Fostering a Mentally Healthy Community for Norfolk’s Seniors

Positive mental health is found in community. Isolation can be a major contributor to the increased negative effect on positive mental health in seniors.

Community is the antidote, and provides an alternative to private at home seclusion.

Often seniors are frustrated and lost during the transition from an active work environment to the opportunity of free time. We look forward to the opportunity of free time during retirement…. but that free time often leads to loss of direction and purpose which can lead to isolation and depression.

Active adult centers like Primeplus — where I am the director — provide an exciting and cool alternative with peer support and activities that encourage healthy physical and mental stimulation.

Primeplus has been serving the South Hampton Roads community for nearly 50 years, and we just get better with age. We keep our programs young and fresh, not with some magic potion but with a hard working, dedicated staff. We stretch – literally and figuratively – to meet the needs of our senior members and their families.

In our aging population, mental illness is on the rise. Through yoga and meditation that rise can be healed or maintained.

We know that active seniors who grow in physical strength by attending our programs have fewer medical needs. That’s fewer expensive visits to doctors and fewer hospitalizations. Those who attend our programs make the social and emotional connections they need to live longer, happier and healthier lives. We aren’t just bragging – we’re backed by science. Seniors who remain active are a great resource to not only their families but to the community as a whole.

Primeplus operates one of the few nonprofit Adult Day Service programs in the region. We care for seniors who can no longer care for themselves in their homes. This program offers not only a safe place for seniors to stay during the day; it also offers respite for family members, allowing them to keep their jobs and take care of themselves. Our seniors don’t just sit around and watch TV, either! They participate in art and music therapy, exercise and stretch classes and the opportunity to socialize with their peers.

Regardless of age or where you are in life, mentally or physically, exercise can benefit in many ways. All you have to do is try it.

On Wednesday, October 18^th, Primeplus will be hosting a free event called A Good Health – A – Thon: Creating a Mentally Healthy Community for Seniors at 7300 Newport Ave. which is located inside the Norfolk Fitness & Wellness Center. This event will have vendors, wellness classes for all fitness levels, aromatherapy workshops, reiki workshops and much more.

October 18 will be a day to show the power of community in enhancing a mentally healthy Norfolk for our seniors. Please join us.

For more information on Primeplus, call 625-5857, or visit us at www.primeplus.org.

Primeplus Norfolk Senior Center, serving seniors ages 50+ for 49 years, is located at 7300 Newport Avenue in Norfolk and is located within the Norfolk Fitness & Wellness Center.   We provide opportunities for seniors to learn grow and participate in activities that meet their social, emotional, physical, intellectual and economic needs.  Services include a wide variety of programs for Active Adults as well as our Adult Day Center, which provides services to support families whose loved ones are in need of special assistance including those with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia.

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Bob Batcher

Bob Batcher began as the Executive Director of Primeplus on June 5, 2017. It is an honor to be only the fourth Director in the 50 year history of the Norfolk Senior Center. With an eye on building community and creating new beginnings, the center is creating a strategy to build a strong future of health and fitness for all future generations. Bob was named Communication Director for the City of Norfolk in February 2011. As director, he successfully merged the communications department under the strategic communications continuum, including community outreach, web and broadcast services. In 2016 Bob served as the Interim Director of Norfolk Works. Bob currently works with James Rogers in Neighborhood Development. Prior to being Communication Director, Batcher served as Public Relations Manager for the City of Norfolk. While PR Manager, he coordinated the roll out of Mermaids on Parade and the mermaid brand for the City, which has been internationally recognized for its branding success. Additionally, Batcher hosts Norfolk Perspectives, a regionally recognized community affairs program on the City’s television station. Batcher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech. He worked for the American Red Cross for twenty years prior to coming to Norfolk. While at the Red Cross, he garnered his skills in community outreach. Bob has been married to his wife Juliene for 38 years and is the proud father of two daughters, Amanda and Monica. He is active in his church and serves on the boards of Hurrah Players theater group and Friends of the Norfolk Animal Care Center. He is active in a number of other community organizations throughout Norfolk.