Partnerships
Because we’re better together.
Watermark is proud to collaborate with organizations dedicated to helping seniors stay active and healthy. We’ve created partnerships with premier universities, individual researchers, and local nonprofits.
The University of Arizona
When David Freshwater founded our first community, The Fountains in Tucson, during the 1980s, he collaborated with the University of Arizona’s Center for Aging. With their world-class healthy brain aging research, the Center’s goal is to promote healthy and functional lives for older adults. Watermark’s continuing relationship has helped us successfully incorporate wellness concepts into building design, nutrition, and enrichment programs.
UCLA Longevity Center
The motto of the UCLA Longevity Center is “Live Better Longer,” and we firmly agree. That’s why we’re collaborating with them to deliver a comprehensive memory training series through the Brain Café. The Center’s commitment to improving quality of life focuses on healthy aging, memory health, lifelong learning, and support for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Their distinguished faculty translates scientific discoveries into practical applications.
UCLA School of Medicine’s Geriatric Fellows Program
We are proud to collaborate with one of the oldest and most distinguished geriatric fellowship programs in the country. It has consistently been ranked as one of the top programs by U.S. News & World Report. Fellows receive broad exposure to a variety of health settings and diversity in patient population, including theories and mechanisms of aging; biological changes of aging; pathophysiology of common aging illnesses; clinical pharmacology; psychosocial aspects of aging; geriatric rehabilitation; and preventive medicine.
Dr. Lené Levy-Storms
Dr. Levy-Storms has done remarkable work studying communication issues between health care providers and older adults, specifically caregivers. In partnership with Susan Kohler, she created “Get Connected,” a communication training program for providing care to older adults living with memory loss. The goal of using the communication strategies in “Get Connected” is to obtain an emotional connection, which can be difficult as older adults progress to later stages of memory loss.
Baylor College of Medicine
We’re honored to partner with the Baylor College of Medicine, a global leader in biomedical education, innovative research, and cure discovery. Our collaboration with this distinguished institution has helped us continue to develop programs that help our residents thrive.
Partners in Care in Assisted Living (PICAL)
We are excited to partner with Cornell University in a pilot program to improve communication between community teams and family members. PICAL addresses the unique communication challenges that assisted living associates and families face to improve the quality of care for residents. The program is based on an empowerment approach where associates and families are viewed as partners in residents’ care. Mutual respect and caring form the basis of this partnership — families bring their knowledge of their relatives, and associates bring their technical expertise in providing care.