Elevate Eldercare

Susan Ryan welcomes three trailblazers in the eldercare culture change movement to this week's episode: Joanne Rader, Charlene Boyd, and Rose Marie Fagan . Each guest has a distinct and storied history within the culture change movement, and each has taken an interesting and unique journey built on their pioneering experiences. Joanne Rader recounts her shift from rehab nursing to transforming ger...

In this episode of   Elevate Eldercare , Susan Ryan welcomes Mario Rubano, a passionate advocate for older adults. Mario shares his remarkable journey from a childhood steeped in intergenerational connection to a career that spans music therapy, public health, and systems change in aging services. In his role as Regional Program Manager at OATS (Older Adults Technology Services) from AARP, Mario i...

The 2025 Center for Innovation Conference registration has launched! And in today's episode, Susan Ryan talks with Joan Divine and Marla DeVries about what's in store for this auspicious eve n t , scheduled for August 11 to 14 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Hosted by The Green House Project and Pioneer Network, this event marks a significant gathering for those committed to transforming eldercare.​ In a...

In this week's episode, Susan Ryan sits down with Dr. Carol McKinley, president and CEO of Simpson, a senior living community in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.  Carol shares her journey of more than 35 years in eldercare, and how early interactions with her grandmother and father's ministry work inspired her career in social work and geriatrics.  In addition to emphasizing the importance of listening to older a...

Inspiration comes in many forms, but in the field of aging services it appears that it most often comes from one's own experience with a loved one . Case in point: Jennifer Baker, policy director at the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition, whose motivation to work in eldercare comes from early exposure to her great aunt and grandmother, both of whom had Alzheimer's disease . Susan Ryan s...

Bold, visionary leaders are the ones who challenge the status quo, break down barriers, and champion quality of life for older adults. Today's guest, Karen Schoeneman, is a shining example of that kind of leadership. This week, Susan Ryan sits down with Karen to discuss her many years of work reforming long term care, beginning with her work in social services, where her passion for resident-cente...

In this episode, Susan Ryan sit s down with Marcus Engel—speaker, educator, and expert in compassion science—whose powerful survival story has become a catalyst for inspiring more humane, connected workplaces. Through his work, Marcus helps organizations foster environments rooted in empathy, connection, and purpose. With a Master's in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University and a teaching rol...

In today's episode, Susan Ryan sits down with Dan Gordon, Craig Major, and Stephanie Smith son of ACH Group, creators of the first international Green House homes in Adelaide, Australia. Based in South Australia, ACH implemented the Green House model into its newest residential care home, Healthia, in Elizabeth in 2023. Dan, a nurse, and Craig, a healthcare manager, discuss their journeys into eld...

The 2025 Center for Innovation Conference registration has launched! And in today's episode, Susan Ryan talks with Joan Divine and Marla DeVries about what's in store for this auspicious evet , scheduled for August 11 to 14 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Hosted by The Green House Project and Pioneer Network, this event marks a significant gathering for those committed to transforming eldercare.​ In addi...

Opportunity can come in many shapes and in unexpected places. Today's guest, Jeff Ash, Ed. D , chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at The Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Md., tells a very compelling story about how he was given an opportunity that set the stage for his now-illustrious career. Having had a somewhat circuitous career path as a young academic, Dr. Ash describes h...

Policy experts Joe Angelelli and Anne Montgomery return to the podcast to discuss the recent EINSTEIN Option summit, a gathering of eldercare changemakers dedicated to advancing a comprehensive plan to reimagine the entire care delivery system. In this episode, you ' ll learn how the EINSTEIN Option could create full care continuums in communities around the country, with services and supports tha...

Suellen Beatty is a pioneer of person-directed care and small-home living in Canada. During her decades-long career at the Sherbrooke Community Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Beatty worked tirelessly to always go above and beyond even the basics of person-directed care practices, building a community where residents actually want to live, and caregivers actually want to work — with the more th...

Like far too many people across the world, Kyle Henry was forced to spend his mother ' s last days communicating from behind screens and PPE as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. But Henry — a prolific filmmaker and associate professor at Northwestern University — also saw an opportunity to shine a light on dementia, caregiving, and his own relationship with his mother. His film " Time Passages " stands...

The pursuit of i nnovative solutions in nursing home care is ongoing , and there is no shortage of people who are dedicated to this endeavor. Today's guest, Fred Bentley, managing director of ATI Advisory's Post-Acute/Long-Term care and Senior Living Practice , is one of these people. In addition to advocating for long-term care providers to shift focus to population health management, he also pro...

To be a trailblazer is not an easy path. There are detractors, nay sayers, and critics, of course. But to pave the way for others to achieve great things in the field of eldercare takes heart and soul as well. Today's guest, Steve McAlilly , has accomplished this all. In addition to leading the development of the first-ever Green House Homes, he has served as president and CEO of Mississippi Metho...

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...

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...