Elevate Eldercare

In this week's recap, Mary and I talk about Susan Ryan's conversation with Walter Coffey and David Sprowl, managing partners of an international consulting business.

These two leaders in senior living departed a great deal of knowledge and wisdom about leadership, opportunities, and relationships.

In addition, they offer a great list of books (some that I will be reading) that you may appreciate as well.

Check out David Brooks' The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life here: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Mountain-David-Brooks/dp/0812993268

Susan Ryan sits down with Walter Coffey and David Sprowl, managing partners of an international consulting business. Walter was formerly the CEO of LeadingAge Georgia and the Georgia Institute on Aging for 18 years and well known for his efforts in the eldercare culture change movement.

David was the Executive Director of Lutheran Towers, located in midtown Atlanta, Ga., where he brought person-centered approaches to affordable housing.

They discuss the COVID crisis through an international lens and their work in different parts of the globe, their quest for person-centered approaches to eldercare to be realized more broadly, and the role of all staff within an organization functioning as leaders to effect transformation.

Finally, Walter and David encourage us to not settle for 'good enough' but to intentionally strive for greatness.

Connect with Walter here: linkedin.com/in/walter-coffey-5aa761133

In this recap, Marla and I take a deeper dive into the 17th episode of Elevate Eldercare with Dr. Jennifer Carson, the director of the Dementia Engagement, Education and Research Program at the School of Community Health Sciences at University of Nevada, Reno, and Dr. Al Power, an internist, geriatrician, and Schlegel Chair in Aging and Dementia Innovation at the Schlegel University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging in Ontario, Canada.

The conversation was so rich that we did the podcast in two parts! Find out how Dr. Carson and her colleagues in Nevada created an incredible response to COVID to support elders in the state to shelter in place. Learn why Dr. Power called it "a world leading initiative" and how you can replicate it in your state.

Learn why COVID gave Dr. Power the time for reflection and a chance to reinterrogate what he teaches about dementia. Find out if he believes it can still hold up during a pandemic.

In part two, we take time to discuss their views on the injustices in long term care and to challenge us to change our thinking on a number of issues. Marla comments on a topic raised by Dr. Power about either/or thinking and how it led her to an article on Both/And Leadership.

Check out 211 Nevada: https://www.nevada211.org/

Nevada COVID-19 Aging Network (NV CAN): https://www.nevada211.org/

Find out more about Both/And Leadership: https://medium.com/saseprints/both-and-leadership-d5c1107c60af

Susan Ryan sits down with Dr. Jennifer Carson, the director of the Dementia Engagement, Education and Research Program at the School of Community Health Sciences at University of Nevada, Reno, and Dr. Al Power is an internist, geriatrician, and Schlegel Chair in Aging and Dementia Innovation at the Schlegel University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging in Ontario, Canada.

Both Jennifer and Al are highly committed and knowledgeable advocates for people living in dementia who have worked together over the years on many projects. In this episode, Al and Jennifer talk about the power of deep-knowing relationships and individualized approaches as foundational to generating quality of life experiences for people living with dementia, and why consistent, or dedicated, staffing is paramount to that success.

The conversation also touches on how the pandemic dramatically revealed how significant relationships really were in addressing the profound challenges of loneliness and social isolation among elders who have dementia.

Jennifer and Al also talk about ageism and ableism, and how the crisis has exposed these stereotypes even more perilously.

Check out Dementia Friendly Nevada here: https://dementiafriendlynevada.org/

Find out more about Dr. Power here: http://www.alpower.net/

In this recap, Mary and Marla examine the 15th episode of Elevate Eldercare with Jill Wilson and John Ponthie, two senior living providers that operate more small-house/Green House homes under their organizational umbrellas than any other Green House provider.

Mary and Marla discuss how each explained the impact of COVID-19 on their organizations and the interesting variety of words they used to describe it. Learn how Jill 'operationalized COVID' and their predictive testing tree. Hear how both providers opened new homes during COVID, and how communication and complete transparency was a vital strategy for their residents and team members.

So why aren't more providers building small house/Green House homes? Mary and Marla discuss how they respond to the question and their own insight on that topic.

More on Jill Wilson and the testing process at Otterbein Senior Life, watch the webinar entitled Preparing for a Potential Second Wave: https://www.thegreenhouseproject.org/events/covid-19-best- practices-ltc-initiative

Susan Ryan sits down with Jill Wilson and John Ponthie, two senior living providers that operate more small house/Green House homes under their organizational umbrellas than anyone anywhere.

Jill Wilson is president and CEO of Otterbein Senior Life, a faith-based not-for-profit ministry based in Lebanon, Ohio, and John Ponthie is co-owner of Southeran Administrative Services, a Sherwood, Ark.-based company that provides administrative support services for 36 nursing homes, including four campuses that encompass 33 Green House homes.

This compelling conversation takes a look at what drives these two innovators to do what they do and why they love the Green House model.

They each make the business case for the Green House/small-house model, as well as describe the experiences of the homes amid the pandemic.

Check out this in-depth interview with John Ponthie here about the

Green House homes he operates: https://skillednursingnews.com/2020/07/how-a-nursing-home- developer-made-green-houses-work-its-not-hard-to-pencil-out/

More on Jill Wilson here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-wilson- 300a90

In this recap, Mary and Marla examine the 13 th episode of Elevate Eldercare with David Grabowski, PhD, professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School.

With the focus of Dr. Grabowski's discussion with Susan Ryan on COVID-19 and the impact it has had on nursing homes, Mary and Marla discuss the surprising results of one of his recent studies, the devaluation of long-term care staff, and solving the problem of social isolation among nursing home elders.

Check out Dr. Grabowski and colleagues' recent Op Ed in the Washington Post here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/28/nursing -home-workers-now-have-most-dangerous-jobs-america-they- deserve-better/

Susan Ryan sits down with David Grabowski, PhD, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. As a longtime researcher in the long-term care field, Dr. Grabowski has dedicated his career to shaping policy and making a difference in the lives of elders. Recently, he was part of a research team that studied the characteristics of nursing homes impacted by the coronavirus in order to understand which were more likely to experience an outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

In this episode, Ryan and Dr. Grabowski discuss his observations on the impact of social isolation as a result of the ban on family visitation to nursing homes and why he believes that staff have the most dangerous jobs in America.

Dr. Grabowski also unpacks his observations about the factors that have shown to indicate the likelihood of an outbreak and what must be done to address the systemic flaws to mitigate the spread of the infection.

If you want to keep up with the latest research and insights on long-term care and COVID-19, follow Dr. Grabowski on Twitter here: @DavidCGrabowski

In this recap of this week's episode with Howard Gleckman, Mary and I have a bit to say about that. In particular, we discuss his impressive knowledge of tax policy, funding, and long-term care and his ability to bring all those things together in a succinct and easily understandable way.

We examine his views on a broken long-term care system, issues around staffing, and the challenges faced by family caregivers.

What resonates with us, of course, is Gleckman's call to action around what nursing homes need to do to survive in a post-COVID era: break the mold and be willing to try something truly different from the old ways of doing things.

Find Gleckman's articles in Forbes here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/#6e3afe4c7417