Technology and Aging: The Future is Now
Several years ago our board of trustees and leadership team were at a retreat developing our dashboard, which helps us set goals and measure results in our transformation work. One of the trustees put a question mark in a circle and asked the others what was the big thing' that is going to change aging services, which wasn’t at the forefront of our work then. The word 'Technology' was written in the circle. Today we are piloting 2-3 new technologies per year to determine those that can enhance our customers' experience and our work.One of those technologies was featured in an interesting story in the L.A. Times last week about baby boomers fueling the 'aging in place' movement and turning to technology to help fulfill their parents' wish to live where they want to live.The tool is called QuietCare. We started using the unobtrusive sensor technology two years ago, piloting it with 20 of our customers. Today more than 600 use it. You can see QuietCare up close here. It helps us spot small health problems before they grow into larger ones; and it helps enhance information sharing and communications between our customers, their family members, caregivers and physicians.The consulting firm BearingPoint, just did a study for the National Commission for Long-Term Care, which is chaired by Newt Gingrich and Bob Kerrey. The report highlights, which you can read here, discuss technology being essential in long-term care, but that it needs to be connected to other segments of healthcare. As the L.A. Times article points out, and as we’ve experienced at Ecumen, technology can enhance people’s lives and break down critical information silos. Baby boomers are going to drive increased use of technology in aging services as more provide care and want technology to help them in this area of their life just as it does in so many other aspects of their lives. In fact, 9 out of 10 baby boomers told us in our Age Wave study, that they 'EXPECT' technology to help them live longer and more independently.
The EU and the Age Wave
In fewer than 13 years, we will have more seniors in Minnesota than children. That’ll be a first. Interestingly, the European Union is already in the midst of an age wave. According to Elita Vucheva, who writes on global business for Businessweek.com, there are currently more seniors than children living in the EU, as Europe’s young population has decreased by 21 percent - or 23 million -- in 25 years, 10 percent of which in the last ten years alone.Only 16.2 percent of today’s EU population is less than 14 years old, while one sixth (16.6 percent) is 65 years or more. In addition one out of every 25 EU citizens is over 80 years old.Italy has the least young people (14.2%) and one out of every five Italians is more than 65 years old. At the other end of the scale, Ireland has the most youngsters (20.7%), according to a recently-released report by the Institute for Family Policies based in Spain.
Kathryn Roberts on The It Factor
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZtjvKqZXc[/youtube]Posted by Robin Krause, Ecumen Vice President of Human Resources What is this thing called 'It?' It’s essential to creating great places to live and work. We’ve been talking a lot lately about 'It' within Ecumen. You know whether a community has 'It' right away. You can feel 'It.' 'It' feels good.I wanted to find out what Kathryn Roberts, Ecumen’s CEO thinks about 'It,' so I went and asked her. You can see the interview above. For the next three weeks, I’m going to post a weekly question here with her related to what goes into making a great workplace.On October 25th, the day of the last question, we’re going to celebrate Ecumen-wide a pretty neat achievement, that Ecumen has been named a 'Best Place to Work' by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal for a third straight year.I’d love to hear what you think 'It' is … please join the discussion that’s already taking place and share your examples of 'It' at work.
Nursing Assistants and Leadership
The other day the Minneapolis Star Tribune did a story on the job of nursing assistants. Nursing assistants are on the frontline of care and to be great, they have to be absolutely fabulous in delivering customer service. They ensure dignity, helping people eat, bathe and dr
ess; they listen (instead of simply hearing) what the people in their care say; they deliver authentic warmth that simply makes people feel good; they provide encouragement. Bottom line: Great nursing assistants make life better.Featured in the Star Tribune was Ecumen regional director Mary Cordts (pictured at left). Mary began her career as a nursing assistant in a nursing home in her hometown. She found her calling. And the world of aging services is changing because of it. She later got her degree in nursing. After that she earned her masters in business. And the learning didn’t end there … .This weekend in Chisago City, Minn., Mary will keynote the grand opening of the new Vitalize! Wellness Centre at the Ecumen community of Parmly LifePointes, where Mary also serves as executive director. [We’ll share more photos of Vitalize! here soon.] It’s part of a movment to expand the work of a senior community that was largely known for its nursing home, and turning it into a community-wide hub for vital aging. In fact, Parmly Senior Housing & Services changed its name to Parmly LifePointes (they’re officially launching that this weekend, too) because the community saw the former name as too limiting for what Parmly is becoming … a community-wide resource for successful aging at multiple points in life, not just at the end of life. Earlier we were talking about the role of nursing assistants. Forgot to mention that they can change the world. Take it from Mary.
