Senior Living Customer Profiles & Testimonials

What do you get when you mix the city manager of a Down East Maine community, looking to increase her city’s senior population, with an innovative healthcare company ready to expand? Then, sprinkle in an empty school with available property. What’s the outcome?

“Magic,” said Ellsworth, Maine’s city manager, Michelle Beal.

The planning of Seaport Village—a newly constructed 63,000 square-foot, two story facility offering 91 beds for nursing care, rehabilitation services and assisted living—started back in 2011.

“It’s been a goal of the city for several years to provide more services to our seniors and reach out to this growing population,” stated Beal. “Through collaboration with First Atlantic and a focused and creative development team, we’ve brought something to Ellsworth that is truly special.”

First Atlantic, who operates 16 nursing homes throughout Maine, was looking to upgrade their position in Ellsworth, a market they’d penetrated two decades earlier by purchasing Collier’s Rehab and Nursing Center. First Atlantic purchased the property bordering the empty elementary school, which the city then refurbished into a beautiful multi-purpose community center. The two buildings give the area a campus-like feel.

“Seaport Village offers the very best in high-quality senior living and senior care—including a high tech therapy pool with underwater treadmill. We’re so excited to be able to offer such advanced care in our rural community. It’s fabulous for our people and adds value to our city,” added Beal.

Rebecca LaBrie, Program Director, OTR/L, with Rehabcare, Seaport Village’s contracted rehab provider, observed,
“The state-of-the-art HydroWorx 1200 Series therapy pool is really the crowning feature of the facility. The whole floor of the pool moves and works as a treadmill, providing a low-impact walking or running environment. It offers a new level of rehab and therapy to the region.”
And the community is thrilled. “During the open house,” explained LaBrie, “everyone wanted to see the pool. ‘Where’s the pool?’ they asked. ‘We want to see how it works!’ My finger about had a blister by the end of the night from pushing the buttons to demonstrate.”

Beal added, “The folks at First Atlantic have made sure this property feels more like a home than a hospital. There are open spaces, socializing areas, individual doorbells and mailboxes. It’s as good on the inside as it is on the outside. This new facility made sense for the city and it was also the right thing to do.”

While providing close to 50 new jobs, Seaport Village will provide a swift boost to the tax base. “As I’ve stated previously,” continued Beal, “seniors are a wonderful demographic to encourage into our community. They bring with them medical jobs, they volunteer, pay their taxes and require very little education expenditure.”

Craig G. Coffin, First Atlantic COO, who oversees all operational and development aspects for the company, affirmed, “Developing this facility with the help of the City of Ellsworth was a gratifying process. We are truly excited about the future of healthcare in Ellsworth and the partnerships we have created. When you work together to provide the best possible care, great things happen.”

They chose to build the facility in a special location that exposes one of the best views of the river for residents. Greg and Denise Nelson of Nelson Holdings, Sean Nelson, Executive Director and Partner, Geoff Fraser and Jeff Cleveland of Clear Choice Health Care, decided rather than 120 beds in the facility, they wanted to offer suites to add to the ambiance they were providing. Private rooms and single occupancy is where the market is heading and their goal, at Dolphin Pointe, is to stay current with the trends. So, after countless meetings focusing on the design aspect of the facility, they came up with something unique in that it will be the area’s only single occupancy and private rooms themed around the Savannah lifestyle. It stands out because it does not have the Mediterranean look that is common throughout Florida.

Greg Nelson, a graduate of Jacksonville University, revisited campus as a trustee and realized that there was vacant land available. This is when the idea emerged and the Dolphin Pointe property was eventually purchased in August 2014. As part of the design, they added a large 5,500 square-foot therapy center that will be used physical, occupational and speech therapy and will showcase two HydroWorx 500 Series pools. These enhancements will attract not only the senior living population but also the Jacksonville University athletes. The strong relationship that was built with the University will allow Dolphin Pointe to share their high-tech resources after hours to work with athletes from the University that require aquatic therapy. The facility looks forward to being a valued partner with the University and creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

Download Emerging Senior Living Trends White Paper here.

