Top-tier health care makes Lawrence is an ideal spot for seniors to land.
| 2018 Q2 | story by Julie Dunlap | photos by Steven Hertzog
Vic White, LMH Fitness for Life strength coordinating specialist and LMH Fitness for Life Therapy Gym
Whether moving to a new city or staying put for retirement, one of the most important facets to the gem of aging is securing high-quality health care.
Fortunately for those who make their golden nest in Jayhawk land, Lawrence offers wellness opportunities to meet nearly any level of ability, need and interest for retirees, from specialized fitness classes to long-term skilled-nursing care.
FIT FOR LIFE
Nearly 25 years ago, health-care providers at Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) realized a number of patients who had completed physical or occupational therapy after recovering from work injuries wanted to continue the healthy fitness habits they had adopted while under the care of a therapist.
In 2002, the Return to Work program that helped workers’ compensation patients maintain their exercise routines led to the creation of the Fit for Life program, aimed at helping other physical and occupational therapy patients maintain and enhance their exercise routines, as well.
“We serve the post-therapy patient who wants to stay in a familiar environment but doesn’t want to go to a traditional fitness center,” says Vic White, LMH Fit for Life strength coordinating specialist, adding that Fit for Life is open to non-post-therapy exercisers, as well.
White, who has a master’s degree in exercise physiology, took over the program shortly after its introduction to the community and currently oversees roughly 130 to 140 clients.
“Clients like the assistance and having an exercise physiologist who can answer questions,” he explains.
Passes to the LMH-based exercise facilities are available without a contract and cost $35 for 12 sessions. They may be used at any frequency and are good for up to one year. Once enrolled, exercisers have the option of joining one of two programs:
• The FIT 1 program allows exercisers to receive an initial consultation with an LMH therapy services staff member to design a workout routine specific to the exerciser’s abilities and interests. The exerciser is then free to work out at his or her convenience.
• For those who want a little more personal attention or may need help working through a routine, the Fit Assist program pairs exercisers with volunteers on a 1-to-1 basis, similar to a personal trainer-type program but without an additional fee. Again, an initial consultation takes place to set a routine, and the exerciser and volunteer meet on a mutually agreed upon schedule to exercise.
“We have a variety of volunteers,” White says, “ranging from college students to retirees who have participated in the program themselves.” Of the 130 to 140 clients currently enrolled, just more than 100 are FIT 1 participants, while the rest are in the Fit Assist program.
“Many Fit Assist participants have family or friends that join them for the sessions,” he adds.
White personally matches exercisers with volunteers to make sure the experience is fulfilling for both. Today, the program has 14 volunteers, but White hopes to add more, especially to help cover the summer months and as the program continues to grow.
In addition to the Fit for Life program, LMH also offers wellness classes at the Lawrence Sports Pavillion geared toward the senior population, including aquatic exercise and three levels of tai chi.
The LMH Cardiopulmonary Wellness Program offers exercise programs for people who may need a more monitored and guided routine, with less emphasis on resistance and strength training than the typical Fit for Life routine.
White notes that, as baby boomers have aged, the senior population has become a more savy group of consumers looking for products and services that will keep them healthier.
“It can be easy for a group like this to be taken advantage of,” White says, adding, “We’re not here for the revenue, we’re a community hospital. We want people to be healthy.”
Dr. Eric Huerter
MDVIP
Dr. Eric Huerter, an internal medicine physician in Lawrence since 1999, is quick to credit Lawrence Memorial Hospital for making Lawrence an ideal place for retirees.
“LMH continues to evolve into a robust health system,” Huerter explains, citing the wellness programs it offers as well as the programs and resources available through Lawrence Parks and Recreation and the Senior Center.
Huerter also notes the cohesiveness of the medical community as a whole, stating, “The health community works closely with each other.” This unified approach to health care allows patients to receive most treatments within the city of Lawrence.
Huerter recently affiliated with MDVIP, a network of physicians who provide personalized health care to patients who enroll in their practices for an annual fee. Roughly 400 people are under Dr. Huerter’s care in this model, many of whom are seniors. Huerter also serves as the medical director for Community Living Opportunities, Pioneer Ridge and Bridge Haven.
