Waterman Village: Active Empowerment - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing - Inside Healthcare

The days of thinking of retirement as the time to settle down and take it easy are over. Any CEO in the retirement community industry knows this, and many have taken the opportunity to change the kind of care they deliver to their residents. But none have done it with the kind of vim and vigor of Dale Lind, executive director at Florida-based Waterman Village.

In 2004, Lind rolled out his Hare (hope, attitude, relationships, engagement) Beach (believe, experimentation, anticipation, contribution, health) concept, which, when spelled out, sounds more like a

Dale Lind, executive director

philosophy exercised by the youth of our nation. But that’s the point, he said.

“We’re challenging people’s thinking on the issue of empowerment versus care, moving away from a care model to an empowerment model,” said Lind. “We’re moving away from the concept of care being the means or purpose of our assistance to the means we can use to empower our residents.”

Resident activation
Waterman Village, also known as Waterman Communities, offers a full continuum of retirement living options, including the Manors, its newest independent living neighborhood; the Villas, a gated independent living neighborhood; the Bridgewater, an assisted living residence; and the Edgewater, a skilled nursing facility with a specialized care unit for residents with Alzheimer’s or other memory disorders.

For the independent living communities, Lind’s message translates into structuring resident activities that are less focused on entertainment and more on participation. The organization recently invested in a permanent and expanded dance floor to further encourage monthly dances. Rather than passively watching or listening to performances, which the company still provides, residents can put on their dancing shoes.

In 2007, Waterman Village remodeled a large, underused employee lounge into a smaller lounge and developed an inhouse TV station and an art studio. The company invested less than $100,000 in the total project because the work was done inhouse. The art studio’s popularity took off and often has two or more classes going. Four times a year, when the company holds a board meeting, one of the board members teaches the Bob Ross method of painting, which is taken by a mix of residents and employees.

Next door to the art studio is the TV studio. To take the concept of empowerment to yet another level, the company invited 15 resident volunteers who are interested in TV production to train on using the equipment, editing the footage, and producing their own TV shows.

“We’ve done a program for our inhouse TV station demonstrating the Bob Ross teaching method, and we hope that, by our next class in June, more residents will want to participate,” said Lind. “I’ve even taken a stab at it. I’ve painted the sides of barns, houses, and corncribs but never a painting to hang on the wall. Thanks to the Bob Ross method, I have produced paintings I’m not embarrassed to display in my house.”

In the assisted living facilities, residents and the facility’s activities person have built elevated gardens. For those who aren’t as interested in getting their hands dirty, Waterman Village offers mind-expanding programs such as Great Decisions, an organization that produces discussion topics, along with video and print support, to promote education on foreign policy. The only problem, said Lind, is that the residents often shoot through a year’s worth of material in six months. “They like to come in and solve the problems of the world,” he said.

The “silent” generation
Resident participation goes far beyond recreational activities, however. In 2006 Waterman Village experienced a financial crisis when Florida increased its insurance rates. The company had to pass along the substantial increases to its residents. In response, residents asked for a resident finance committee to be involved in review of the company’s finances as well as the budgeting process.

Although the board and management were at first reluctant, an accidental course of events proved their worries were unnecessary. When the board/staff planning session occurred in December, management invited the resident finance committee to attend. Right after, the company had its year-end board meeting which, although not invited, the resident finance committee attended.

“I looked at the chairman, he looked at me, and we said ‘Let’s go for it,’” said Lind. “By the time the meeting ended, the board thought it was a good idea. We’ve gotten some good advice from the committee, and it also heads off a lot of concern from other residents when they know five of their own have a chance to provide input into what’s happening.”

Residents have gone above and beyond participating in Waterman Village’s financial planning, however. Still an ongoing issue, Florida’s debate on whether or not to eliminate sales-tax exemptions prompted retirees from around the state to write the tax commission with concerns. The commission received so many e-mails it had to ask them to stop. The e-mail inbox was at capacity.

“The silent generation (parents of the baby boomers) is misnamed. They’re not silent,” said Lind. “They want a voice, and they want input.”

The next generation
As Waterman Village looks to prepare for the baby boomer generation, Lind sees many investments in the company’s future, including an auditorium with a theater for the company’s resident drama group as well as visiting artists. Another investment, he predicts, will be a design center to provide incoming residents an opportunity to choose the design elements of their homes rather than picking what’s already been provided.

“The future is about flexibility,” Lind said. “Partnering flexibility with our burgeoning empowerment model ensures that we’ll not only be offering competitive choices but also a lifestyle tailored for the next generation of active seniors.”

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