Elevate Eldercare

There's an old quote about how thinking about death is like staring at the sun — you can't really do it for too long without becoming overwhelmed. The same can be said for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia: The idea of a parent, spouse, or other loved one no longer recognizing you is far too distressing for most people to consider.

But Marilyn Raichle — a longtime leader in the theater world — responded to her parents' dementia diagnoses not by turning away but dedicating herself to caregiving and advocacy. Today, as the executive director of Maude's Awards, she helps fund organizations that look at dementia differently, providing support to the people currently walking the same path she did with her parents.

Learn more about Maude's Awards: https://maudesawards.org/

Check out Marilyn's book, "Don't Walk Away": https://dontwalkaway.net/

It's no secret that most people want to age in place, but without a strong support system, getting older in your longtime home can lead to unwanted challenges and isolation.

The Village to Village Network works to create durable webs of support in communities all across the country, organizing volunteers to provide the kind of nuts-and-bolts assistance — transportation, home maintenance, tech support — and social experiences that make thriving in place possible.

Village to Village Network national director Barbara Sullivan joins the podcast to discuss her journey through eldercare, as well as her vision for making these intentional villages the norm in neighborhoods everywhere. Learn more about the Village to Village Network: https://www.vtvnetwork.org/

The COVID-19 pandemic awakened the nation – and the world – to the fact that small-house eldercare homes were substantially safer places to deliver long-term care compared with traditional nursing homes. And while it's now been almost five years since the onset of the pandemic, Canadian health policy makers such as Samir Sinha, MD, continue to raise awareness of the need for the proliferation of models such as Green House homes.

As it happens, his appearance on this week's episode coincides with his new report, titled "There's No Place Like Home: Why Canada Must Prioritize Small Care Home Models in its Provision of Long-Term Care," published by his Toronto Metropolitan University's National Institute on Ageing, where he is director of health policy research.

Susan Ryan sits down with Dr. Sinha to discuss his work, the new report, and why he wants Canada to prioritize small care home models in the future delivery of long-term care services.

Dr. Sinha, who is also a geriatrician and clinician scientist at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, has lots to say about eldercare, his desire to help and to work with vulnerable populations.

Listen to the episode to find out why he believes importance of adequate staffing and the role of universal direct care and its relationship to better resident-centered care.

Download the Toronto Metropolitan University's report on small-house models here: https://www.niageing.ca/small-care-homes

For more than a decade now, tech companies have promised robotic assistants that could one day help solve workforce shortages in eldercare settings. Concerns over safety and the loss of the personal touch aside, these worker bots remain science fiction — but what if robots could bridge, and not expand, the isolation that so many older adults face?

Vecna Technologies CEO Deborah Theobald joins the program to talk about VGo, her company's telepresence product that allows people to experience through the world through the eyes of a controllable robot. Theobold explains why telepresence technology such as VGo could help reduce isolation and provide unique experiences for elders in long-term care settings, while also discussing her long career in technology.

Learn more about VGo: https://vecnahealthcare.com/vgo-long-term-care/

This December, we're taking a look back at some of the top episodes from 2024, with a special focus on the speakers and ideas that took center stage at our annual conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. last month. Please enjoy this encore presentation of our interview with Amber Bardon

Across all industries, it can be difficult to separate promising, useful tech solutions from the hype — especially in senior living and eldercare, which have historically been slow to adopt even basic systems like electronic health records and high-speed wifi.

Parasol Alliance CEO Amber Bardon has spent nearly a decade trying to change that reality, working with providers across the spectrum to adopt and implement comprehensive technology plans. She joins the podcast to explain why leaders must rethink their organizations' relationships with tech: Instead of "IT" being a person who stops by every once in a while to fix a buggy printer, it must be the cornerstone of any forward-thinking provider.