By proximity, Dolphin Pointe will be the closest nursing home to the University – less than a football field away – for graduating healthcare professionals. This will allow students to gain hands-on experience in a real healthcare setting. In addition, there will be a 100,000 square-foot, three story medical office that will have an urgent care student clinic.

Dr. Chris Sapienza, a faculty member of Jacksonville University will be working with Dolphin Pointe and states:

“I’m the Dean of Healthcare Sciences which has a very large school of nursing as well as many of the applied health sciences, so areas like speech pathology, occupational therapy, movement sciences and mental health counseling. So, what Greg is developing is a community that will encompass many types of patients that our students will encounter in their careers.”

The University already has a niche in the healthcare field and this partnership will help them expand their offerings. The University eventually wants to have over 500 lives being cared for on this campus.

Dolphin Pointe is investing in not one but two HydroWorx products. There is a medical benefit to having two products by running them at two different temperatures which will allow for increased variety of treatment options. For example, a patient with arthritis would use the warmer pool, and a patient with a respiratory condition like COPD may need the temperature slightly cooler. Clear Choice also offers HydroWorx underwater treadmills in many of their other facilities and clearly sees the value in this modality.

Geoff states, “With the athletes, aquatics is going to be a new thing. Currently, we have only treated rehab patients and post-acute so the next step is very exciting to see how athletes benefit from the water, as well. Rehabbing in a fashionable, tech-savvy product is important for us because that is our vision for Dolphin Pointe. Staying up with the trends and offering creative services such as HydroWorx products will match perfectly with the Savannah themed Dolphin Pointe facility which is planned to open by early 2018.”

They chose to build the facility in a special location that exposes one of the best views of the river for residents. Greg and Denise Nelson of Nelson Holdings, Sean Nelson, Executive Director and Partner, Geoff Fraser and Jeff Cleveland of Clear Choice Health Care, decided rather than 120 beds in the facility, they wanted to offer suites to add to the ambiance they were providing. Private rooms and single occupancy is where the market is heading and their goal, at Dolphin Pointe, is to stay current with the trends. So, after countless meetings focusing on the design aspect of the facility, they came up with something unique in that it will be the area’s only single occupancy and private rooms themed around the Savannah lifestyle. It stands out because it does not have the Mediterranean look that is common throughout Florida.

Greg Nelson, a graduate of Jacksonville University, revisited campus as a trustee and realized that there was vacant land available. This is when the idea emerged and the Dolphin Pointe property was eventually purchased in August 2014. As part of the design, they added a large 5,500 square-foot therapy center that will be used physical, occupational and speech therapy and will showcase two HydroWorx 500 Series pools. These enhancements will attract not only the senior living population but also the Jacksonville University athletes. The strong relationship that was built with the University will allow Dolphin Pointe to share their high-tech resources after hours to work with athletes from the University that require aquatic therapy. The facility looks forward to being a valued partner with the University and creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

Download Emerging Senior Living Trends White Paper here.

By proximity, Dolphin Pointe will be the closest nursing home to the University – less than a football field away – for graduating healthcare professionals. This will allow students to gain hands-on experience in a real healthcare setting. In addition, there will be a 100,000 square-foot, three story medical office that will have an urgent care student clinic.

Dr. Chris Sapienza, a faculty member of Jacksonville University will be working with Dolphin Pointe and states:

“I’m the Dean of Healthcare Sciences which has a very large school of nursing as well as many of the applied health sciences, so areas like speech pathology, occupational therapy, movement sciences and mental health counseling. So, what Greg is developing is a community that will encompass many types of patients that our students will encounter in their careers.”

The University already has a niche in the healthcare field and this partnership will help them expand their offerings. The University eventually wants to have over 500 lives being cared for on this campus.

