Elevate Eldercare

Gerascophobia is the fear of aging or getting older. This fear, according to today's podcast guest, Kelly Tremblay, PhD, can not only make us sick, but can also be combatted by engaging in wellness activities such as book clubs or walking clubs—or even by listening to an inspiring podcast. What's more, doing the work to counter the fear can actually help change the trajectory of our health as we g...

Innovation and disruption have not been typical keywords used to describe the seniors housing and care industry. This perception is rapidly changing thanks in large part to today's guest, Bob Kramer, a self-described serial social entrepreneur and founder and president of Nexus Insights, an advisory firm that helps clients redefine aging and rethink aging services. His many decades in the field, c...

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...

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 su...

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 m...

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...

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...

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 alon...

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...

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...

U pholding 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...

For Michala Gibson, creating empowering environments for people living with dementia is both a professional and personal mission. As the co-founder of Prairie Elder Care in Overland Park, Kan., Gibson has built a unique farmhouse setting for elders living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia — complete with a garden and farm animals. She also serves as a family caregiver for her husband, J...

As everyone listening knows, there was an election last night — but while another contentious political season comes to a close , the real work of policymaking in Washington and state legislatures is just beginning.  To discuss the policy work that will have the most impact on the eldercare reform space, we invited two of our favorite experts on the show today — Anne Montgomery and Joe Angelelli ....

Even the best communities that serve elders with varying levels of care needs often face a logistical problem: moving residents from one physical area to another as their care demands increase. The Towers at Tower Lane, an innovative community in New Haven, Conn., eliminated that problem by creating services that come directly to residents ' apartments. No matter what they need, up to and includin...

As a child, Freeman Hrabowski had already made a bigger impact on the world than many people do in their entire lives: Inspired by hearing Martin Luther King Jr. speak at his church, young Freeman was arrested for protesting against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.   But Hrabowski didn ' t stop there, building an impressive career in academia that culminated with a 30-year tenure as president o...

Far too often, eldercare reform is presented as a binary choice between mortal adversaries: providers who believe that regulators are out to get them, and regulators who assume every provider is up to no good. The truth is obviously more complicated, and leaders like Jennifer Belden prove that there are ways to protect residents ' rights while also working with providers to improve the lives of el...

As someone in her 40s living with multiple rare autoimmune diseases, Nancy Stevens doesn ' t necessarily seem like a typical nursing home resident. But her journey through the long-term care system came with the same frustrations, challenges, and disappointments experienced far too often by people twice her age. Stevens uses her experiences as fuel to help hundreds of fellow nursing home residents...

In today's episode, Beth Furlong, RN, Community Relations Manager , and Hilary Camino, a certified n eurologic m usic t herapist at Sage Living in Jackson, Wyo., sit down with Susan Ryan.  Furlong offers a history of the Living Center and its evolution into Sage Living, emphasizing the need for a larger, more home-like space. She describes the collaboration with architects to design a dedicated mu...

Equity in aging is a topic that must be discussed more often in the field of eldercare. Today , Susan Ryan sits down with guest Marvell Adams Jr. to address this topic head on . Together, they unpack the many ways in which he is working to dismantle inequities in aging and create communities of inclusion.  Leveraging his two decades of work in the aging services field, Adams has created the Longev...

To be the developer of The Green House Project's BEST LIFE Approach for supporting persons living with dementia, it takes a very special commitment to person-directed living, the dignity of risk taking, and maintaining mobility.  This is certainly the case for today's guest, Anne Ellett. As a certified nurse practitioner and gerontological nurse, a dementia specialist, educator, author and speaker...

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, g...

If you've never heard Homeboy Industries, you're just a brief Google search away from discovering an incredible nonprofit that is considered to be the most the most successful gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the country.  In this episode, Susan Ryan talks with Homeboy CEO Tom Vozzo, who will also give the opening keynote talk at our upcoming Center for Innovation 2024 con...

Biophilia, the desire or tendency to commune with nature , is top of mind for author Julia Hotz , who joins the podcast to talk about her new book " The Connecti on C ure : The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging ."  Hotz explains how the phenomenon of social prescri bing , a non - medical approach to improving health by connecting with nature and community resource...

It ' s a presidential election year in the United States, with politics dominating the headlines from now until November. For many older people living in communal care settings, the ability to vote isn ' t always guaranteed, even though it ' s a baseline right that citizens do not lose as they age. Kate Poppenhagen, formerly the long-term care ombudsman for Larimer County, Colo. and currently a Ph...