Elevate Eldercare

When Jennilie Brewster first started inquiring about volunteering at the Coler nursing campus on New York City's Roosevelt Island, she never imagined that her work with the residents would have a national impact.

Brewster – a writer, painter, and film producer – joins the podcast to discuss her work with OPEN DOORS NYC and the Reality Poets, a group of younger men of color, each affected by gun violence, who all found themselves living at Coler. What started as a powerful creative pursuit soon turned into a nationwide movement in the wake of COVID-19, as the Reality Poets filmed their experiences under lockdown in real time.

The resulting film, "Fire Through Dry Grass," shed a harsh light on the treatment of long-term care residents during the catastrophe, and inspired the Nursing Home Lives Matter movement for change; regular listeners will remember previous episodes with Andres "Jay" Molina and Vincent Pierce, two members of the Reality Poets and vocal activists for nursing home residents of all ages and backgrounds.

Learn more about Brewster's work: https://www.jenniliebrewster.com/

Watch "Fire Through Dry Grass" for free on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/firethroughdrygrass/

Explore the Reality Poets' work: https://www.opendoorsnyc.org/realitypoets

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

Marvell Adams, Jr. not only talks the talk when it comes to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in eldercare – he walks the walk, holding multiple roles across the eldercare spectrum where he brings people of all ages, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and points of view together to move the sector forward.

Adams, who serves on the Center for Innovation board as treasurer, joins the podcast to discuss his work with his own consulting firm, W Lawson, and its Longevity + Inclusion Alliance Fellows Program; his new role as CEO of the Caregiver Action Network, which supports caregivers of all types; and his overall vision for an eldercare landscape where everyone feels like they truly belong.

Explore the Fellows Program, including the new Beta cohort launching in April: https://wlawsoncompany.com/fellows/

Pre-order "Triumph in the Trenches," a new book with chapters from a variety of Black leaders, including Adams: https://wlawsoncompany.com/book/

Open the Caregiver Action Network toolbox for family caregivers: https://www.caregiveraction.org/family-caregiver-toolbox

Reminiscent of the ageist discourse around the "silver tsunami," the concept of people aging without the support of children or a spouse – once referred to as "elder orphans" – is far too often discussed as a problem, and not a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a new phase of life with friends, neighbors, and other people who bring us joy.

Sara Geber helped to popularize the term "solo agers" to describe this cohort of older people, and she joins the podcast today to discuss the ways that people without extended support networks can still thrive as they get older. The author of several books about preparing for retirement and life as a solo ager, Geber empowers people with all kinds of family and social ties to plan for a strong next phase of life.

Explore Gaber's books: https://sarazeffgeber.com/books/

Learn more about co-housing: https://www.cohousing.org/

The idea that structural racism has a direct impact on all facets of American life – including the experiences of elders in care settings – shouldn't be a controversial statement in 2024, but far too often, the question of equity and race-conscious policymaking gets wrapped up into a broader political discourse.

Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, joins the podcast to discuss her framework for directly and bluntly addressing the racial disparities and inequities that plague our eldercare system – and her prescriptions for creating new policies, both at the legal and building level, to ensure that everyone receives high-quality, dignified, and respectful care.

We cannot fix centuries of racist wrongs by pretending that discrimination isn't baked into the structures that govern American life, and Fashaw-Walters challenges listeners to address these topics head-on.

Read Fashaw-Walters and coauthor Cydney McGuire on racism-conscious policies: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00482

Explore Fashaw-Walters's other research: https://directory.sph.umn.edu/bio/sph-a-z/shekinah-fashaw-walters

Naomi Feil, who originally developed the Validation method of supporting and communicating with people living with dementia, died this past December 24 at the age of 91.

This week, we're celebrating Naomi's life with her daughter – and fellow champion for the dignity of people living with dementia – Vicki de Klerk-Rubin, executive director of the Validation Training Institute.

