University of Nebraska’s Home Instead Center for Successful Aging Opens in September
July 27th, 2010
On September 13, when the University of Nebraska officially opens its Home Instead Center for Successful Aging in Omaha, older adults from Nebraska, Iowa and elsewhere in the region will be able to access a wealth of services, classes and health care all under one roof. The center will host an open house on Saturday, July 31 to preview the facility to the public.
The Center will also provide excellent opportunities for research and for doctors in training to experience working with older people, said Dr. Jane Potter, former AGS president, professor and chief of the division of geriatrics and gerontology at UNMC.
The Home Instead Center for Successful Aging’s goal—to help people live life to the fullest—is “The spirit of what we do in geriatric medicine,” Dr. Potter said in an interview with the Omaha World-Herald. In one study of physician happiness, she noted, encounters with inspirational senior citizens and enduring relationships are among the reasons geriatricians enjoy their work. Geriatric medicine has been ranked as one of the top two specialties for producing job satisfaction in two studies of physician happiness.
In her interview, Dr. Potter said that her center would make the most of the rewarding duties of geriatric medicine. “It’s not a geriatric center,” she said. “It’s a center for successful aging.”
Dr. Sharon Brangman, AGS president, called the UNMC center a “rare facility bringing together a variety of programs and experts all in once place.” In her interview with the Omaha World-Herald, she noted that “the need for experts in geriatric medicine has never been greater.”
The $10.2 million, three-story facility comprises 31,425 square feet, and was funded entirely with private donations. It will house a geriatric medical and psychiatry outpatient clinic, a fitness facility with equipment designed especially for older adults, and classroom and studio space for ballroom dancing, T’ai chi, computer literacy, nutrition, and other wellness programs and classes.
Modified On: July 29th, 2010