He estimates 80% of the seniors he treats have lived in Lawrence most of their adult lives, with 20% having moved to Lawrence more recently.
In the nearly two decades Huerter has been caring for seniors in Lawrence, he has noticed some trends among the generations.
Members of “The Greatest Generation” tend to want a more “paternalistic” approach with a physician who will tell them exactly what to do to improve or maintain their general health. They expect more out of the systems they’ve paid into, including Medicare, and are very willing to change their ways in order to improve mobility.
Right behind them, the baby boomers are generally more willing to participate in deciding the course of their care. Perhaps it is difference in age, or perhaps it is reflective of the generation known well for questioning authority, but the boomers tend to want to vet their care options more than their elders.
In the early stages of receiving the insurance benefits they have paid into all of their lives, Huerter has found boomers are generally more willing to pay for extra care like supplemental insurance and diet and fitness programs.
“[Boomers] have a lot of passion for fitness classes all around town,” he notes.
This generation has a particular interest in the VIP model of care Huerter provides. Patients appreciate having their doctor’s cell phone number, something that often allows the physician to advise the patient early enough in a potentially problematic situation to avoid hospital time. The practice has also allowed patients to live at home longer.
Drs. Elaine Kennedy and Steve Dillon also practice in Lawrence under the MDVIP model.
As Generation Xers make their way over the big 5-0 and approach retirement, Huerter expects the VIP model to be an excellent fit for this generation that values convenience and personalized engagement from its health-care providers.
Creating Flower arrangements at Bridge Haven
BRIDGE HAVEN
Sarah Randolph, executive director of Bridge Haven, a community of residences specializing in long-term memory care, is grateful for physicians such as Dr. Huerter, who are able to bring health care to the patient.
In addition to Dr. Huerter’s routine visits, Bridge Haven regularly welcomes podiatrist Dr. Larry Gaston, LMH lab technicians, a dedicated dental hygienist, a hairdresser (included in the monthly fee) and a number of speech, physical, occupational, music and pet therapists to care for its 30-plus residents.
“Residents can live out their lives here in a group setting,” Randolph explains with a bright smile. She estimates that half of the residents are Lawrence lifers, while the other half have chosen to move to Lawrence in their later years. Many of those have ties to the University of Kansas, and a few are here to be close to family.
Like Fit for Life and Dr. Huerter, Bridge Haven can provide different levels of care as the needs of its residents, most of whom are living with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, change..
Randolph notes that 6 million people in the United States currently have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and 1 million have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Those numbers are both expected to triple by the year 2050.
As the boomer population advances in age, this kind of more specialized, social setting has grown in popularity, though Randolph says most everyone who makes the decision to move into a skilled-care facility does so only when a dire need arrives and with little to no prior research into facilities.
“Incontinence is the No. 1 reason people finally decide to leave [their homes],” Randolph explains. Falls often contribute to the decision, as well. Randolph says, noting, “when the caregiver notices it isn’t safe for the person to be at home.”
Randolph recommends people older than 50 look into long-term-care insurance and have conversations with loved ones about what their expectations, hopes and limits are when it comes to health care and living situations as they advance in age.
The communal living offered at places such as Bridge Haven gives residents a chance to lift each other up from day to day.
“They really care and worry about each other,” Randolph says. They enjoy sharing stories and memories with each other, and having peers around who understand the aches and pains they are all enduring.
For the ultrasocial, the two homes on Research Park Drive in West Lawrence are connected by a short, fenced-in walking path. Residents who crave the freedom to go outdoors can do so safely with a feeling of independence, as the doors connected by the path are unlocked during the day, allowing residents to walk back and forth between the two houses to visit.
Bridge Haven has a third cottage on West 26th Street but plans to build a new one on the Research Park Drive campus to replace it, allowing all residents to live in closer proximity.
Similar in many ways, perhaps, to living in a dorm or a fraternity or sorority house in college, residents are under the caring watch of a house manager and are led in a number of activities.
“The residents love playing trivia games,” Randolph smiles.
Though the conversation might wander, the 21 daily staff members all employ Randolph’s motto to follow the lead of the residents and simply “enjoy the ride.”
