There's No Place Like Home

It’s human nature, isn’t it? Home is the place where most of us feel calm and comfortable. There’s no place like it. For seniors who choose to move to one of our Independent Living communities at Redstone Highlands, their apartment or villa quickly becomes “home.”

Several Years Ago, Redstone recognized the need to find ways to provide supportive services to our residents in order to make it possible for them to remain in their independent residences longer. While at one time these supportive services were only a vision, Senior Independence of Southwestern Pennsylvania (SISWPA) is now a successful example of how mission driven organizations maintain focus and accomplish more. A subsidiary of Redstone Highlands, SISWPA’s home and community based services provide high quality care to a broader array of seniors by delivering Home Health, Home Care and Hospice Care. Although originally motivated by the need to provide service to Redstone residents, SISWPA is now meeting the needs of seniors outside the walls of traditional retirement living.

With no long term commitments, services can be delivered directly in the home, and a variety of payer sources, seniors and their families find home based programs very attractive. Since services are customized to meet the needs and the budget for individuals, may find they are able to live independently longer at home, while avoiding or delaying more costly placement options.

Home Care services provide a personalized plan for daily living assistance to maintain quality of life in the comfort of one’s own home and includes personal care assistance, meal preparation assistance, medical transportation, light housekeeping and laundry services. Our VIP program, which brings cutting edge technology into the home, allows people with memory impairment to remain safe at home. Those individuals needing to routinely monitor vital health information (blood pressure, weight, blood, glucose, etc.) in order to detect health changed early, have also found this technology program beneficial. The program makes treatment more successful and staves off more critical health emergencies.

The Home Health program includes skilled nursing visits (RN), physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health aide services, and social work services. This care must be ordered by the individual’s physician and is typically covered under hospitalization insurance (Medicare, Highmark, UPMC, etc.).

For individuals experiencing a serious illness at end-of-life, our Hospice care teams will make every effort to ease pain and discomfort, provide emotional and spiritual support, and assist you in achieving person goals and honor your choices. This program is a Medicare covered benefit and will be added to our services in 2013.

Senior Independence of Southwestern Pennsylvania started in 2010 with only a handful of staff and clients. The program’s expansion has afforded over 150 seniors throughout Westmoreland County, of all economic statuses, to receive coordinated and innovative care from over fifty employees with different specialties. These efforts achieve the vision to allow for safe independence a home. Together Redstone Highlands and SISWPA will continue to support their common mission of finding more ways to meet the changing needs of seniors in the service area.

For more information call Senior Independence at 724-864-7388 ext. 490
or visit SISWPA on the web at http://www.seniorindependenceswpa.org/

 

Making New Friends at Any Age

Redstone Highlands Senior Living Communities is well known for its staff attention to residents, the upkeep of its buildings and grounds, its wellness initiatives for residents and employees, and even its playful and creative innovation in providing residents with healthy, quality and delicious meals. However, one thing that we don’t hear about often is the relationships that grow between residents. Consider this one example of a budding relationship on one of our campuses:

It was a regular day for Greensburg campus resident Kay Altman. She was making her way to dinner when she noticed something out of the ordinary. A man was standing outside one of her neighboring apartments where a door was ajar. The community is close-knit, so Kay wondered who this man was. He greeted her and introduced her to his mother, Davida Leshock, a new resident

Davida and her son were planning on attending a Fourth of July celebration and invited Kay that introduction spurred something special between these two ladies, a friendship.

Since then Kay and Davida have used their friendship to explore something they are both passionate about, exercise and wellness. They’ve taken it upon themselves to try out as many of the wellness programs Redstone provides as they can. One of their favorites is Silver Sneakers, an exercise program developed for residents to participate in while using chairs. Kay was wary about a sitting-down exercise at first but has concluded that it gets the job done.

They also like to participate in the wellness programs at the on-site fitness center. Since they began their friendship in July, they have tried each of the aerobic machines in the center.

When their schedule permits, you’ll find the two ladies exploring other activities on campus as well. They make it a point to enjoy meals together when they can.

Kay moved to Redstone Highlands eight years ago after her husband passed away. She says she’s always really enjoyed living there, but since her friendship with Davida began, she’s had the opportunity to explore and enjoy so much more of what Redstone has to offer.

The benefits of friendship are often overlooked, however, researchers of the Nurses’ Health Study from Harvard Medical School concluded that not having close friends is as detrimental to your health as smoking or obesity. Redstone recognizes friendship as a great wellness tactic and provides many social events and occasions to help foster the friendships for both residents and employees.

The story of Kay and Davida represents the relationships that Redstone values and loves to share. Redstone strives to provide residents with the utmost living experience throughout all the years of their lives. It’s Redstone’s goal to encourage all residents to enjoy as many of the amenities of its communities as possible. Having a friend to share those amenities makes the experience that much richer.