Building Bridges Between Eldercare and Disability Advocacy
Release Date: 07/17/2024
The Quest for Dementia-Inclusion
Elevate Eldercare
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, geriatrician and Schlegel Chair in Aging and Dementia Innovation at the Schlegel-U Waterloo Research Institute at the Univ. of Rochester, New York; Jen Wilson, vice president of well-being at...
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Balancing the Personal and Professional in Dementia Care
Elevate Eldercare
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, Jim, who was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s just last year. She joins the podcast to discuss her journey through dementia care as both a visionary professional leader and loving family...
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Top Eldercare Policy Priorities for 2024 and Beyond
Elevate Eldercare
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. On this week’s episode, we’ll walk through the top areas where these longtime reform champions see potential for change — no matter what the federal and state governments look like...
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Eliminating the Barriers Between Care Levels — and People
Elevate Eldercare
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 including hospice services, Towers residents can receive it in the same unit they’ve called home for years. It’s a key part of CEO Gus Keach-Longo’s vision for care that truly centers the person. He...
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Leading Through Lifelong Learning and Growth
Elevate Eldercare
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 of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He joins the podcast this week to discuss his commitment to lifelong learning and growth, and how he has worked to help generations of students...
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Breaking Through the Providers vs. Regulators Framework
Elevate Eldercare
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 elders. With a long background in health care, Belden brings both on-the-ground experience and a healthy dose of compassion to her work as director of Michigan’s Bureau of Survey and Certification....
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Speaking Up for Nursing Home Residents Everywhere
Elevate Eldercare
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 around the country, providing support and advocacy through the National Virtual Residents' Council and other organizations fighting for the rights of residents. In honor of Residents’ Rights Month,...
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The Beauty and Benefits of Music Therapy
Elevate Eldercare
In today’s episode, Beth Furlong, RN, Community Relations Manager, and Hilary Camino, a certified neurologic music therapist 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 music and art center. The two talk about the significant impact music therapy has had in their community for the past eight years, including how it has fostered resident engagement and outcomes such...
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Working Toward Equity in the Aging Experience
Elevate Eldercare
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 Longevity + Inclusion Alliance Fellows program through his consulting company, W Lawson. He has held leadership positions at eldercare communities and organizations; holds a seat on the Center for...
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A Pacesetter for Positive Change in Dementia Care
Elevate Eldercare
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 who continues to learn from persons living with dementia, Ellett brings a perspective that few others in the field can. She sits down with Susan Ryan to talk about her unique journey...
info_outlineTireless advocate Carrie Leljedal returns to the podcast to discuss her work to bridge the worlds of advocacy for elders and people living with disabilities, which began after her adult son experienced a prolonged lockdown away from family and friends during the pandemic. She turned her anger and frustration into a new career as a champion for essential caregiver legislation, ensuring that families are never again locked away from loved ones — no matter what kind of care community they call home.
Learn more about Caregivers for Compromise: https://caregivers4compromise.com/
Read the bill: https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/s4280/BILLS-118s4280is.pdf
Learn more about the DCW Strategies Center: https://acl.gov/DCWcenter
Attend our conference in November: https://thegreenhouseproject.org/2024-conference/