When Brookdale Senior Living was looking to build a mobility program for their residents across its 29 Houston retirement community locations, they turned to Kerico Health Care.  

 

Brookdale Senior Living owns and operates 700 senior living communities and retirement communities across the US, and is the largest operator of senior housing in the United States.

 

For many older people, the simple day-to-day tasks can be the hardest to do. As a person’s mobility decreases, so does their ability to do many of the things that some other people don’t give a second thought. The result can be missed doctor’s appointments, decreased quality of life, and social isolation.

 

“Most of us take for granted that we can get in our car or hop on public transit and go to where we need to go,” says Maurice McKenzie, Director at Brookdale Senior Living. “But that is not the case for many of the older adults Brookdale serves.”

 

Brookdale needed a solution that would allow them to offer rides to seniors without having to rely on pre-scheduled shuttles.

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Kerico Health Care uses a web-based platform that helps healthcare organizations provide non-emergency rides for their patients, residents, and caregivers. Brookdale selected Kerico due to the extensive training its drivers received for attending to the needs of seniors, its accessibility to those without a smartphone, and its team’s customer service.

 

Many of the participating seniors didn’t have mobile phones, so Brookdale’s staff often managed communication between riders and drivers. For those who did have a mobile phone, communication happened directly between riders and drivers. But in both cases, Brookdale staff needed to record the phone number, license plate number, and driver name in case something went wrong.

 

In terms of their initial goal of providing rides to healthcare appointments, the program was a success. Healthy lives are about more than doctor appointments, though, and Brookdale quickly realized they could expand into returning mobility to seniors so they would be able to live their lives.

 

While most of the initial rides were for medical appointments, many seniors began to use the Kerico service for the following errands

 

• Grocery shopping

• Social gatherings

• Health and wellness (like yoga, gym, and meditation)

• Bank or post office errands

• Trips to social service appointments, volunteering, the airport, and outings

 

Contact us today to learn how Kerico Health Care can help your retirement community improve the mobility of its residents.