Dolphin Pointe is investing in not one but two HydroWorx products. There is a medical benefit to having two products by running them at two different temperatures which will allow for increased variety of treatment options. For example, a patient with arthritis would use the warmer pool, and a patient with a respiratory condition like COPD may need the temperature slightly cooler. Clear Choice also offers HydroWorx underwater treadmills in many of their other facilities and clearly sees the value in this modality.

Geoff states, “With the athletes, aquatics is going to be a new thing. Currently, we have only treated rehab patients and post-acute so the next step is very exciting to see how athletes benefit from the water, as well. Rehabbing in a fashionable, tech-savvy product is important for us because that is our vision for Dolphin Pointe. Staying up with the trends and offering creative services such as HydroWorx products will match perfectly with the Savannah themed Dolphin Pointe facility which is planned to open by early 2018.”

Aquatic therapy is the latest enhancement to the Wellness Center at Sunshine Terrace Senior Center allowing residents and clients to continue a strong physical and mental health practice.  With the December addition of the deluxe HydroWorx 2000 therapy pool, seniors can improve their fitness with an underwater therapy regimen that includes gentle resistance and cardiovascular exercise to increase strength and agility.

The HydroWorx 2000, an elite therapy spa for rehabilitation and athletic training, offers an adjustable floor with variable water depth, creating easy access to the pool and the flexibility necessary to accommodate each client. The underwater treadmill gives seniors the ability to increase muscle tone, strengthen the heart, protect bones from osteoporosis, and relieve joint stiffness and pain.
In addition to the spacious layout, the exercise spa is designed to maximize the fitness options available to trainers and their clients. Auxiliary bars and attachments offer a variety of alternatives for enhanced exercise delivered with support and safety in mind.  Resistance jets and portable hoses allow for deep tissue stimulation or light massage. The advanced technology incorporated into the pool’s video monitoring system provides immediate diagnostic feedback to therapists during a client workout, in addition to valuable documentation of activities for third party reimbursement. The Sunshine Terrace Senior Center is the only facility in Cache Valley, Utah with equipment designed specifically to support the needs of its senior clientele.

Every senior living community strives to cater to its population in a variety of ways.  This includes offering rehabilitation and fitness options that aren’t available elsewhere.  After all, chances are good that as residents age, they will need some kind of physical or occupational therapy, as well as the desire to stay in shape.

Statistics support these realities of getting older:

• 20-30 percent of seniors ages 65+ suffer from moderate to severe injuries as a result of falls, and recovering from those injuries will generally require physical therapy.
• Knee and hip replacements are expected to rise anywhere from 174 to 673 percent in the next two decades thanks to Baby Boomers wanting to stay active as long as possible.
• Aging adults are being encouraged by their doctors to remain active by engaging in wellness programs and following recommended healthy living guidelines.

Using an Aquatic Therapy Pool to Address Medical Considerations

There are numerous conditions that the team at Presbyterian Village North treat with aquatic therapy. These include, but are not limited to, Alzheimer’s, dementia, knee replacement surgery, pelvic fractures, back fractures, COPD, osteoarthritis, stroke, orthopedic problems and Parkinson’s.

In order to ensure these residents and community members get the best care, the staff members put in place mechanisms to improve the likelihood of long-term success, such as:

• Strong nursing programs that understand how to deal with residents with bowel and bladder issues.  In the therapy pool, incontinence in physical therapy patients must be addressed or rehab cannot take place.
• The ability to get a wheelchair- or bed-bound resident into the water so rehabilitation can take place comfortably and safely.
• The opportunity to use an underwater camera attached to an external TV to show immediate bio-feedback on gait, movement, hand placement and foot placement.
• Trained personnel who understand how to creatively and effectively use the therapy pool to get the most out of each session for the patients.

When the right people are brought together with a high-end therapy pool, magic can happen for individuals who thought they could not progress because of physical or mental disabilities or setbacks.

A Day in the Life of the Presbyterian Village North Therapy Pool

A normal day for the team at Presbyterian Village North involves a great deal of activity. However this bustle, was not achieved overnight or by chance. It is the result of a number of factors, one largely being the effective day-to-day schedule and organized routine the team at Presbyterian Village North has in place.

