Elevate Eldercare

As soon as Larry Carlson saw a CNN piece about a unique dementia village in the Netherlands, he knew he had to see it for himself – and once he did, he knew he had to bring the model to his organization back home in New Jersey.

Carlson, the CEO of United Methodist Communities, joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss the groundbreaking project, which will feature single-family-sized homes, neighborhood amenities like a grocery store and bistro, and a farm with live animals.

The goal is to honor elders' autonomy and independence no matter their cognitive abilities – a goal that often isn't always neatly aligned with current regulations regarding assisted living communities.

Carlson provides an in-depth look at how organizations can proactively work with regulators and other stakeholders to break out of the institutional model for elders and others who require communal care.

Learn more about UMC's planned new community: https://umcommunities.org/enclave/

Join us at Pioneer Network's conference in Denver July 27-30! https://www.pioneernetwork.net/pioneering-a-new-culture-of-aging-2022-conference

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

In honor of National Nurses Week, we convened an all-star panel of nurses from the Green House and Pioneer Network communities to discuss the vital role that RNs, LPNs, and other nursing professionals play in truly driving culture change in long-term care.

You'll hear real-life examples of how nurses can take small steps that lead to big quality-of-life improvements for elders and people living with disabilities. Nurses already have a natural desire to help others and provide comfort – and with the right leadership and guidance, nurses can form the bedrock of an elder-directed culture at nursing homes and other communal eldercare settings.

Nurses aren't just pill-distributors and vitals-takers; they're the eyes, ears, and heart of an organization that can provide the personal connections that make all the difference for elders and families alike.

Today's panel consists of:

Ivy Gordon-Thompson, Director of Nursing at Green House adopter community John Knox Village

Lora Perryman, LPN, Staff Nurse at Green House adopter community Poydras Home

Joan Devine, Director of Education, Pioneer Network

Marla DeVries, Chief Learning Officer, The Green House Project

Carol DuMond-Stryker, Project Coach, The Green House Project

Learn more about the Pioneer Network conference, which we're encouraging all friends of Green House to attend!

https://www.pioneernetwork.net/pioneering-a-new-culture-of-aging-2022-conference

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

The New Jewish Home has been serving elders in New York City since before the Civil War, but CEO Jeffrey Farber knows that even an organization with that kind of longevity needs constant innovation to survive into the future.

For more than 15 years, the Jewish Home's Geriatrics Career Development (GCD) program has given teens and young adults in Manhattan and the Bronx the chance to gain practical experience – and certification – in the eldercare field. The benefits aren't just practical for the Jewish Home, which has hired countless graduates from the program, but for the participants themselves, who boast a 99% high school graduation rate.

Farber sat down with Susan Ryan to discuss the benefits of the GCD program, as well as the Jewish Home's partnership with The Green House Project to develop a post-acute Center for Excellence – building on momentum gained through GHP's previous cultural transformation work at the Jewish Home's Sarah Neuman campus.

Learn more about the GCD program: https://jewishhome.org/about-us/geriatrics-career-development/

Watch a local news segment on the GCD program: https://vimeo.com/463872676?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=19321718

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

In this edition of "Let Me Say This About That" we focus on innovation and how to make substantive change – from the perspective of those that are doing it, those that support organizations to make change, and those that research and have the 30-thousand-foot view. AND it's all focused around the report released this month from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that contains some bold recommendations for nursing homes.

This episode features: -Going Beyond Good Enough for Elders and Workers Barry Berman and Betsy Mullen (Episode 144)-Dismantling Institutional culture in Long-Term Care Sonya Barsness (Episode 145)-A Comprehensive Roadmap for Meaningful Reform in Nursing Homes David Grabowski (Episode 146) Learn more about the NASEM recommendations: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26526/Nursing_Homes_Recommendations.pdf

Read the STAT article: https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/06/nursing-home-care-ineffective-inefficient-inequitable-fragmented-unsustainable/

Read more about Certificate of Need process: https://www.nashp.org/50-state-scan-of-state-certificate-of-need-programs/

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

During this pandemic there has been a trusted and credible voice that has used data to shine a light on the urgent need for comprehensive nursing home reform in this country – and that voice is Dr. David Grabowski.

Dr. Grabowski is a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and has published over 200 peer-reviewed research articles. He has often been called upon by government agencies to be a technical advisor, or to sit on committees and lend his expertise when nursing homes are at the center of an issue.

In today's episode Dr. Grabowski discusses his work with the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine committee which recently released their findings on nursing homes after an 18-month review process. Dr. Grabowski unpacks the report and his perspective on the recommendations.

If you've been looking for the best way to use your voice in this nursing home reform effort – this is the episode for you!

Review the recommendations from The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26526/Nursing_Homes_Recommendations.pdf

Click here to read an article on the report: https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/06/nursing-home-care-ineffective-inefficient-inequitable-fragmented-unsustainable/

Click here for the full report: https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/the-quality-of-care-in-nursing-homes

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

When The Green House Project talks about bringing an end to the institutional nursing home, we don't just mean the outdated, hospital-like buildings where so many elders live: We also mean the institutional culture that dehumanizes real people by treating them solely as collections of symptoms to manage.

