As our aging services ministry changes, UCH is responding with innovations. Our work is becoming more consumer driven and requires a resident-centered focus. Payment methods are rapidly changing, more complex, and challenging.
UCH’s relationships with churches, corporations, community organizations, individuals, and business partners are vital to moving forward our mission “to transform Aging by building a culture of community, wholeness and peace.” These valued relationships will help UCH realize its vision: “Where the Spirit Creates Abundant Life in Community.”
Thank you for being part of the 100-year journey of United Church Homes. We look forward to our continued partnership in support of our commitment to Abundant Living for the years to follow.
As UCH celebrates where we began, and the journey to where we are today, we are very enthusiastic about the direction we are going. Highlights of some of our partnerships, collaborations, programs, and initiatives include:
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a national program whose rigorous standards are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. CPE is an interfaith, graduate-level professional training process. It brings seminary students and persons discerning a call to chaplaincy, parish ministry, or pastoral counseling. In addition, experienced pastors and other faith leaders may take CPE for professional development. Trinity has been offering the CPE program since 2014 under the auspices of the Sisters of Charity Health System in Cleveland, but recently was accredited as a Member Center by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. of Decatur, Georgia. At Trinity Community, CPE exposes future ministers and chaplains to the unique environment of the retirement community and the spiritual, emotional, and social life of elders.
Comfort Matters™ is a nationally recognized memory support program that has received multiple awards. Comfort Matters is a philosophy, a care practice, and an evidenced-based accredited education program, offering a holistic and integrated approach to improve the quality of care and quality of life for persons with dementia. We are pleased to have partnered with our sister CHHSM community, The Beatitudes, to pilot this highly acclaimed program for United Church Homes at Chapel Hill Community.
Dogtors is an animal-assisted therapy program providing a certification process and services for those interested in securing specialized training. This program is offered at Trinity Community.
The Ruth Frost Parker Center for Abundant Aging. Named in memory of United Church Homes most generous donor, Ruth Frost Parker, whose transformative philanthropic spirit enabled United Church Homes’ mission to grow and advanced the ministry of UCH in countless ways. This center aims to innovate and transform Aging on a global basis through ongoing initiatives in learning, collaborations, and innovative solutions to major issues.
Eden Alternative is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to creating quality of life for elders and their care partners, wherever they may live. In a culture that typically views aging as a period of decline, the Eden Alternative philosophy asserts that no matter how old one is or what challenges one lives with, life is about continuing to grow. All caregivers and care receivers are described as “care partners,” each an active participant in the balance of giving and receiving. Together, care partner teams strive to enhance well-being by eliminating the three plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. The Eden Alternative care practices are active today at SEM Haven.
Music & Memory is a national program that is transforming the treatment and care of people with Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, physical limitations, and ongoing health changes. UCH’s healthcare communities are Music & Memory certified providers.
Frost Parker Nurse/Healthcare Scholarship funded by the late Ruth Frost Parker, UCH’s most generous donor, to provide scholarships to UCH staff members to further their education in fields related to healthcare.
American Health Care Association National Quality Award Program honors communities with one of three distinctions: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Communities that have demonstrated their commitment to improving the quality of care for seniors and individuals with disabilities qualify to apply for these annual awards. The awards are centered on the core values and criteria of the Malcom Baldridge Performance Excellence Program. United Church Homes is proud that all of our communities have received the Bronze Quality Award and two have achieved the Silver Quality Award — Chapel Hill and SEM Haven — a distinction reserved for 1 percent of the nation’s 16,000 skilled nursing centers.
Opening Minds through Art (OMA) is an intergenerational art program for people with dementia presented by the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. It is grounded in person-centered ethics and founded on the principle that people with dementia are capable of expressing themselves creatively. There is a growing body of empirical evidence that creative expression improves both physical and psychological well-being. The mission of OMA is to build bridges across age and cognitive barriers through art. UCH staff members from Fairhaven Community, Trinity Community at Fairborn (formerly Patriot Ridge) and Trinity Community are training to implement this program.
NOLLAU Institute is a year-long training program specifically designed to develop faith-centered servant leaders. Sponsored by the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (CHHSM), the institute helps participants discern their calling as Diakonal ministers. The hallmarks of Diakonal ministry are servant leadership, motivation, and engagement.
The Ralph C. and Sue Quellhorst Program for Leadership Development provides fellowships to support staff education and development, professional internships, co-op opportunities and job shadowing, pastoral leadership development in the CPE program, field placements, and minority leadership development.
Leadership Marion Program is facilitated through the Marion Chamber of Commerce for the development of leadership and management skills for individuals in preparation for rewarding and stimulating community leadership positions. Individuals are sponsored by organizations in the Marion area including businesses, industries, educational institutions, healthcare providers, social service agencies, and government entities. Six current UCH employees have attended Leadership Marion.