Walking through the front door, visitors are greeted by sunlight
streaming across pristine wood floors and comfy armchairs. Old
issues of “Life” magazine are scattered across the tables, and
pictures of seniors in their heyday – as war veterans, college
students – line the walls. Wafting through the air is the delicious
smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
By Corey Dahl
The Johnson Center’s new Adult Day Services wing feels like a
cozy home.
Walking through the front door, visitors are greeted by sunlight
streaming across pristine wood floors and comfy armchairs. Old
issues of “Life” magazine are scattered across the tables, and
pictures of seniors in their heyday – as war veterans, college
students – line the walls. Wafting through the air is the delicious
smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
The last thing the new wing feels like is a facility for
seniors, and that’s the point, said Lori Williamson, the center’s
director of Adult Day Services.
“When participants come in here, they don’t feel like they’re
going to an institution,” she said. “They feel like they’re coming
to a home.”
Opened at the beginning of March, the Adult Day Services
program, 5000 E. Arapahoe Road in Centennial, is the first of its
kind offered in the south metro area by Christian Living
Communities. The program functions as a senior center with a
measure of medical care, catering to seniors who are active but
can’t necessarily stay at home alone all day.
The program could be called day care for adults, but Williamson
said she avoids references to anything child-like.
“Our participants are former lawyers, engineers,” she said.
“They have master’s degrees and PhDs. They don’t want to be talked
down to.”
Instead, the program focuses on providing activities that
stimulate the seniors both socially and cognitively. A world
affairs conversation group meets once a week, while bakers get a
chance to whip up a treat every morning in the center’s kitchen.
Games from electronic darts to an indoor putting green are
available, and participants are in the middle of building an
outdoor bird habitat and garden.
“Our focus here is on activities that keep everyone active
socially and mentally,” Williamson said. “But they’re all picked
based on what our participants like to do. We don’t just slap
something together; a lot of thought goes into drawing up the
calendar.”
Williamson also tries to incorporate activities that involve the
larger community and make seniors feel useful. Field trips to
places like the Denver Mint are routine, and “Project Pillow Pals”
is about to start at the center, allowing crafty seniors to sew
pillowcases that the participants will take to a center for victims
of domestic violence. The center allows the seniors to help with
minor chores, such as washing the dishes or doing a
laundry.
“I want them to feel as if they’re contributing,” Williamson
said. “They see that they can give back, and it gives them some
value. Our hope is that they’ll see what they can do at the center
and then feel like they can do something useful when they go
home.”
Williamson said she’s already getting positive feedback from the
participants and their families, some of whom felt guilty about
leaving their loved ones for the day.
“A lot of them wondered if they were doing the right thing,” she
said. “But getting over that initial hump of guilt has really just
been so beneficial, for both sides.”