What’s in a name? In the case of Cantata Adult Health Services it’s a recognition that serving the needs of adults 55 and older has changed dramatically over time.
You may not be familiar with the name Cantata, but you are probably familiar with the organization under its longtime name – The British Home, and at its longtime location at 8700 W. 31st St., in Brookfield.
On Jan. 14, The British Home will officially change its name to Cantata Adult Health Services, the culmination of a year-long campaign to rebrand the organization in order to highlight its evolution from primarily a nursing/retirement facility to one highly focused on providing services that promote independent living and opportunities for connecting older adults with one another.
“It’s the same organization, the same thing that’s been here since 1920,” said Dennis Sonnenberg, CEO of The British Home since 1975. “It’s an evolution … to more correctly characterize what we’re doing as more than a nursing and retirement facility.”
The British Home hasn’t merged with another corporation, nor has it been bought by another company. The name change is part of a rebranding strategy that’s been ongoing since late 2010, said Sonnenberg.
The shift is a recognition of the way the organization has changed the way it provides services to older adults throughout the decades. In recent years, The British Home has created more programs to serve the 55-and-older community.
In the past couple of years, for example, The British Home has created a fitness center – a health club facility, actually, with a staff of personal trainers and specialized programming and equipment – that serves 100 members from the general community.
The organization has instituted its “lifelong learning” program, which includes classes in foreign languages, musical instrument instruction and computer skills. And in the coming weeks, as Cantata Adult Health Services grows into its new name, it will begin offering Boomer Best Life workshops, focusing on a variety of topics, from physical fitness to financial health.
“It’s going to be a different world we’re going to find, and the kinds of things people aspire to at 60, 70 and 80 would be unheard of a generation ago,” said Sonnenberg. “Regardless of age it’s all about having purpose and vitality. There are lots of points of social connection and services that help people be connected.”
The British Home was founded as an organization in 1920 and opened four years later by the Daughters of the British Empire as a retirement home for elderly British immigrants in the U.S. That exclusively British aspect changed over time. The organization serves people of all backgrounds now.
The retirement/nursing component of the organization will remain vital, Sonnenberg said. The British Home name will also live on as the name of the organization’s skilled nursing rehab unit, British Home Rehabilitation Services, which has 72 beds.
Cantata will also maintain its other on-campus living facilities, which include independent living apartments, assisted living apartments and long-term care private rooms.
Asked about the new name, Sonnenberg said it reflects the new model for delivering services to older adults.
“It’s a musical metaphor,” said Sonnenberg. “It refers to a composition where there are vocal soloists surrounded by an orchestral accompaniment. We have people with their social units at center stage. Whatever we have is there to orchestrate their best life, to enable them to have their aspirations.”