They maintain a daily and weekly pool schedule that allots times for pool appointments.  When the physical therapists arrive onsite at 7 a.m., they immediately get their schedules, and then call patients to remind them to be at the pool or tell them when a staff member will pick them up to transport them to their aquatic therapy session.

As each patient comes for their appointment, he or she gets dressed in the appropriate underwater rehabilitation or fitness outfit, bathes and then proceeds to start the session. At the end of approximately 45 minutes in the water, the patient then showers again and dresses for their daily activities.

During the daily routine, the staff members, including the physical therapists and a full-time certified aquatic therapist who runs the program, may or may not be in the water.  Some physical therapists prefer to be in the pool with their patients while others feel more comfortable directing the residents’ movements from an out-of-pool position.

By the end of each weekday, about 12-16 patients have been seen. The patients are given priority by their connection to the organization.  Thus, residents get first priority before patients who are part of the surrounding community outside the campus. This means in a week’s time, up to 80 people who call Presbyterian Village North home have likely been touched by this piece of high-tech equipment.  It’s a rhythm that keeps the therapy pool in high use, and that brings stimulation, relaxation, fitness and enjoyment to everyone who has the opportunity to get in the pool.

Moving Forward, Changing Lives

Presbyterian Village North is dedicated to changing lives every day. With the tremendous growth they’ve seen since the therapy pool’s opening and implementation, as well as incredibly high patient satisfaction scores from 100 percent of the rehab patients they’ve served, they’re ready to tackle anything the future has to offer.

As Dixon says with a smile, he and his team “love being able to reference that this is the same pool that the Dallas Mavericks have. We may not be able to get your jump shot better, but we’ll get you walking again.”  He’s quick to note that many miracles have happened in the pool at the facility; no doubt many more will occur thanks to the dedication of every person who stands behind the Presbyterian Village North mission.

Peg Black, Development Director for Cerenity Senior Care, knows that there are many individuals who are going to need inpatient and outpatient rehab, home health options, transitional patient options, nursing facilities and other services in the coming years. However the biggest catch is that they all have a choice in where they will go. This is why “taking a walk in their shoes” is so important to better understand their needs. This is what Peg and others did at Cerenity Health Care in order to put together the best facility in the area.

She states, “We knew we owed it to both our clients and to our bottom line to start thinking about what future residents and visitors would want and need.” They talked through every big and little detail in order to truly see the world from their client’s eyes. Many opportunities and areas of improvement surfaced by way of this approach.

We knew we wanted a warm water therapy pool and looked at many styles. We ruled out pools that required patients to walk down steps or to be lifted above the water in slings or contraptions that might be scary to them. A pool with a movable floor for zero-depth entry made the most sense, especially to bariatric patients who face daily living challenges such as exercise.

In addition to integrating a warm water therapy pool with an underwater treadmill, they also upgraded all of their technology with flat screen TVs in each room and having facility wide Wi-Fi accessibility. In order to create the best facility possible, a great amount of financial assistance is needed. This is why Cerenity Senior Care collaborated with their residents, their family members, community and corporations regarding fundraising. As a non-profit they relied heavily on this campaign. They used online donation “calls-to-action” on their website as well as the mailed paper requests and ultimately this hard work paid off.

Peg Black knows this type of approach to a facility re-design is time consuming and tedious, but it she stands by it 100%. In a competitive marketplace, it’s essential.

These new amenities are all a part of the new “Main Street” which is complete with a movie theater, education center, indoor pool, pharmacy, and a bistro-style sports bar that will open next year. The new workout facility is the first stop on the street which is stocked with HUR exercise machines that adjust automatically to a resident’s ability level after the user swipes a smart card. The next room on Main Street is their hydrotherapy room. They have both an indoor lap pool and a HydroWorx 2000 Series pool (which will open to residents on June 1). With the fully adjustable floor that doubles as the underwater treadmill, residents are able to walk on the floor of the pool and hold the railing as they are lowered into the water.