Join us for a fascinating conversation about Naomi's life, including her early-life escape from Nazi Germany, her formative experiences with elders, and the spread of the Validation method around the world.

Seeing the human behind the diagnosis of dementia was a far more radical idea when Naomi first planted the seeds of Validation, and the entire eldercare community owes her a great debt. We hope you'll tune in to learn more about her life and then spread the timeless message of Validation.

Learn more about the Validation Training Institute: https://vfvalidation.org/

Read the Wall Street Journal obituary for Naomi: https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/naomi-feil-dementia-care-dies-at-91-350aa411

Tetyana Shippee first became fascinated with the power of structural forces to shape individual lives as a grad student from Ukraine studying the sociology of addiction in the United States. That academic interest soon expanded into gerontology and elder issues – including a two-year stint living in a continuing care retirement community as part of her studies.

Shippee, now a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the associate director for research at the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation, joins the podcast to talk about her work to improve the systems that so often make life harder for elders seeking empowering care and supports. She also challenges leaders to tackle issues like racial and socioeconomic inequities head-on –and embrace the power of intergenerational connections.

Learn more about the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation: https://www.sph.umn.edu/research/centers/chai/

Explore AARP's LTSS scorecards: https://ltsschoices.aarp.org/scorecard-report/2023

Catch up with the Moving Forward Coalition: https://movingforwardcoalition.org/news-and-updates/

Artificial intelligence is the tech buzzword of the moment, but as eldercare providers know, implementing any technology in the aging space comes with its own unique set of concerns – even solutions that don't go as far as generating complex written narratives or autonomously analyzing resident data.

At Cypress Living, a senior living and home health provider in Fort Myers, Fla., VP of innovation Joe Velderman works to strike the right balance between embracing new technology and maintaining thehuman touch that people of all ages need when receiving care and support services.

Velderman joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss Cypress Living's philosophy around the use of AI, the factors that he looks for when evaluating a new aging tech solution, and how AI or other innovations can work to support – but never replace – the people who serve elders.

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/

As non-profit nursing home operators continue to shutter their doors and cede ground to for-profits, one organization in New England is helping mission-driven organizations honor their unique legacies while providing vital, centralized logistical support.

Legacy Lifecare chief philanthropy officer/founding executive Barry Berman and chief operating officer Betsy Mullen join the podcast to talk about their growing network of non-profit providers, as well as their incredible work at the Leonard Florence Center for Living – the first urban Green House community that for years has changed the lives of elders and people living with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and ALS.

Berman and Mullen represent the very best of the Green House mission, focusing on improving the lives of their residents no matter the challenges or the costs – whether it's helping people with disabilities attend weddings and sporting events after years spent in bed, or building out an infrastructure that allows high-quality non-profit care to thrive in a difficult environment.

Learn more about the Outward Bound program at the Leonard Florence Center:https://chelseajewish.org/news/leonard-florence-center-for-living-wins-leadingage-program-innovation-award/

Explore Legacy Lifecare: https://legacylifecare.org/

Individuals and companies frequently develop new solutions to make life easier for elders and caregivers, but not all of them have what it takes to actually make the jump from theory to widespread practice.

In Australia, that's where ARIIA – Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia – comes in. Since 2021, ARIIA has funded a host of projects to test a range of technological innovations, workforce processes, and service delivery models, all with the goal of helping the best solutions scale across the country. The group also translates cutting-edge research into new best practices into easy-to-understand summaries that caregivers can digest and put to use.

This week, ARIIA CEO Reuben Jacob and research director Sue Gordon – also a professor and chair of restorative care at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia – join the podcast to discuss the factors that make new ideas stick and spread throughout eldercare, as well as ARIIA's overall vision for a more empowering care and support system for elders.

Explore ARIIA's Knowledge and Innovation Hub: https://www.ariia.org.au/knowledge-implementation-hub

Contact Reuben and Sue: [email protected], [email protected]