Learn more about Parasol Alliance: https://parasolalliance.com/

Subscribe to the "Raising Tech" podcast: https://parasolalliance.com/resource_type/podcast/

This December, we're taking a look back at some of the top episodes from 2024, with a special focus on the speakers and ideas that took center stage at our annual conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. last month. Please enjoy this encore presentation of our interview with Martin Rix.

While the Green House model is the most widely implemented small-home nursing care concept in the U.S., it's not alone — innovators around the world have developed person-directed, human-scale communities where elders of all abilities can thrive.

Belong, a non-profit provider organization, has brought its own household model — the Belong Village — to towns across the United Kingdom. CEO Martin Rix joins the podcast to discuss Belong's empowering suite of services, its membership in the Household Model International Consortiumalongside The Green House Project and Australia's HammondCare, and the lessons we can learn from forward-thinking eldercare leaders across borders.

Learn more about Belong: https://www.belong.org.uk/

Save the date for our annual conference, coming November 11-13: https://thegreenhouseproject.org/2024-conference/

This December, we're taking a look back at some of the top episodes from 2024, with a special focus on the speakers and ideas that took center stage at our annual conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. last month. Please enjoy this encore presentation of our interview with Joe Velderman.The topic of responsibly integrating technology into eldercare communities is so rich and complex that we needed two episodes with Joe Velderman, vice president of innovation at Cypress Living in Fort Myers, Fla. to capture it all.

Velderman returns to dive into the specific tech solutions that his organization has adopted across its life plan community, Cypress Cove, as well as its commitment to incorporating the resident voice into its technology decisions – and the role he sees technology playing in the lives of elders in the not-so-distant future.

Explore Cypress Living's services for older adults: https://cypressliving.org/

Read Cypress Living's philosophy on AI: https://cypressliving.org/responsible-use-of-ai-in-aging-services/

Learn about the Nobi smart lamp: https://www.nobi.life/en

It's an "Elevate Eldercare" tradition: Each Thanksgiving, we set up a virtual gratitude table for the people who live the values of culture change every day.

This year, we welcome a team from The New Jewish Home's Sarah Neuman campus in Westchester County, N.Y. — assistant administrator Miriam Levi, nurse Wendy McDonald, and CNA Joycelyn Scott-Adir.

They share the reasons why they've each spent at least two decades at Sarah Neuman, which created a unique set of Green House homes despite the organization's inability to build new infrastructure on its traditional nursing campus. And we hope you join us in honoring the caregivers who support elders day in and day out, even on holidays, as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Learn more about the New Jewish Home and Sarah Neuman: https://www.prairieeldercare.com/

Go inside the small homes at Sarah Neuman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFnHGKSYmM0

Upholding civil liberties, addressing fear, and creating flexible systems to support individuals who are living with dementia are passionate goals for the three guests on this episode of Elevate Eldercare.

Susan Ryan sits down with Jennifer Carson, PhD, director of the Dementia Engagement, Education, and Research (DEER) program at the Univ. of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health; Al Power, MD, geriatrician and Schlegel Chair in Aging and Dementia Innovation at the Schlegel-U Waterloo Research Institute at the Univ. of Rochester, New York; Jen Wilson, vice president of well-being at Carol Woods Retirement Community, as they help memory care providers open their minds and their doors to living well with cognitive change

As the trio describes their quest to create "dementia-inclusive" communities, Wilson shares her 40-year career in supporting people with dementia, emphasizing the need for social justice and partnership with those affected. Dr. Power reflects on the negative impacts of segregated memory care, and Dr. Carson describes the Quest Upstream project, which focuses on reframing dementia, promoting well-being, and fostering inclusive environments.

You can learn much more about their work at the forefront of dementia care during their preconference session at the 2024 Center for Innovation Conference this November: https://thegreenhouseproject.org/2024-conference/

Find out more about the DEER program here: https://www.unr.edu/public-health/centers-and-programs/dementia-engagement-education-and-research-program

Learn about Carol Woods Retirement Community here: https://www.carolwoods.org