Two of New Jersey’s leading nonprofit senior living providers, Parker Health Group and Springpoint, have joined forces to create the Affordable Housing Wellness Initiative to help improve the health and well-being of older adults living in four Springpoint affordable housing communities.
The Wellness Initiative encompasses a significant investment in technology, including implementation of a digital communication platform and purchase of mobile tablets that can be used by the resident on a loaner basis. This enhanced technology will allow residents to access content and services online despite transportation and mobility challenges.
Key components of the initiative include:
- Evidence-based fall prevention programs;
- Fitness and balance classes;
- Wellness check-ins, health education and nutrition programs;
- Total Brain Health classes;
- Stress reduction programs.
The three-year initiative is designed as a pilot program that can be expanded to all 19 Springpoint affordable housing communities in New Jersey and potentially serve as a model for other affordable housing providers.
“We are happy to partner with a quality organization like Springpoint to provide innovative programming that will enable these residents to live their best lives as they age,” Parker Health Group CEO Roberto Muñiz said.
“It demonstrates what organizations like ours can do when we work together to provide services that we could not do on our own. We hope this program will serve as a model and an inspiration for other organizations to provide supportive programs to vulnerable elders.”
The Springpoint affordable housing division provides safe, comfortable rental apartments to over 2,000 vulnerable adults in New Jersey, ages 62 and older, who have limited financial means. In 2020, Parker and Springpoint joined forces to conduct a survey of these community residents to determine the potential need for services and technology to better their quality of life.
The survey results indicated that residents were lacking access to programming related to their physical and mental well-being. The findings also revealed that over 40% of residents lacked sufficient access to the internet, an essential tool for older adults to stay connected and engaged.
In all, the survey identified a strong need for engaging social based programs to help combat isolation and depression, particularly among the 80- to 89-year-old age group. To address this need, Parker and Springpoint agreed to establish and co-fund the Affordable Housing Wellness Initiative to bring health and wellness programming to residents in the following affordable housing communities: the Gables at West Windsor, Wheaton Pointe at East Windsor, Watchung Terrace at Middlesex and Hidden Brook at Franklin.
The program is being managed by Springpoint, utilizing its whole-person wellness program known as LivWell.
LivWell is a life enrichment program that is operating successfully in eight Springpoint Life Plan Communities. The award-winning program is based on a whole-person wellness model that strives to integrate and balance all dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, vocational, environmental and spiritual. LivWell uses individual health and well-being assessments, goal setting and outcome tracking to help community members make the choices that keep them healthy, engaged and living their best life.