Eldercare and Japan’s Care Robots
Would you want a robot to take care of you? While we’re integrating a number of new technologies at Ecumen, that’s not one that’s hit any of our communities.It’s a different story in Japan, where 22% of of that country’s population is already 65 or older. Businesses there are rolling out everything from easy-entry cars to remote controlled beds, fueling a senior technology market worth more than $1 billion. Secom Company there recently introduced a robot that assists people with eating. The Tokyo-based company already has sold 300 of the robots, which come at a price tag of $3,500.An intelligent wheelchair from Fujitsu Ltd. and Aisin Seiki Co. uses a positioning system to automatically travel to a preset destination, and uses sensors to detect and stop at red lights, and to avoid obstacles.Then, according to Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated Press reporter, there’s a new care designed by Toyota. Part of the Welcab series, it’s designed for easy entry for people who use a wheelchair or have difficulty walking.Driving this technology development is Japan’s age wave, a desire to help seniors live independently and fully, and the fact that not as many families are providing multi-generational care.
A New Study, Underfunding Medicaid and DD-Day
Newsweek columnist George Will calls it DD-Day, the day the Demographic Deluge begins. That is January 1, 2008, when the first of 78 million baby boomers reach 62, the age at which a majority of Social Security receipients begin to receive benefits. Will writes that Social Security is unsustainable in its current format, but a picture of health as it relates to Medicare. And then there’s that thing called Medicaid -- the largest payer for long-term care in America.A New Study on Medicaid FundingAccording to a new study commissioned and released last weeby the long-term care trade group the American Health Care Association and conducted by the accounting firms BDO Seidman/Eljay,LLC, states are underfunding the actual cost of providing seniors’ critical nursing home care by at least $4.4 billion annually, or, $13.15 per patient day €“ representing a dramatic 45% increase from 1999 ($9.05) through 2007.The new study also found that the states with the greatest disparity between the actual cost of providing quality care and Medicaid reimbursements are, in order of severity, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin (with $27.29 per person daily shortfall) , Minnesota (with $24.96 daily shortfall), Vermont, New Hampshire, Missouri, Delaware, Washington and Massachusetts. The study goes on to make a connection that cutting Medicaid adversely impacts Medicare.Moving the Discussion ForwardUnfortunately this study got little media coverage. Although more people are talking about how to pay for the future of eldercare, it’s not yet a top-tier issue nationally. (That will undoubtedly change, though.).- The public’s and most policymakers' focus in this nanosecond is on 'health care', not 'long-term care'. Take a look at the Presidential candidates' health care plans at how they address health care and then long-term care (there’s a big difference). - Americans don’t want to live in nursing homes and the way 'The System' works today, nursing home services are a huge drain on government dollars. It’s easier for 'The System' to simply let the market watch nursing homes that can’t diversify go away. That’s great for those people who can access the innovators, but not so great if one of those innovators isn’t serving your community.The very good thing is that the issue of how to pay for the huge wave of seniors' care is starting to rise. Creating Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s was a long, arduous process. But then people, such as a smart, amibitious guy who wanted to be President, John F. Kennedy, started to become champions for aging. There will be new political champions on renovating or rebuilding how we pay for and deliver care for seniors in America. Right now such revolutionaries and innovators exist in the private and non-profit sectors.When it comes to public policy changes, the new champions in elective office will be those who can make this issue relevant to all Americans, where businesses, labor unions, religious organizations, and Joe and Josephine Mainstreet Americans see the need for and call for change. That’s not a big stretch, as baby boomers pointed out in our Age Wave study, it’s a great opportunity for someone who wants to grab it and be seen by Red and Blue America as a pragmatic, visionary, creator of solutions.
