Parker Health Group Supports New Brunswick Elders by Funding Two Citywide Programs
Grants Will Provide Transportation and Tablets for City Seniors
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – March 9, 2021 – Funded with a generous grant from Parker Health Group, Inc., the world is further opening for New Brunswick seniors in two vastly different ways.
Parker, which has been providing long-term elder care at its Landing Lane campus since 1907, and serves elders in five locations across Central New Jersey, will be funding New Brunswick’s Dial-A-Ride Program, providing free curb-to-curb non-emergency transportation for residents in need – especially seniors.
Parker is also establishing The Virtual Vitality program, providing 300 Chromebooks to be loaned to members of New Brunswick’s Senior Community Resource Center.
“The city has gone to extraordinary lengths to assist our senior population since the start of the pandemic,” said New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill. “Our partnership with The Parker Health Group, and the funding Parker is providing, will allow us to do even more as we continue to help our senior citizens with their social, physical and mental health and transportation needs.”
The city’s elders, many of whom have been living for months in social isolation, will be urged to borrow the Chromebooks to better connect with friends and family.
The tablet computers will also help seniors connect to custom-tailored programs, activities and services that encourage social engagement, while providing enhanced access to telehealth services during the final stages of the pandemic.
The partnership between Parker and New Brunswick includes IT consulting as well as educational tutorials for users.
This Virtual Vitality program will unlock a new world for seniors who want to take an exercise class, learn a skill or simply surf the web, explained Donna Silbert, chief strategy officer for Parker.
“The Virtual Vitality program is going to help these elders in so many ways, not the least of which is bridging the distance between them and their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Silbert said.
Meanwhile, the senior transportation program – paused since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic – provides rides for low-income, minority or disabled residents for medical and mental health visits, physical therapy sessions and social service appointments within an eight-mile radius of the Hub City.
The grant will allow the city to purchase a new multi-passenger shuttle bus as well as cover the cost of five part-time drivers, operating expenses and the necessary personal protective equipment in keeping with COVID-19 health guidelines.
The new shuttle will feature enhanced safety measures such as a high-efficiency particulate air filtration system. The city’s existing vehicle fleet will be retrofitted with similar safety features.
“We are very pleased to help reinstate the Dial-A-Ride program as we see it to be a critical service for New Brunswick residents,” said Roberto Muñiz, Parker’s President & CEO, who also oversees elder care campuses at Highland Park, Piscataway, Somerset and Monroe. “The Virtual Vitality program will help ensure elders’ emotional needs are being met, along with their physical needs, all in support of improving their quality of life.
“This is a mission we are deeply passionate about – making aging a part of life.”
Photo Credit: Sigismund von Dobschütz
Photo Credit Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tablet-PC_Parkwohnstift_05.JPG
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