
Riverside’s Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health (CEALH) Celebrates 15 Years
At the turn of the century, a group of innovative men and women in Williamsburg looked ahead and saw the oncoming age wave – the 80 million American Baby Boomers turning 65 and older – that would change the face of demographics and the scope of services needed in communities across the nation.
“They believed that if, right here in Williamsburg, we did excellent health services research, we could better equip physicians and clinicians to be sensitive to older adults and caregivers,” said Rick Jackson. “We knew there was never going to be enough geriatricians specialized in this field, but there could be enough people trained to be sensitive to the needs of older adults.”
Plus, there was an opportunity to get ahead of the wave and fill in the known gaps of service to older adults with compassionate, effective and sustainable care.
That was 15 years ago.
Today, Jackson said, “we’ve met those challenges” thanks to the Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health (CEALH), where Jackson serves as the Executive Director.
CEALH, based in Williamsburg, recently celebrated its 15th anniversary of serving older adults and caregivers throughout Virginia. It began operations officially in 2002 as the Center for Excellence in Aging and Geriatric Health under the guidance of The Crossroads Group, the innovative men and women Jackson referenced. The Group was a collaboration between community and government organizations that had identified a gap in the conversion of research into application for the older adult population.
In 2007, Riverside, one of the Center’s founding members, established an endowment which gave the Center financial stability in challenging economic times. In 2012, Riverside merged the Center into its Lifelong Health and Aging Related Services division, renamed it CEALH, and helped apply the health services research at even greater levels.
Today, CEALH continues its not for profit work to improve the quality of life for older adults and caregivers through four cornerstones of service, which include:
- Innovation and Business Development, through health services research, to gather seed capital for creating new care models and then put them into operation to benefit older adults across the community.
- Community Partnerships and Collaborations, including a range of caregiver support, training and counseling programs, to engage older adults and their caregivers where they are, in their homes and in the community.
- Business Innovation programs, like ChooseHome and Telemedicine, to find key methods to help older adults age in a place of their choosing.
- Clinical Services, including a Geriatric Assessment Clinic and Driver Rehabilitation and Evaluation Program, to obtain a full physical, emotional and spiritual view of older adults.
“The one thing they emphasize that is incredibly important is the empirical analysis of data and fact,” Senator Monty Mason said recently at CEALH.
Why?
“The reality is that aging is complex,” Jackson said. “It can be a harsh and confusing path to navigate when we realize one day that we, and our loved ones around us, have aged. In the absence of someone to help, that path might even seem impossible to control. We are giving people the power to say ‘as I age, I will control my destiny in a place of my choosing.’”
Learn more about the Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health and its programs by calling (757) 220-4751 or by clicking here.
CEALH is located in Williamsburg at 460 McLaws Circle, Suite 110.
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