America’s Opportunities in Aging
We want to invent the future, otherwise we know what it’s going to be.'Great quote from Joseph Coughlin, Ph.D., and head of MIT’s AgeLab. Robert Powell, at Marketwatch.com, has some great insights from Coughlin, an aging services innovator and visionary who sees huge opportunity to transform for the age wave and make society better. A few key points he raises: 'Boomers are not the first generation to get old, but they are first to have health and wealth and the expectation that things will be different.'Think Differently: He calls for financial firms to design new products that will provide income to Americans who want to modify their houses as they age or who still have transportation needs long after they stop driving. 'We are about to see baby boomers sever the link between health and health care.'Health and Wellness: The next generation of seniors will pursue wellness, and technology will play a large role in that.Entrepreneurship. Boomers will live longer and work longer. Many more of them also will seek work that is rich in purpose … for many that will mean a different job.'Boomers will want to remain alive not just live longer.' Lifetime Learning: Coughlin sees many boomers moving to college campuses where they can take classes, stay engaged with other generations and have easy-access health care.Interestingly, but no suprisingly, Coughlin’s insights completely parallel what we heard from boomers in our Age Wave Study. Do you agree/disagree with Coughlin? Any other insights you have about how aging will be different than it traditionally has been?
New Name for Pennsylvania’s Office of Long-Term Care
The Office of Long-Term Care. It’s no longer called that in the The State of Pennsylvania. They’ve changed the name to the Office of Long-Term Living. How words can change the pictures in your head …
What’s Your Neighborhood’s Walk Score?
Walking is a great exercise and so beneficial for successful aging. How walkable is your neighborhood or the one you’re considering living in? Find out at walkscore.com.Pretty cool tool.
Leadership, Change and the Age Wave
A lot of organizations are working on internal change to deal with the unprecedented external change that’s coming with the age wave. Below is a recent interview with Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts about that subject. The article appeared in a recent edition of Boardmember Magazine, which is published by BoardSource. Based in Washington, D.C., BoardSource works with non-profit organizations across the country to improve governance. This interview was part of their regular CEO feature called: Leadership Lessons.Leadership Lessons: Riders of the Wave
Kathryn Roberts, president and CEO of Ecumen, one of the country’s largest nonprofit senior housing and services companies, views the aging of the Baby Boom generation as an opportunity, rather than a challenge. As Board Member learned in a recent interview, she and her 16-member board of trustees are seizing that opportunity by rethinking and reinventing the services and products Ecumen provides to seniors today €” and tomorrow, when the Baby Boom 'age wave' hits the senior housing industry.Board Member: You’ve said it yourself: America is on the cusp of an unprecedented demographic transformation. Ecumen is planning to 'ride the age wave,' rather than drown beneath it, by innovating services and products. From where does this ability to embrace change come?Kathryn Roberts: It stems from me, my leadership team, and the board €” and there’s absolute unanimity about doing it. In 2004, after I had been at Ecumen for about a year and was starting to put some strategies in place to ride the wave, the board went on a retreat. The members used that time to identify a vision for our future and a five-year plan. Since then, it’s been 'Go, Kathryn, go. Go as fast as you can.'I may be overstating this, but if this organization hadn’t changed, it would not be looking at its 200th anniversary. And the board knew it too. Five years ago, more than 80 percent of our revenue came from government reimbursement, primarily through our nursing home line. With set rates and declining Medicaid support, we were only going to lose money. Because the nursing home industry is so regulated, our expenses were completely out of our control as well. So our choice was to either change our product line or run through our cash and close up shop.Facing this dilemma, we strategized with the board and came to the consensus that we would need to add services that are less regulated and generate private revenue to offset the inherent losses in the nursing home line. My leadership team and I recommended that these new services include independent housing, assisted living, and care for those with Alzheimer’s and other