Hi Ashley Trinklein and Stacey Kensinger, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ashley: My mother passed away from breast cancer in 2002, and it was then that I knew I wanted to work in the medical field. I contemplated various careers and fell in love with Occupational Therapy after job shadowing several people in various fields of medicine. I graduated in 2010 with an Associates of Science in OT and then furthered my education with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health. I’ve worked in various skilled nursing facilities, outpatient and home health settings but always with geriatrics. Working with seniors is rewarding because of their wisdom and life stories.
Stacey: When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to observe my dad participate in physical therapy when he had heart surgery. I noticed that physical therapy had such a variety of patients: athletes, geriatrics, cardiac, ortho, etc. I was impressed with how much the therapy helped in his recovery. Being an athlete myself, I was constantly in the physical therapy room, and this further confirmed my love for the field. Upon completing PTA school in 2013 and working in various settings such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, and home health, I fell in love with working with seniors and decided to dedicate my career. While we were working together in a skilled nursing facility, we saw the growing need for continued fitness once our patients were being discharged from OT/PT services. Once we had a plan, we went out on faith and focused our time and energy on starting our brand. We are happy to say that this has become more than a full-time venture for us both.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
When we decided to start a senior fitness business together, neither of us had any prior formal business education. Even someone with a business degree will find challenges starting as a young entrepreneur. We have had to overcome these challenges day by day by learning and relying on each other to become successful. We are therapists first and foremost, it hasn’t always been easy to manage the business side of things, but we do enjoy the challenge. It has been rewarding to fulfill the needs of seniors as we expand as a business.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In-Home Senior Fitness was created to fulfill our patients’ wishes to continue a fitness routine after being discharged from therapy. Upon witnessing the amount of re-hospitalization and re-occurring injuries after our patients quit their therapy fitness routines, we decided there had to be a better way for seniors to maintain their health. Now we are able to work with seniors on preventative and/or rehabilitative fitness, meeting their individual needs and schedule preferences. We are a private pay service; therefore, our clients can choose how often we come into their homes. Located in the Greater Tampa Bay, West Central, and Central Florida areas, our goal is to create a safe, positive experience for older adults to improve their physical function without the hassle of traveling to a facility, massive co-payments, and negative insurance qualifications that deter so many from the care they deserve. We specialize in working with anyone from bedridden to active and healthy. Some common diagnoses we see are dementia, joint replacements, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, and those recovering from falls. Other services we love offering are couples, groups, and aquatic fitness. The best part? We are a total in-home service, bringing all equipment to you!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
As therapists, we’ve always had to be flexible and adaptable to fit our patients’ needs. These skills really helped us with the challenges that Covid-19 brought this past year. We quickly came up with a plan B to work with our clients virtually. This has proved to be effective and preferable for some of our clients during this time, and now we are able to see clients virtually anywhere in the US! Recently, we were nominated for an award for our resiliency during the Covid-19 crisis.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@inhomeseniorfitness.com
- Website: www.InHomeSeniorFitness.com
- Instagram: @inhomeseniorfitness
- Facebook: /inhomeseniorfitness
Image Credits
Personal Photo Credit: Christine Millar
