Changing Aging

“If they don’t innovate, they will die.”  So says John Krout, director of the Gerontology Institute at Ithaca College, in today’s New York Times story about the future of senior centers.

“Changing Aging” broached this subject earlier this month in a post about a new kind of center at Ecumen’s Parmly LifePointes community (pictured above).

This and other successful new centers such as Mathers Lifeways Cafes don’t scream “senior center.”  They scream “aging is all about living . . . even at the end of life.”

Thank you to Ecumen colleague Shelly Cornish for sharing this video with us today.  The video is about 10 minutes and it makes a mind do calesthenics.

 We’re all living.  We’re all dying.  We’re all empowered.

A Happy Easter from Ecumen and “Changing Aging.”

For our readers who are nursing home professionals: 

Mary Leber, who heads Ecumen’s consulting division, which works with many long-term care and senior housing providers, has provided key tips for nursing homes preparing for the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS).  You can download the QIS tips and other articles here.  If you have suggestions on other articles , please let us know here.  Thanks.

 What other leadership characteristics would you add for building greatness in aging services?

1.  Tackle tough problems. 

2. Find meaning and purpose in your work.

3. Collaborate, don’t isolate.

4.  Adapt quickly.

5.  Be accountable.

6.  Build trust.  Be honest.

7.  Empower others to lead and to innovate.

8.  Be curious - continually.

9.  Keep growing.

10.  Think widely - see the big picture.

While there are many more than 12 people who are “Changing Aging” across the United States,  here are 12 that Kelly Greene of the Wall Street Journal focused upon on Friday. 

At Ecumen, we’ve had the pleasure to work with two of them: Eric Dishman, who heads up innovation in Intel Corporation’s Digital Health Group, and Dr. William Thomas, the Dr. Spock of Aging and who also authors a “Changing Aging” blog. 

When you look at the areas they identify, you see key areas for innovation and “Changing Aging” in America:

- Technology

- Housing

Yesterday we wrote about the fragmentation in public policy around aging.  The Citizens League in Minnesota, which is one of the country’s top non-partisan citizen engagement and public policy organizations is taking a different approach to aging policy as part of their MAP 150 initiative, which is focused on big public policy issues in Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial Year.

Here’s how they describe the approach, which will begin at the League’s Feb. 28th Policy Open House event:

Posted By John Korzendorfer, Senior Director of Campus Operations 

The ongoing dialogue on the Changing Aging blog about “IT” fascinates me. “IT” is comprised of numerous factors, and today I would like to talk about one of them as they relate to America’s nursing homes.

SIGNS!

In my work I have the opportunity to visit numerous nursing homes, and so many of them have this in common:

                                                SIGNS!

I’m not talking about directional signs. . .

Remember the chorus from the mid-70’s song “Signs?”

Churches across America have a tremendous opportunity to play a significantly positive role in the aging of America by helping create vibrant communities that bring multiple generations together.

Looking closer at this emerging leadership role, we have introduced a white paper entitled: “A New Wrinkle on Aging, Congregational Senior Housing.”  Author Kay Harvey shares one congregation’s experience as it turns a vision into reality.

We’d like to introduce ”Changing Aging” readers to our North Star: our mission, vision and values.  We introduced them today throughout Ecumen.

If you’ve ever been involved in developing a mission statement, you can appreciate how difficult they can be to shape . . .and then doubly tough when you add vision and values.

But what was so cool about this process was that our board of trustees did it quickly, intuitively and decisively.  The work sessions had the help of a wonderful moderator - Dr. Louellen Essex, a leading management consultant and author (if you’re ever in need of a highly skilled navigator who helps people move through complexities, she’s at the top). 

Technology is playing a transformational role in aging services and senior housing, and that role will only grow with the age wave.

On January 30th, Kathy Bakkenist, (pictured left) Ecumen’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy and operations, and Ecumen customer Honor Hacker (below left viewing a wireless QuietCare sensor in her apartment), will testify before members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Medical Technology Caucus.