’s, Full Time Employees, for new programs. They needed to mobilize and utilize the untapped manpower within the resident ranks and realize that the residents should not be drugged into excessive “concierge living” where they don’t have to lift a finger – they were in charge of their lives all of their lives, at one time, quite successfully.  The untapped potential of the latent volunteer potential in the average retirement or CCRC is enormous.

Residents Volunteering to learn, aid, abet and then take over their own Vital Life Program is THE goal! If they own it; they will take care of it and see that it grows!

This means more than exercises or walking programs, it means engagement, interactive participation and investing in others.  In a survey THW Design conducted in its' “I-Share” survey program sent out to CCRC CEO’s across the U.S., at the top of the list of their challenges after finances and staffing was “getting residents to leave their rooms”.  In other words, the residents could not choose a worse lifestyle than that of voluntary isolation that might be mistaken as “independence”.  We call their apartments, Independent Living, but that simply means living without aids to daily living support; it does not mean withdrawing, which is the surest way to become isolated, depressed, and ultimately succumb to many symptoms and diseases that will result.

Independent Living is a death warrant; humans were meant to be social animals and engage with each other. The ideal model is “interdependent living” living with each other in an extended family of complex relationships. 

St. Leonard, Tim and Debra realized this and that became the goal of year two in growing their low cost/no cost program; give it to the residents and the employees…step aside and watch them and the community grow!

WATCH OUT WORLD HERE WE COME –THE RESIDENTS ARE ACTIVE!

In the Vital Life literature regarding implementation, it was suggested to encourage the formation of social groups, based on common values, needs, and affinities; these characteristics would allow a more cohesive group with a better chance of sustainability. This began an exciting evolution at St. Leonard.

Year two began the year of accelerated growth in the Vital Life Community Wellness Program at St. Leonard.  The program was now inculcated within the ranks of the “innovator” group, and this began to catch the attention of the “early adaptor crowd”., not just with the residents but the employees as well.

Pleasant surprises were occurring; such as the acceptance from some of the employees who became active and creative in their participation.  In many communities employees are shunted out of sight for dining, and other support functions, definitely a second class role.  Not at St. Leonard, the employees took on a major role.  They began to form their own affinity groups along with the residents.  The diversity of their Team Names show the creativity and diversity of interests as we review some of their identities:

Team:

And many others.

Often the world "institutional" is levied at some CCRC's or Senior Living Facilities.  The suggestion of an institution being uniform, dull, or unimaginative certainly applied to many social constructs that "took care of people" at the turn of the century.  If you think about it the reason they were dull and unimaginative was because their construct was based on the most efficient means of providing their primary service; all else was considered superfluous.

This relegated the imagination, dreams, and innovative potential of those being served as moot; the primary program was generated outside of the "institution" and implemented by a very few on the inside that impacted and shaped the lives of a very many who were being "cared for".

Therefore "Dull and Unimaginative". Just a few were deciding for many, which limited the potential of the social entity and squashed creativity and diversity.

VITALITY UNLEASHED

By reversing that premise and having the creativity and desires unleashed within, only limited by finite resources (usually financial) almost anything can happen.  The power of the collective celebration is unlimited.  By unleashing the power of skilled, experienced, successful human beings, no longer drained by child raising, work place tedium, or a house to maintain and a yard to care for - there is no limit to the statement and expression of Vitality Unleashed.

Vital Life Communities, if operated wisely could recalibrate the source of creativity and productivity in our nation.  Image if you will, an ARK of people making decisions of how they will dispose of the most valuable currency known to mankind - their time left on earth.  Give them the facilitation and get out of the way, as the blossoms will come forth with such vigor as to overwhelm the casual observer.

One resident at St. Leonard caught up in this tide of growth and opportunity celebrating the innate human spirit, announced after years of more or less passive routine..."I think I will learn how to swim!"  We have to respect and celebrate those who, late in life, make the  decision to get back into "the swim of things".