memory impairments. One of the goals we set in that first strategic plan was to reduce the percentage of our income that comes from our nursing home line from 82 percent to 52 percent €” there is no question in my mind that we will achieve that goal and maybe exceed it.We’re now about to go through the strategic planning process again, and this time we want to be even more intentional. In 2004, we planned in a naïve, intuitive way. In October, we’ll be more grounded in facts €” we recently brought in the state demographer to spend time with the board, and last year, we conducted the largest survey ever of Minnesota Baby Boomers to learn what they’re thinking about the future. The new data we’ve collected will inform the board’s discussions and decisions.BdM: Has there been any resistance to change or push-back from the board?KR: The board has been very supportive, right from the beginning. Throughout these tumultuous years, there has been only one instance when a board member raised the fear that we might be stepping away from our mission to provide the poorest and the neediest with housing and nursing care. But that has not happened. In fact, by venturing into the private sector market and creating business aimed at the new demographic, we will increase our income, thus allowing us to serve the neediest in a more robust way.BdM: To better meet the needs of the aging Baby Boomers, Ecumen is also involved in changing public policy. Is the board supportive of your efforts in this area?KR: Legislative and public policy work was not a part of the old organization. But policy and funding changes are necessary if we are going to meet the Baby Boomers’ demand for a broad range of services, such as technology that will help them live more independently. We are committed to shaping change externally, as well as internally, so we’ve begun to build a board with relevant experience. Our board chair, for example, was chair of a political party in Minnesota, and several board members have political and lobbying experience.BdM: The membership of your board has changed since your arrival in 2003. Is there a trick to recruiting such a talented, supportive board?KR: I have to give credit to Ecumen’s former board members. To make change happen, they knew we had to augment the board’s existing makeup. We have enriched and broadened our board with a variety of backgrounds and skills. The board has helped shape itself into what it is today.Also, we put in place a process that has provided, for the first time, more names on the plate than we need. This allows us to select only those people whose personal interests and skills are a good match with our mission. If someone is not in sync with our goals or lacks commitment to growth and change, we’re comfortable suggesting that that candidate might be happier serving on another board. The board is clear about what we’re trying to do and knows the qualifications and interest needed on the board to make it happen. There is a high level of mutual trust, and that has made all the difference.BdM: How have you managed to achieve that high trust level?KR: I live by two values: I do what I say I’m going to do and I’m transparent €” whether it’s good news or bad. This gives me credibility with the board, and it raises their level of confidence that I won’t blindside them. For example, we had a large and very popular nursing home that had been part of our organization for many years. It was also hemorrhaging money. We could have continued to tread water. But long-term that wouldn’t have benefited this organization. Instead I recommended that we sell the nursing home and laid out why. Decisions like that are never easy. They impact a lot of people. But it was the best thing to do for our organization. Of course, trust doesn’t happen overnight; it’s one step at a time. But however you achieve it, trust is essential, especially if you want to change the way your organization does business.BdM: What advice would you give other nonprofits contemplating transformation in response to major demographic shifts?KR: You have to be bold, be brave, see the vision in front of your face every day, communicate it to interested stakeholders, and then work hard to make it happen. You have to have accountability and measurement. How else will you know if you’re making progress toward your goals?Nonprofits are businesses, and we have the responsibility to be financially successful so we can deliver on our missions. I believe strongly that too few nonprofits are thinking about services they need to change in response to the age wave. For me, my board members, and the people who work at Ecumen, the issue of providing services to the aging is very personal. At some point, we all will need these services €” and there better be good choices.