Connect4Life: One Family’s Story

Wendy has been a resident at Juniper Village for a little over a year. Her daughter, Anna, is a high school math teacher who also now volunteers at Juniper Village. Both feel that finding Juniper and its Connect4Life integrated care program has been life-changing.

Around two years ago, Anna’s father, who had been Wendy’s primary caretaker, passed away. Anna found herself having to step in. Several months later, Wendy suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for three days. Anna knew her mother could not return home, and Anna also knew she would no longer be able to adequately care for her mother while maintaining her career and her own children. Anna wanted to find a residence for her mother where she would not only be safe but happy, well cared for in body, mind, and spirit.

Being the analytical type, Anna immediately began to investigate a number of different options for her mother, one of which was Juniper Village.

During the tour, the team there brought Anna’s attention to the words of Juniper’s founder Lynne Katzmann,

“Understanding that data will drive every aspect of healthcare, our model tracks more than 90 measures, many focused on the physical health of residents. This enables each community to identify trends for intervention or improvement. Data, rather than anecdotes and speculation, enable staff to solve problems proactively.”

Anna was immediately impressed by Juniper’s Connect4Life program that cultivates well-being for physical, mental, and spiritual wellness through seamless access to service. Juniper has forged strategic partnerships that provide onsite services including physical therapy and rehabilitation, as well as social and emotional engagement programs seven days a week.

Anna also appreciated that Juniper has established a relationship with Redwood Health Partners to provide comprehensive primary care services with clinic settings based inside senior living communities, which allows for early intervention, better documentation and easier coordination of care. These programs in combination mean that Juniper residents use fewer in-patient services than similar Medicare recipients in seniors’ housing.

After discharge, Wendy moved in, and fully recovered within a few months, without ever needing to return to the hospital.

This is not surprising given that Juniper’s re-hospitalization rate is more than 80% less than a similar Medicare population, while the hospitalization rate is 50% lower.

Anna credits the Juniper staff and their coordinated care initiatives for the vast improvement in quality of life for both her and her mother. With the ability to have most of her mother’s care provided at the community, routine medical visits, therapy as needed, and care planning that includes all aspects of her mother’s life, they are “recovering their relationship” as mother and daughter instead of caregiver and patient.