Elevate Eldercare

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...

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 c...

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 agen...

When The Green House Project talks about bringing an end to the institutional nursing home, we don't just mean the outdated, hospital-like buildings where so many elders live: We also mean the institutional culture that dehumanizes real people by treating them solely as collections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

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...

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...

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  ...

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 inspire...

Jane Rohde's career in senior living architecture and design is based on a simple but often overlooked truth: What's good for elders is also what's good for everyone. Our needs don't change as we age, and Rohde joins "Elevate Eldercare" to challenge our idea of what senior living can and should look like – particularly, the notion that real answers to challenges in eldercare can be found by focusi...

The solutions to the workforce crisis in long-term care are complex and systemic, from better wages to battling deep-seated biases to inspiring young people to see caregiving as a career. But what about the immediate challenges facing the current cohort of caregivers – the people who, often at the expense of their own physical and mental health, keep working to keep elders and others safe and comf...

We continue our new format for "Let Me Say This About That" – highlighting all of the podcasts released in the month in one episode. In February three podcasts were released: - Reframing Dementia and Caregiving for the Future (Episode 135) - Editing the Genetics of Alzheimer's (Episode 136)   - Getting Closer to Home with Marvell Adams, Jr. (Episode 137) This week on "Let Me Say This About That",...

Marvell Adams, Jr. has built his career in non-profit senior services on a desire to bring the traditional spaces associated with eldercare – the nursing home, the assisted living facility – closer to home. But creating a home isn't as simple as building a structure. It's a deliberate act of fostering an environment where everyone feels included, supported, and valued. For an organization like The...

Dr. Ornit Chiba-Falek's work as an Alzheimer's researcher sounds almost like science fiction – but it's real. At the Duke University School of Medicine, Chiba-Falek and her colleagues are probing the ways that science can essentially turn off the specific DNA sequences that can lead to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The science is still in its early stages, but Chiba-Falek is optimistic...

Amid the gradual aging of the American population, there's never been more awareness about Alzheimer's and other dementias – but the stigmas and misconceptions have also persisted alongside this public knowledge, even among well-meaning people. At the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Memory Center, Dr. Jason Karlawish and his colleagues take a holistic approach to caring for people living with Al...

It's a new year and we've got a new format for "Let Me Say This About That" – instead of highlighting just one Elevate Eldercare podcast, we will discuss all of the podcasts released in the month. In January four podcasts were released: -COVID 2022: Hope and Reality with Dr. William Haseltine   (Episode 130) -Building a True Eldercare System with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Episode 131) - "Be Kind and Be...

As a longtime advocate for better eldercare options, Susan Reinhard knows that calls for change will always be met with tough resistance from those invested in the status quo. Her advice? Be tougher. Reinhard, the director of AARP's Public Policy Institute, joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss her work as a collector and promoter of hard data that can bolster advocacy for eldercare reform. A nurse...

Laura Tamblyn Watts has a mantra for her work in eldercare reform: Be kind and be useful. The temperature around long-term care reform debates can often rise into rancor – understandably so, given the abuse and death that too often occurs in the setting, particularly in the wake of COVID. But Tamblyn Watts believes that we'll collectively go farther if we operate with the understanding that so man...

Among the many long-simmering problems that COVID-19 revealed in long-term care, a lack of coordination among providers and leaders may be one of the trickiest to solve – but Rep. Jan Schakowsky believes it's possible with collaboration and a groundswell of grassroots action. Schakowsky, who represents Chicago and its suburbs, joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss the concrete steps that leaders ca...

To kick off yet another uncertain year, "Elevate Eldercare" welcomes back Dr. William Haseltine for a dose of both hard reality and hope for managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the first part of the interview, conducted in late October, Dr. Haseltine – a renowned expert on virology and infectious disease – accurately predicted the ongoing risk that new variants will present to health care p...

In this last episode of the year, Susan Ryan and Alex Spanko look back at some of the guests and ideas that stuck with the entire Green House Project team from the "Elevate Eldercare" podcast in 2021. From the importance of inclusion in eldercare settings to the need for collaborative and transformative change, the leaders who joined the podcast this past year brought bold visions for the future r...

This week we have another inspirational woman to highlight on "Let Me Say This About That" – Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General of the United States and current Green House Project board member. Get ready for a wonderful discussion of her trailblazing life and career, and another "barrier-breaking" physician that inspired Dr. Elders.   You will be in awe of their accomplishments and the i...

This week, "Elevate Eldercare" has the true honor of welcoming former U.S. surgeon general and current Green House Project board member Dr. Joycelyn Elders for a discussion of her trailblazing life and career. Dr. Elders's drive and talents took her from a childhood in poverty to the heights of federal influence, serving as the first Black surgeon general in American history – while also powerfull...

Dr. Edith Eger's life took her from unimaginable despair to peace and a calling to help others.   As a teenager, Dr. Eger survived the Nazi concentration camps – and the murder of her parents – by relying on her inner strength to remember that she was still a valuable human being despite the indignities and evil imposed upon her. She then went on to build an influential body of work as a psycholog...

The arc of Dr. Edith Eger's life took her from unimaginable despair to peace and a calling to help others. This week, she joins "Elevate Eldercare" to discuss her unique and powerful perspective on grief, hope, and forgiveness – as well as the continued need to fight ignorance and hatred with love and understanding. As a teenager, Dr. Eger survived the Nazi concentration camps – and the murder of...

This Thanksgiving week, "Elevate Eldercare" hands the mic over to three dedicated caregivers from the Green House Cottages of Homewood in Mena, Ark. Administrator Vicki Hughes, RN Toni Lawrence, and Shahbaz/CNA Kerri Rye gather around a virtual gratitude table to discuss their reasons for working in eldercare, the power of the Green House model for staff and elders alike, and how caregivers can cr...