“The reason we got this is mostly for physical therapy. We’ve got five cameras throughout underneath that show up on these TVs so you can do a lot of gait training. If somebody had a broken hip, legs- all kinds of different things we can do in here.”- Laura Husak, Enhancement Coach

In addition to utilizing this therapy pool for physical therapy, Husak has plans to host walking classes, which she is really excited about! “The purpose of the water in this age group is, they’ve got all kinds of arthritis and meniscus tears and their knees are bone on bone and they’ve got all kinds of pain issues, but when they get in the water, everything is relieved because they’re not weight-bearing anymore- so they can move in a pain-free way.”

Next to the hydrotherapy room is the aerobics room which has been created with flooring that protects residents from hurting themselves.

Lastly, this state-of-the-art senior living community has created an education committee with an education center on Main Street. The committee has partnered with Blue Ridge Community College to offer classes for residents interested in keeping up with technological changes!

It’s exciting that Carolina Village is providing such advanced services to their residents. Not only will they be able to remain physically active and healthy, but they will be able to stay mentally active by keeping up with the latest technology!

No longer is a stay at a retirement community necessarily permanent.  Adults are carefully choosing skilled facilities that will enable them to physically and emotionally come back after an accident or health issue… and then send them home again.  It’s a mid-level solution for Baby Boomers who want to remain active as long as possible.

Truly, the image of the rocking-chair laden nursing home of the past has been dramatically re-engineered to fit today’s seniors’ active lifestyles and needs.

More frequently, we are hearing of facilities that are adding to this movement of short-term rehabilitation. These communities are emphasizing fitness for longevity, especially when dealing with older adults who have short-term care needs. One of the main ways to achieve success in this industry is investing in pools with underwater treadmills for residents who could benefit from aquatic therapy, or who simply want a pain-free, low-impact way to stay fit.

PowerBack Rehabilitation by Genesis Healthcare in Voorhees, New Jersey is a brand new, state-of-the-art senior living center designed specifically with this model in mind.  Genesis HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest nursing and rehabilitation therapy providers partners with Burris Construction Company for design and construction of their PowerBack facilities. 

PowerBack Rehabilitation had its Grand Opening a few weeks ago with the HydroWorx 2000 Series pool as the main feature. They are the first company to introduce the 2000 Series aquatic therapy pool technology to New Jersey’s healthcare industry. This new center is a 124-bed post-acute facility in Voorhees, NJ, dedicated to post-hospital short-stay rehabilitation and nursing care.

The HydroWorx 2000 Series is ideally suited for the aging population. Elder exercise, rehabilitation, maintenance and injury prevention is promoted in a stress free environment that eliminates fear of falling and accessibility issues. Patients simply walk or are wheeled onto the raised pool floor, then slowly lowered to any water depth up to six feet.

As an organization we spend a great deal of time developing new ways to support best practices in patient care” said William G. Burris, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Burris Construction Company. “Our association with HydroWorx allows us to give our clients the ability to provide in-house cutting-edge aquatic therapy, the very same therapeutic technology currently used by internationally recognized institutions such as Cleveland Clinic and Kennedy Krieger. And that’s exciting,”- Bill Burris.

Hear more about the opening of PowerBack Rehabilitation by Genesis Healthcare from Bill Burris himself!

Not only are they known for their cutting-edge methods for helping their patients remain in tiptop shape, but they also offer tremendous resources. Currently, Clear Choice has multiple facilities across Florida and the rest of the country.

Recently, we visited with Clear Choice’s Spring Lake Rehabilitation Center in Winter Haven, Florida, home to two HydroWorx 500 Series pools, to understand how they are using their therapy pools. What we learned from Speech Language Pathologist Emily Perez and PTA Robin Rose of Clear Choice’s Spring Lake was exciting, so we want to share a few of the ways they use their hydrotherapy pool!

