Living independently at age 82 is a precious thing.

Just ask Louise Cochran, who enjoys living independently in her life-lease patio home at Christian City, a community that provides housing and health services for 1,000 seniors in Union City.

After catching the flu while visiting her son Joseph, Louise soon realized that her biggest health challenge would be the loss of strength experienced during the time of recovery. Without around-the-clock attention, Joseph knew his mother was likely to fall. It appeared to Joseph that the only option for his mother to get 24-hour care was to move her into a nursing home.

Then Joseph learned about the new “Home-2-Home” program at Christian City Convalescent Center. Immediately after her admission, Louise found herself very busy in physical therapy and in the Strengthening Center, both located within the facility.

“My son felt better about leaving me, since I was going to taken care of by so many people,” Louise explained.

Working in a supervised weight training program, she began to realize that she could quickly regain the strength she had lost and even add some new muscle.

“At first I was really sick and weak,” she states. “But after the first week, I was feeling so much stronger that I knew this treatment was helping me. I wanted to continue to get stronger so that when I returned home, I would be able to cook for myself and remain independent for a long time to come.”

Home-2-Home is based on new knowledge and experience about the physical potential of elderly persons. In as little as six weeks, a frail senior can increase strength by as much as 90 percent. Home-2-Home also offers treatment for the problem of incontinence.

Frailty and incontinence are the top two reasons why seniors are admitted into nursing homes. For most clients, it takes four to six weeks in the Home-2-Home program to restore sufficient health and strength to be safely independent.

Bruce Erickson, vice president of senior services at Christian City, summarizes Home-2-Home this way: “For persons who would otherwise move to a nursing home for the remainder of their life, Home-2-Home offers new hope. Rather than simply managing the health problems, we are changing the health status of the client for the better. I think every senior who is facing the possibility of a move from home into a nursing home deserves an opportunity to regain sufficient health for independence.”

After just three weeks in the program, Louise returned home with enough strength to handle her own cooking and enjoy her independence. Her participation in the Christian City water aerobics program twice weekly will help her stay strong and healthy.

Home-2-Home coordinator Dionne Syblis RN has called Louise several times since her discharge to make sure she is doing okay.

“More often than not when I call, she is out running errands,” she noted. “I guess that is the best indicator that the program works. She has regained full independence.”

The Home-2-Home program at Christian City is helping many people just like Louise not only return home, but enjoy a new strength and ability to stay independent. For more information about the program, call admissions coordinator Pam Jensen at 770-964-3301.

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