Sunnyside's Wellness Scout program inspires resident wellness

"Sunnyside Communities has a history of supportive retirement living that began more than 100 years ago," states Annie Shaffer, wellness director at Sunnyside Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Sunnyside campus is one of three life-plan communities--King's Grant and Summit Square being the others--owned and operated by the faith-based nonprofit. It is also a community whose active-aging efforts have won recognition from the International Council on Active Aging. In fact, the Sunnyside community has garnered more ICAA Innovators Awards for its initiatives than any other organization since the awards program launched--all during Shaffer's tenure. Honoring Sunnyside's recent efforts, ICAA granted a 2017 ICAA Innovators Achievement Award to the community's Wellness Scout program. To find out more about the program, the Journal on Active Aging recently talked to Shaffer.