• Both Emily and Robin find that the underwater treadmill is especially beneficial to the geriatric population suffering from low and upper extremity edema, arthritis (and similar conditions), compromised circulatory system, joint problems, general weakness and gait issues.
• The treadmill has proven to be an excellent way to help patients with everyday life skills, such as being able to get in and out of a chair, walk without putting undue pressure on one side and much more.
• For residents and clients who cannot safely conduct land-based physical therapy or exercise, the water provides an excellent means for stretching, squatting, walking, balancing and strength-building.
• Speech therapy can even be completed in the water by using the water to blow bubbles, which uses a variety of mouth muscles!
• By utilizing peripheral objects in the water, such as kickboards, patients are able to expand what they do when they are in the HydroWorx pool. When resistance jets are added, a new dimension of fitness can be reached.  (Plus, those jets are beloved as a soothing end-of-session massage.)

As Emily says with pride:  “This is the best equipment on the market… We use all aspects of it, every day.”

Take a look at some photos of Spring Lake Rehabilitation’s hydrotherapy room:

View this FREE On-Demand Webinar: Strategies for Treating Low Back Injuries with Aquatic Therapy

View this on-demand webinar presented by Murphy Grant, MS, LAT, PES Assistant Athletic Director – Sports Medicine and Head Football Athletic Trainer at The University of Kansas entitled, “Strategies for Treating Low Back Injuries with Aquatic Therapy.” This webinar will provide treatment ideas for using the benefits of hydrotherapy for low back injuries such as Lumbar Sprain, Muscular Strains, Contusions, Sciatica, Herniated Disks, Spondylosis and Spondylolisthesis. The webinar will also offer strategies to develop rehabilitation programs and progressions using aquatic therapy as a medium.

Executive director of Country Meadows Retirement Communities, Kim Eichinger, speaks very highly of the HydroWorx pool. For her facility, the HydroWorx aquatic therapy pool and underwater treadmill is something they could not live without. They are a great form of exercise for a broad range of residents.

From the McKnight’s article, I couldn’t live without…HydroWorx Underwater treadmill, Kim discusses the importance of the underwater treadmill for her residents. The 92 degree water,which the treadmill is placed in, creates a comfortable environment for the elder residents to exercise in. Eichinger says that walking on underwater treadmills allows for a more natural gait, which works the muscles more.

“We like it for just about everybody. I like to use it for people who may not be able to follow exercise routines, but for whom walking comes really naturally. It’s great for people with balance issues or people who are fearful of walking on land.” Eichinger says.

Exercising underwater allows for more mobility than on land. The water takes almost all of body weight off the patient, therefore making it easier to do just about everything. For example, one of Eichinger’s patients utilizes a walker on land, but on the underwater treadmill she is able to run!

The HydroWorx underwater treadmills and aquatic therapy pools can be used for a variety of cases and patients. One option is for low-impact cardio workouts and to assist elderly residents with gait and balance training.  Additionally, the pools feature resistance therapy jets for enhanced rehabilitation conditioning and a massage hose.

Chuck regularly exercises his lower and upper extremities in the HydroWorx therapy pool at Pieters Family Life Center in Rochester, NY.  A gregarious, likeable man in his late 50s, he’s fast on the draw with groan-worthy jokes.  To see him walking in the pool against the resistance jets, you’d never know that he was once told to expect a lifetime in a vegetative state.

His life took a sudden, horrifying turn several years ago when a massive stroke left him paralyzed. Despite warnings from physicians that he could never expect to regain his quality of life, he and his family believed otherwise. Motivated by the goal to one day walk his daughter down the aisle during her wedding, Chuck tackled the formidable challenge of intense rehabilitation. It paid off, especially when he was able to give away his child just like he imagined.

Chuck’s heroism extends to his willingness to share his story with others and to show them that when the odds are against you, it’s a good time to fight. As a very active community volunteer, he’s certainly not a shrinking violet! His life continues to touch others’ in truly inspirational and important ways. Although he may never run a marathon on land, he can walk comfortably for half a mile underwater, which translates to improved strength and balance on land. Riding his four-wheeler again and mowing the lawn are just some of the skills he’s able to comfortably and safely engage in thanks to his hydrotherapy sessions.

