Delray Beach Senior Living Community Becomes Exclusive FAU Research Study Site

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - June 17, 2013 - PRLog -- Abbey Delray South has become the first senior living community to participate in on-site research studies with Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Faculty and PhD candidates from FAU’s College of Nursing are conducting the exploratory studies on a variety of health and wellness initiatives. Abbey Delray South residents are excited about the opportunity to take an active role in helping advance the understanding and treatment of various conditions to allow older adults to lead healthier lives.

“This is a great new opportunity for our community, and we’re happy to provide or participate in anything that promotes healthy aging,” says David Randazzo, executive director at Abbey Delray South. “These studies have the potential to be real game changers.”

“Residents love to be involved in different activities, and when I asked people here about participating in these studies, a lot of hands went up,” says Abbey Delray South resident Dr. Elizabeth Force, who has a PhD in Epidemiology and initiated the research partnership with FAU.

“It’s really special and unique to have a senior living community open their doors to us for these studies,” says Dr. Lenny Chiang-Hanisko, associate professor at FAU’s College of Nursing, who is conducting one of the research studies. “We spend quite a bit of time at Abbey Delray South interacting with residents, which is extremely helpful to advance the studies and, ultimately, discover better ways to promote healthy aging.”

The first study, conducted by Dr. Chiang-Hanisko and currently underway at the retirement community, is on polypharmacy and pain management across different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

An upcoming study at Abbey Delray South will be on the relationship between sleep disturbances and risk of falls. In particular, it will examine sleep hygiene – the behavioral habits and environmental factors that precede sleep and may interfere with sleep.

“The university will share its research findings with us, and it will allow us to learn how we can provide an even better level of service to our residents,” Randazzo says. “Senior living communities are always looking for ways to show how innovative and advanced they are with healthy aging initiatives, and I think partnerships like this with universities is something more will explore and try to establish.”

About Abbey Delray South

Abbey Delray South, located at 1717 Homewood Blvd., in Delray Beach, Fla., is a not-for-profit community that provides seniors with a liberating lifestyle experience and a variety of residential options, including maintenance-free independent living apartment homes and garden homes, as well as assisted living, memory support and on-site skilled nursing care. Residents enjoy a full range of services and amenities, such as a library, hair salon, fitness center, heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi, art studio and Lifespace Communities’ FitSix® wellness system. Lifespace Communites is the sponsor of 12 continuing care retirement communities in seven states. The organization is recognized by the LeadingAge Ziegler Top 100 as the seventh largest not-for-profit senior living provider system in the country. More information about Abbey Delray South is available by calling (561) 272-9600 or by visiting www.AbbeyDelraySouth.com.