“I love you, Mom,” Rick Warren said to his mother at Homewood Residence in Sun City Center. “Oh, I love you, too,” Lessie Warren replied to her son. She had such a beautiful smile on her face.
It wasn’t the traditional parting of mother and son in the entryway of an assisted living facility. Instead, while Lessie was in Sun City Center, Rick was at his home in Naples. They were able to catch up with each other, see each other and talk using Skype. Lessie even got to see and laugh at Rick’s dog.
It is universally accepted that maintaining social contact is a critical element to healthy and successful aging. Isolation can be traumatic and heartbreaking, particularly for the elderly. Among the many senior facilities in the area, rooms for the residents to gather for conversation or entertainment are commonplace.
Homewood Residence in Sun City Center is among those providing numerous facilities for their residents to meet and remain engaged in life. But now they are taking it many steps further by helping the Greatest Generation take part in the greatest of technology, as Lessie Warren so vividly discovered in being able to speak with — and see — her son who was nearly 150 miles away.
Brookdale Living, the parent company of Homewood Residence, has instituted a new program, “A Connected Life.” It includes on-site staff members trained to help seniors find their way in the computer age. The program includes computer learning groups, discussion groups and Internet cafes with easy-to-use email and other programs — including the ability to see and speak with their families and friends, wherever they may be in the world.
For seniors like Lessie Warren at Homewood Residence, their families and the entire world are suddenly available with the click of a mouse, and help is on hand to walk them through it; and with that help and the facilities provided, the Greatest Generation has been given what it may consider the greatest in technology.
For more information about Homewood Residence, visit www.brookdaleliving.com/homewood-residence-at-freedom-plaza.aspx.
Information about Skype is available at www.skype.com.