A stroke may seem like the end of the road to many people, but Chuck illustrates that a little patience and a lot of family, medical and therapeutic support can sometimes help overcome even the direst of predictions. We’re thrilled to name Chuck one of our HydroWorx heroes.

Jean didn’t just undergo one back surgery… she underwent three of them, leaving her in pain.  Unfortunately, she also suffers from arthritis and walks with a cane.

But when Jean is in the HydroWorx pool at the Pieters Family Life Center, a part of Heritage Christian Services, Henrietta, NY, she can enjoy a level of mobility and freedom that simply isn’t possible for her on land.

Her tremendous achievements are the result of two things:

1.  Jean’s positive attitude, without which she wouldn’t have had the state of mind to keep going with her aquatic therapy program.

2.  The physical therapists at Pieters Family Life Center who introduced Jean (and many other members) to the HydroWorx pool as a form of low-impact exercise and therapy.

Want to meet Jean, the dynamo who’s sold on the value of aquatic therapy?  Click here!

As many of you know, we made a special visit to Life Enriching Communities last month in Cincinnati, OH, where we interviewed a number of residents who use the HydroWorx pool. Our third and final interview was with Karl Taybor, who also enjoys using the pool for therapy and group fitness classes.

Karl makes use of the aquatic therapy pool three to four times per week where he walks at varying speeds, usually starting off slower and increasing speed toward the end of his sessions. After undergoing two different back surgeries, walking on the underwater treadmill is a pain free and enjoyable form of exercise for Karl. One specific example that Karl shares was when he was unfortunately hit by a driver who ran a red light. His car was totaled and needless to say Karl was pretty shaken up and sore. After the accident, Karl wanted to try the regular exercise classes, but found that the pain was too great. However, Karl found that he was able to get in the pool and walk for 15 minutes straight without any limitations.

The underwater treadmill has helped Karl to move more freely throughout his home, rather than completely relying on his walker. But don’t worry there is time for ‘fun and games’ when residents hit around a beach ball before beginning group therapy sessions. Be sure to watch and hear from Karl himself why the pool has worked for him!

She had weight that she needed to lose… the water walking was the first thing she did… in a year she lost 35 pounds.”

– Barb Cacia, Wellness Coordinator, Pieters Family Life Center, Heritage Christian Services, Rochester, NY
Think aquatic therapy and weight loss only go hand-in-hand for “youngsters”?  Then it’s time to meet Margaret!

We caught up with this wonderful woman at the Pieters Family Life Center, Heritage Christian Services, Rochester, NY.  Over a period of a year, she lost 35 pounds and feels better thanks to the exercises she regularly enjoys in the Center’s HydroWorx pool.

Take a moment to hear her story!

Once finding out about the HydroWorx pool, Jim was very eager to get in. Once in the water and walking on the treadmill, Jim found that he was able to stand up straight, rather than ‘all-bent over’ completely relying on his cane. Jim who has had two knee replacements, hip replacement surgery and back surgery, certainly knows a thing or two about physical therapy.  He relies heavily on his cane because of those knee surgeries and admits that walking bent over on land is more comfortable for him.

Then Jim made the transition into the water where he is able to stand completely straight, which came as quite a shock to this resident.  From Jim’s facial expression alone, you are able to see how much the HydroWorx therapy pool has impacted and changed his life!

The treadmill and elliptical are best options for him to use as exercise on land, however he is completely bent over using those pieces of equipment, which is uncomfortable and can make it a bit challenging. In our video interview, he talks about how drastically different his exercise experience has been in the water. For Jim and many other HydroWorx users find that the water enables them to do far more than they could ever have imagined doing on land!

It has made such an impact that Jim makes use of the pool about 3 to 4 times per week and hopes to increase that frequency soon.  Primarily, Jim has been exercising for about 30 minutes at a time at just under 3 mph, which causes him to jog! That is correct, Jim, who walks with a cane, bent over on land, can run in the HydroWorx pool for 30 minutes at a time!