Stepping Up with the Heritage Irish Stepdancers

St. Patrick’s Day is always a festive tradition at The Spearly Center.  Once again the residents were thrilled to have the Heritage Irish Stepdancers perform on March 17th.  The Heritage Irish Stepdancers is an organization that offers youth dance classes, participates in local and national competitions, and performs in the Denver metro area more than 50 times a year.  Their performances are very entertaining, as well as educational.  We look forward to seeing them year after year.  For more information about the Heritage Irish Stepdancers, give them a call at 720-747-9377 or look them on the web at http://www.heritageirish.com

Connect4Life Leads to Better Outcomes for Residents

Integrated Care in Seniors Housing that Meets the Triple Aim from Cindy Longfellow

Data shows Connect4Life’s high-tech/high-touch integrated services lead to higher quality care and better outcomes for residents

Executive Summary: Integrated Care in Seniors Housing that Meets
the Triple Aim

By Anne Tumlinson, MMHS and Lynne Katzmann, PhD

According to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, more than 190 million Americans, or about 59 percent of the population, are affected by one or more chronic illnesses. Over the next 15 years (between 2016 and 2030,) 80 percent of the United States population will experience one or more chronic conditions, costing more than $42 trillion in medical care spending and losses in employment productivity.

To address these challenges and enhance the resident experience, Juniper Communities, a Bloomfield, NJ-based national owner-operator of seniors housing, developed the Connect4Life model, which provides on-site comprehensive therapy, primary care, pharmacy and lab services, integrated with other services using a “high-tech/high-touch” communications protocol that transfers information through an Electronic Health Record (EHR) and coordinates care through a human navigator.

Juniper Communities retained Anne Tumlinson Innovations (ATI) to compare Connect4Life outcomes and utilization data with data on the broader Medicare population from the 2012 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). The findings suggest that the Connect4Life model contributes to lower hospital readmissions and the utilization of inpatient services among a high-need resident population. The results affirm the potential of integrating select clinical care and services in a seniors housing environment that provides supportive services to those who have chronic conditions, functional limitations, and complex social needs.

The results suggest an integrated program of services in seniors housing—like Juniper’s Connect4Life —can contribute to reducing the cost of care and services to Medicare beneficiaries residing in seniors housing. More importantly, the data points to the value of the Connect4Life model for managing population health because of its ability to efficiently target integrated care interventions in the high cost, high-need Medicare population.

Juniper Communities has been a thought leader in senior living care, developing nearly a dozen innovative service and delivery programs to enhance aging, lifestyle and resident health. Recognizing opportunities in to meet the triple aim of recent health policy changes in the United States – improved customer satisfaction, evidence-base quality and lower healthcare utilization, Juniper is pioneering Connect 4 Life – one of senior living’s first truly integrated care models of assisted living care and service.

Read more in the FREE White Paper!

Stars Shine at Spearly Red Carpet Awards

The Spearly Center is full of stars!  On March 2^nd the Spearly Red Carpet Awards were held.  Over 70 residents were nominated in various categories.  Everyone enjoyed the awards ceremony as recipients went down the red carpet to accept their awards with pride.  An impromptu vocal performance by one of the winners followed.  And the winners are…..

Creativity Excellence Award: Jon J. and Jada V.

Best Smile Award: Darwin F. and Theresa G.

Comedic Excellence Award: Skip F. and Jackie G.

Best Sense of Style Award: Gregory J. and Grace L.

Physical Fitness Excellence Award: Bob W. and Monica B.

Positive Attitude Excellence Award: Charlie T. and Kumiko F.

Congratulations to all our winners!  The Spearly Center is honored to have you as our residents.

March 2017 Events in Denver, CO: Your Treasure is Within

Theatrical readings, colorful costumed dancers and spectacular vocal performances bring to a close our creative expression quarterly theme with a focus on performance and honoring our inner treasure – our self-worth. With so many demands on our time these days, it’s easy to always put others first and forget to care of ourselves. Also as we get older, retire from work and in some cases caretaking, we may forget our sense of value – our self-worth. A large part of nurturing the spirit of life is providing opportunities for purpose.

This month we will put an even greater focus on identifying our continued purpose and self-worth by performing purposeful activities, reminiscing and creating opportunities to treasure ourselves. Motivational speaker Anne Naylor offers these tips to help you treasure yourself: Treasure your thoughts with kindness – nurture your thoughts of gratitude and appreciation. Treasure your feelings and emotions – observe and use them as your guide. Treasure your body – treat it well with exercise, nourishment, rest, joy and laughter. Treasure your spirit – breathe, meditate and enjoy the goodness in your life. We hope you all enjoy the treasure of your wonderful self.

Please join us as we dramatically embrace performance throughout March with our weekly drama club, outings to live theatrical performances and our Oscar-themed party. Celebrate the Irish culture in grand style with our Saint Patrick’s Day event filled with food, fun and, of course, dancing! Honor yourself and recognize Your Treasure is Within this month at Juniper Village!

Our fabulous March 2017 events in Denver, CO at Juniper Village at The Spearly Center include our:

§  Spearly Red Carpet Awards Ceremony because it’s Oscars season, and The Spearly Center would like to celebrate our residents, so we would like to invite friends and family to our Spearly Red Carpet Awards Ceremony in our Main Dining Room as awards will be presented in various categories from Best Dressed, Most Humble, Best Connections Participant, and many more; this event will be exciting and will bring out the best in anyone, and we would love to see you there on March 2^nd at 11:00 am.

§  St. Patrick’s Day Social as Celtic Pride and the Luck of the Irish is in the air, friends, family and our Greater Denver community are invited to partake in this festive celebration as we dine on tasty green treats and mix and mingle with our dear Spearly residents, and traditional Celtic music will provided and door prizes will be awarded, and don’t forget to wear green on March 17^th at 2:30 pm.

§  Spearly Sidekicks Spring Fling because spring is a magical time of year as flowers and trees are awakening from winter, the weather is becoming warmer, and people become more active, so what better way to celebrate the spring equinox than to celebrate with The Spearly Center as friends, family, and community members are invited to celebrate this festive and meaningful day with games, prizes and refreshments available in our Country Store on March 20^th at 2:30 pm.

We look forward to sharing our March 2017 events in Denver, CO at Juniper Village at The Spearly Center with you as Your Treasure is Within.