February is celebrated as National Senior Independence Month throughout the United States. But every day, InnovAge, the largest provider of the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in the U.S., celebrates senior independence by providing supportive and compassionate care that helps to preserve older adults’ dignity and independence.
Over InnovAge’s 35 years of providing PACE services and support, senior independence has looked and felt different for each of the 25,000+ seniors who have benefited from being enrolled in the program over the decades.
Whether it is working with enrolled seniors to maintain a healthy diet, providing necessary home modifications and assistive devices where they live, or creating a relaxed community environment mixed with mentally stimulating gamesmanship and exercise in its centers, InnovAge’s first goal is to keep seniors independent.
Take Sharon Olewnik, a Northeast Philly resident and a participant at InnovAge LIFE’s St. Bart’s Center. Plagued with poor overall health for many years, including both knees needing replacement surgery, Olewnik enrolled with InnovAge and never looked back. Along with providing physical therapy, medication management, and daily transportation, InnovAge was able to give Olewnik the independence that she craved.
“It was as simple as setting up an orientation with InnovAge, me liking them and what they can do, and we were set,” says Olewnik. “It feels good to be able to stay in my home, with their care, and, I don’t have to be in my house all the time.”
Three times a week, Olewnik receives door-to-door service from her home to InnovAge’s St. Bart’s Center. Once there, she joins her new friends playing Bingo, watching movies, and creating arts and crafts. “I’m a part of a community at InnovAge’s St. Bart’s Center,” Olewnik says. “At the end of a day, they drive me home. If I need help with something at my house, like putting up a metal bar because I fell out of bed, InnovAge will care of it immediately.”
Olewnik recommends the InnovAge LIFE experience to anyone in need. “I love it here,” she says.
Keena Kiser, the regional sales director at InnovAge Pennsylvania LIFE, understands why Olewnik is so pleased with the relationship that she shares with the St. Bart’s Center’s community and her in-home services team.
Kiser has been with InnovAge for a little over four years, and has witnessed, on a daily basis, how happy and satisfied both participants and their loved ones are with the wealth of services received.
“I am completely amazed by the InnovAge LIFE program,” says Kiser, who has worked in other senior healthcare settings prior to InnovAge and knows the differences. “InnovAge means what it says when it comes to living life independently for the elderly. We are there to keep these people livingly freely in their own homes – with the necessary resources and support. This program wants to eliminate any loss of independence, and for our enrolled seniors to be able to live as such, longer than they typically could on their own.”
Kiser says her seniors come to InnovAge “with a goal in mind,” and from that point forward, her job is to meet those needs and expectations.
“When some participants first enter our program, they are malnourished and/or have real food insecurities. But within six months, they’ve put on weight, and we’ve arranged for them to get food on a daily basis from one of our community partners, such as Philabundance (a local Philly food bank) or Meals on Wheels.”
While many of InnovAge’s participants have families of their own, Kiser stresses how everyone knows they have another family they can rely on. “For the seniors who come to InnovAge, they know have a community of fellow participants they can talk to and be with at our centers. The InnovAge team also becomes family for our seniors. We share nicknames. We build camaraderie and personal relationships. Our staff love to do special events like senior proms and birthday parties, as well as activities to keep seniors’ minds and bodies working. We get to know them – their patterns and habits.”
Kiser says her main goal is to make sure that seniors enrolled in InnovAge really can live life on their own terms, in a sense, providing Senior Independence Month all year round.
“That’s our mission, and a mission I truly believe in,” says Kiser. “InnovAge offers seniors a team of people advocating for you: to help you reach your goals toward good health and well-being. We respect your opinions. We understand your struggles – big and small – from challenging finances and transportation insecurity, to mobility issues where you can’t open a pill bottle. For our seniors, they know that they have a team in tune with what they need and want. And that means the world to our participants.”
For more information, visit innovage.com
Sponsored content produced in partnership with InnovAge
