BIDDEFORD — On a typical day, clients of the Thatcher Brook Center might be taking a Yoga class, getting a therapeutic massage, swimming or doing other exercise at the YMCA, performing community service or going snow shoeing.

The center, located on Route 1 in Biddeford, works with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and aims to make their lives as rich and fulfilling as possible.

The center, under another name, has been around for 30 years but in recent years has been undergoing a number of changes. For one, said Executive Director Lucinda Clarke, the center she started is now a nonprofit organization.

In addition to job development and other activities that Thatcher Brook has always provided, the center is also focusing on providing holistic health services to its clients such as Yoga classes, reiki and more.

The emphasis on holistic health, Clarke said, “came out of working with people in group homes and day programs being in extremely poor health.”

“We go above and beyond” what’s required, she said. Although they are funded through MaineCare, MaineCare does not pay for the holistic health offerings.

Clarke said she felt offering these services was important because they made such a positive difference in her own health, when Western medicine couldn’t cure her ailments.

“I’ve experienced a change in my life from holistic health, she said.

According to Clarke, a study by University of New England students has shown that holistic health services have had a positive impact on Thatcher Brook clients.

From October through December, three UNE students in the Health, Wellness and Occupational Studies department interviewed and conducted focus groups with 12 clients at the center designed to gauge how the clients perceived being healthy and managing stress.

According to the study, “The collected data indicated that on average, the clients’ perceived physical and emotional well-being both were rated higher (or more positive) after the holistic health programs. In addition, qualitative analysis showed that clients generally “enjoyed” the experience. From week-to-week, clients expressed that ‘reiki was their favorite part of the day’ and after therapeutic massage they felt ‘much more relaxed.’ Additional reflections included comments on feeling more ‘energized’ by being at the Thatcher Brook Center, the cooking program being “the highlight’ of their day, having ‘less stress’ by participating in the ‘Whole Health’ Days, and feeling ‘even better than a seven,’ which was the maximum possible well-being score on the scale.”

Another change at Thatcher Brook is that since October the number of clients has more than tripled from about 30 to about 100.

There is no hard data, but Clarke said, “I have to believe to some extent it’s the health and wellness” component of services.

“This is a unique organization,” board member Jim Farr said. He said there is a significant need for the services it offers.

Clark said she thinks that holistic health is so important that the organization is looking into how it can bring these services to more people, to take it out of the center into the community, into group homes or other residences.

In addition, Thatcher Brook would like to bring more of the community to the center. “The ideal is to have people from the community come and take classes along with people with disabilities,” Clarke said.

Beginning in March, the center will offer holistic health classes open to all community members.

Clarke is hoping to grow the organization even more. In the future, she said, the center will need a new space. “We’re totally maxed out,” she said. Also, while Thatcher Brook is only a day program now, a five to 10 year goal is to acquire a group home based on holistic health, she said.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 780-9014 or dmendros@journaltribune.com

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