Sonya Barsness describes her role as a revisionary gerontologist, someone who challenges the institutional structure of nursing homes that exist only because we've always done things that way. In her work as a lecturer at Georgetown University and her own company, Sonya Barsness Consulting, she encourages individuals and organizations to build caring communities around people, not brute-force efficiency. It's not just good for elders, she argues; it's vital for developing the next generation of caregivers and leaders amid an historic workforce crisis.

Barsness joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss her own personal experience fighting the institutional urge, as well as her prescriptions for building truly elder-directed care options for the future. Read Sonya's blog post bidding farewell to the traditional nursing home: http://sbcgerontology.com/blog.html

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

For years, Barry Berman and Betsy Mullen thought they'd built the best possible nursing home – to the point where people came from all over to see their state-of-the-art nurses' stations and efficient meal distribution.

But then Barry's own mother needed nursing home care at their facility, and he saw firsthand how quickly even the best institutional setting can take a physical and emotional toll on an elder.

That experience inspired Barry to explore the Green House model, and today, he and Betsy can't believe they ever provided care any other way.

Listen in to learn how these executive leaders made the Leonard Florence Center for Living, part of Chelsea Jewish Lifecare, a place where elders and people with disabilities don't just survive but thrive – and a place where staff members feel so valued that they've never had to use temporary agency workers.

Watch the video of the Leonard Florence Center's skydiving trip for people living with ALS and MS: https://vimeo.com/25932889

Sign up for our Deeper Dive Webinar Series, where Barry and Betsy will speak more in-depth on their workforce recruitment and retention success: https://thegreenhouseproject.org/projects/2022-deep-dive-webinar-series-workforce-success-stories/?portfolioCats=1162

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

As the CEO of an eldercare organization and the chair of LeadingAge's board, Carol Silver Elliott faced a pair of daunting leadership challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic – and emerged as a shining example of strength under extreme pressure and tragedy.

As we close out Women's History Month, we wanted to shine a light on the unique challenges that women in leadership roles face in the eldercare landscape. More than 40% respondents to a recent Ziegler survey of female eldercare leaders said they felt burnt out and considered a career change in the wake of the pandemic. But on the other hand, 68% reported having strong peer networks that helped them endure the pandemic, and 60% felt more optimistic than they did a year ago.

Silver Elliott describes the strategies, peers, and loved ones who helped her keep a level head during the most trying time the sector has ever faced – while also laying out the emotional and mental health initiatives that she and her team employed to support staff members from all levels of the organization.

As the rest of the world continues to move on from COVID, maintaining strong leadership will become even more vital for eldercare leaders, and Silver Elliott provides a clear blueprint for staying calm amid a still-raging storm.

Catch up on Silver Elliott's blogging for the Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/carol-silver-elliott/

Read more about the Ziegler Women in Leadership survey: https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/home/news/burned-out-these-senior-living-leaders-suggest-meditation-wine-and-dogs/

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

March of every year is declared "National Women's Month". The National Women's History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women's History Month…and this year it is "Women Providing, Healing, Promoting Hope". This theme is "both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history."

In this edition of "Let Me Say This About That" we highlight three women that have spent their careers working to provide the best possible care and environment for people living in skilled nursing.

Dr. Alexis McKenzie:- Who Cares for the Caregivers? (Episode 139)

Jane Rohne:- Emphasizing the Living in Senior Living (Episode 140)

Dr. Eleanor Feldman Barbera:- Building Morals into Long-Term Care (Episode 141)

Marla and Mary explore PTSD, what it is and what are the signs you may be experiencing it. We discuss mindfulness and how to meditate. Have you heard of Reiki? Alexis is a Reiki Master – we look at what it is and its health benefits for people. We also discuss why physical and mental health should receive equal attention and training in skilled nursing.

Learn more about PTSD: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

Learn more about how to meditate: https://www.mindful.org/how-to-meditate/

Learn more about Reiki: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/reiki/#:~:text=Reiki%20is%20an%20energy%20healing,your%20energy%20to%20support%20healing.

Read more Physical and Mental Health-research article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2981653/

Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org

Amid the current national debate over new nursing home regulations, Dr. Eleanor Feldman Barbera presents a provocative reframing of the system-wide problems in long-term care.

A psychologist who specializes in mental health care for older adults, particularly those who live in nursing homes, Feldman Barbera lays out a distinction between dysfunction and amorality in nursing homes – in part inspired by her experiences seeing the negative changes that occur when for-profit providers take over facilities from smaller, more mission-driven organizations.

It's one thing to help people navigate a dysfunctional system. But when caregivers feel as though they are being asked to do amoral things – for instance, make care decisions based more on profit than science – they lose hope and the will to effect change.

In this wide-ranging interview, Feldman Barbera talks about her experience working in nursing homes during COVID – including the real need to treat the mental health issues that she and her fellow care providers developed in the wake of the pandemic – and her vision for a more humane and moral LTC system.

Read Dr. Feldman Barbera's blog: https://eleanorfeldmanbarbera.com/blog/

Learn more about the Sleepover Project: https://www.mcknights.com/blogs/the-world-according-to-dr-el/ltc-leaders-gain-remarkable-insights-from-the-sleepover-project/

Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org