Press Release
Contact:
Dianna Huckestein
Evangelical Homes of Michigan
Phone: 734-222-4000
June 15, 2009: For Immediate Release
Passport to Living Well Program receives Leading-Edge Care and Services Award
On April 28, 2009 the Passport to Living Well Program at Evangelical Homes of Michigan was awarded the Leading-Edge Care and Services Award from the Aging Services of Michigan.
“The Passport to Living Well program is really all about fulfilling excellent life experiences for the people that we serve,” said Steve Hopkins, Director of Wellness and Physical Health at Evangelical Homes of Michigan. “We’re about serving people, we’re about being creative, and we’re about today being the most important day in everybody’s life.” The program focuses on six “spheres of wellness” which provide residents with a balanced life. These spheres include physical, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and vocational wellness.
Hopkins continued, “We use that model so that on a regular basis, as an entire community, we can look and say, ‘Are we balanced? Are we devoting enough attention in all those directions?’ Without a model, typically what happens for most communities is they are very strong in physical, very strong in social—and then people are on their own to attend to their emotional needs, to stimulate themselves intellectually.” The goal of the program is to help residents achieve a balanced, active, and happy lifestyle. This involves insuring that every resident is engaged in all six spheres of wellness, meeting with residents one-on-one in order to determine what new activities and programs should be adopted, and helping residents to become more physically active in order to decrease the quantity and severity of falls while reducing the overall number of hospital visits.
In addition to constantly changing and adapting activities and events to best serve the wide variety of residents, Hopkins and his staff are dedicated to collecting and utilizing data to gauge how effective different aspects of the program are. “We keep statistics on how many falls we have here,” Hopkins said. “Obviously we want that number to decrease, and it has. In the last six months it has started to go down. If we’re doing some good things physical fitness-wise then people will be able to tolerate a fall better and fall more safely.”
For Hopkins receiving the Leading-Edge Care and Services award isn’t simply about recognition. Instead, he views it as an opportunity to help other communities as a peer mentor.
“My real goal isn’t about collecting another plaque or going to another banquet, or the things that go along with actually winning the award,” he said. “When you win an award a door opens and you get a forum to speak your message. That’s about changing lives outside of Brecon.”
Evangelical Homes of Michiganis a not for profit organization related to the United Church of Christ providing healthcare, housing and community services to seniors and their extended families. In 2007, Evangelical Homes of Michigan provided more than $2.3 million in un-reimbursed charity care to residents, serving more than 1,400 individuals and their families through their campuses in Southeast Michigan; including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Saline and Sterling Heights. Founded in 1879, the organization is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors, employs over 1000 individuals and enjoys over 15,000 hours of volunteer services annually. In 2006, Evangelical Homes of Michigan received the Business Enterprise Award from the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce and in 2004 and 2005 was named one of the Metro Detroit’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business Professional Association. For more information visit www.evangelicalhomes.org.
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Press Release
Contact:
Dianna Huckestein
Evangelical Homes of Michigan
Phone: 734-222-4000
June 15, 2009: For Immediate Release
Passport to Living Well Program receives Leading-Edge Care and Services Award
On April 28, 2009 the Passport to Living Well Program at Evangelical Homes of Michigan was awarded the Leading-Edge Care and Services Award from the Aging Services of Michigan.
“The Passport to Living Well program is really all about fulfilling excellent life experiences for the people that we serve,” said Steve Hopkins, Director of Wellness and Physical Health at Evangelical Homes of Michigan. “We’re about serving people, we’re about being creative, and we’re about today being the most important day in everybody’s life.” The program focuses on six “spheres of wellness” which provide residents with a balanced life. These spheres include physical, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and vocational wellness.
Hopkins continued, “We use that model so that on a regular basis, as an entire community, we can look and say, ‘Are we balanced? Are we devoting enough attention in all those directions?’ Without a model, typically what happens for most communities is they are very strong in physical, very strong in social—and then people are on their own to attend to their emotional needs, to stimulate themselves intellectually.” The goal of the program is to help residents achieve a balanced, active, and happy lifestyle. This involves insuring that every resident is engaged in all six spheres of wellness, meeting with residents one-on-one in order to determine what new activities and programs should be adopted, and helping residents to become more physically active in order to decrease the quantity and severity of falls while reducing the overall number of hospital visits.
In addition to constantly changing and adapting activities and events to best serve the wide variety of residents, Hopkins and his staff are dedicated to collecting and utilizing data to gauge how effective different aspects of the program are. “We keep statistics on how many falls we have here,” Hopkins said. “Obviously we want that number to decrease, and it has. In the last six months it has started to go down. If we’re doing some good things physical fitness-wise then people will be able to tolerate a fall better and fall more safely.”
For Hopkins receiving the Leading-Edge Care and Services award isn’t simply about recognition. Instead, he views it as an opportunity to help other communities as a peer mentor.
“My real goal isn’t about collecting another plaque or going to another banquet, or the things that go along with actually winning the award,” he said. “When you win an award a door opens and you get a forum to speak your message. That’s about changing lives outside of Brecon.”
Evangelical Homes of Michiganis a not for profit organization related to the United Church of Christ providing healthcare, housing and community services to seniors and their extended families. In 2007, Evangelical Homes of Michigan provided more than $2.3 million in un-reimbursed charity care to residents, serving more than 1,400 individuals and their families through their campuses in Southeast Michigan; including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Saline and Sterling Heights. Founded in 1879, the organization is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors, employs over 1000 individuals and enjoys over 15,000 hours of volunteer services annually. In 2006, Evangelical Homes of Michigan received the Business Enterprise Award from the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce and in 2004 and 2005 was named one of the Metro Detroit’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the Michigan Business Professional Association. For more information visit www.evangelicalhomes.org.
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