Clinger Directs Positive Aging Program

Heather L. Clinger has been named director of wellness at Duncaster Life Care Retirement Community in Bloomfield.  It's a position that Clinger has been preparing for since growing up in Stafford Springs. "I've been exposed to the older population most of my life and seen positive aging," she said. That includes a great grandparent who lived to be 102.

Clinger will oversee the implementation and coordination of a new resident-focused, multi-dimensional wellness program to help residents age successfully. The program is available to Duncaster's residents, providing them with the opportunity to take a proactive approach to their own well-being and fulfill their personal needs and interests across the eight dimensions of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, nutritional, community and environmental.

Wellness is not just a medical model, Clinger explained. "The wellness initiative is developing a culture of whole person wellness through mind, body and spirit. Regardless of your age or current physical status, everybody has the opportunity to lead a purposeful life in order to age successfully," she said. No longer is it the case that people who reach a certain age retire to their rocking chair. "We want to keep people engaged. It's not about what a person can't do. It's more about what they can do," Clinger added.

While studying for her masters in public health, Clinger said she took several classes in gerontology. "I welcome the opportunity to work with the older population and really focus on whole person wellness," said Clinger, who is Duncaster's first director of wellness. Prior to her appointment, Clinger coordinated community health education programs at Waterbury Hospital but left there when her position was eliminated by budget cutbacks.

Clinger, who resides in Newington, is a graduate of George Washington University with a focus on public health and disease prevention. Single with no children, Clinger said she enjoys both regional and Broadway theatre in her off hours in addition to spending spare time with her family and friends. And, following a recent trend in Fresh Faces interviewees, she is also a nascent golfer. "I'm still in the process of trying to learn golf. It will take me well into my later years," she said.