Q: How do you define wellness, and do you think that definition is shared by others serving older adults?

A: Wellness, as far as the ICAA and many in the industry are concerned, is simply derived from our ability to actually understand, accept and act upon our identity and capacity to lead a purpose-filled and engaged life. In doing so, we can embrace our potential in all areas of life to pursue an optimized life’s possibilities. Everybody has their own definition, but they all have one goal in mind, and that is to help residents, customers and staff to live better, longer. It’s really as simple as that. How we get there that may differ. Given the fact that ICAA represents 10,000 communities that own or operate at least 25,000 locations, our goal is to at least bring the consistency across those brands if we can.

Q:What are some steps that senior living providers can take to become more wellness-focused, however they define it? 

A: The first thing is really to figure out where they are. You need research to figure out where to go from there. Then, you need a commitment. Once you’ve made that commitment, start putting together your blueprint. Then conduct a wellness audit. You need to know where you are before you can move forward.

From there, there are six simple action steps. Figure out what your program is going to be. Build and educate your workforce and your team, and make sure that all staff are onboarded in that area. Implement wellness in all policies and a wellness-for-all approach. Reimagine your built environment and your natural environment, outdoors, and then purchase products and support services that match your wellness focus.

By doing that, you’re off to a good start, but the key is implementing it and then evaluating it and then implementing it again and re-evaluating it.

Q: ICAA research has found that the pandemic elevated wellness in the minds of providers, residents and prospective residents. Could you talk about that? 

A: Our latest research that just came out showed that 81% of respondents in senior living communities believe that their executives see wellness as a high or essential priority. That is the key word there, priority. Not just that they like wellness or that they think wellness is important. It is a priority. So now the question is, what do you do with that priority? I think the first thing that you need to do is to recognize what your wellness gaps are and how you close those gaps.

Research that we have done has shown that there are many, many wellness gaps. For instance, there’s a huge gap in funding, and that impacts how you deliver and meet the needs of your wellness customers.

And 90% of respondents to an ICAA survey in 2019 said that it was extremely important that staff in every department support wellness, but yet we see that only one out of every two staff member does. So we need to close these gaps if we’re going to actually move the model forward.

But the priority also is shifting to a different model. Sixty-one percent of communities say that by the year 2025, their model will be based in wellness with care as opposed to care with wellness. That may not seem like a big difference in the words that are used, but it’s a completely different model in what gets delivered.

Q: What do you think the future holds for wellness in senior living? Or what should it hold?

A: It all starts with one word: flexibility. Wellness is not the same for each individual, and it isn’t the same for each organization, but the bottom line is, if we all have an end goal in mind where we are looking to help our residents live the best life that they can for as long as they can, that’s our starting point.

We have this wonderful opportunity in front of us to have an impact. We have a wonderful opportunity to be looked at, on a societal level, as the model for what cities, counties and countries could do, because really that’s what senior living communities are, little communities. If we can show that people can live better and longer and be happier, there’s nothing wrong with that. And the rest of the world can learn if we choose to make it so.

Digital version of the 2022 On the Money supplement

Download the 2022 On the Money supplement (PDF)

Q.  Will active adult living experience the aging-in-place challenges experienced by other living arrangements in the senior living and care continuum?

A.  Not in the short run, but there could be challenges in the longer term.

Active adult apartment living still is a relatively new senior housing option that has been gaining popularity from an owner/operator, developer, investor and consumer perspective. The industry still appears to be grappling with what exactly it should be called and what needs to be offered to attract a younger senior population. We can be fairly sure of one thing, however: that residents are going to age-in-place, and there is likely to be some “acuity creep” as the community ages.

Current experience tells us that the average move-in age into active adult housing is 72 to 74 years old. In eight to 10 years, those residents will be 80 to 84 years old. Some of those aging residents will want or need some support services and will expect that those services can be delivered into their apartments. And, as frequently happens, they will resist to moving to another level of care. Some may stay in their apartments longer than they should.

This is the nature and cycle of senior living. Many of those future challenges can and are being addressed in several ways. Successful active adult communities must plan for and develop creative approaches to address aging-in-place while also effectively maintaining the integrity of the “active lifestyle” offered at the community. Some of those approaches will be described in a future column.

Lynne Moore is president of MDS Research Co., a national senior living and healthcare consulting firm based in Fort Worth, TX, that has been serving clients for 48 years. MDS is a two generation company — she is following in Jim Moore’s footsteps. Moore is responsible for all MDS market research-related projects involving all aspects of senior housing and healthcare. Lynne Moore can be reached at (817) 731-4266 or lynnemoore@m-d-s.com.

This column appears in the August 2022 print issue of McKnight’s Senior Living magazine as “You’ve Got Questions . . . We’ve Got Answers.”

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

McKnight’s Senior Living and its sister brands honored more than 50 women leaders in the senior living, skilled nursing and home care fields this spring with its return to an in-person McKnight’s Women of Distinction Awards and Forum.

The celebration at the W Chicago–City Center hotel brought together some of the sector’s brightest long-time executives, mid-career professionals and up-and-comers who are making their mark. It was followed the next day by a series of educational panels at the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Forum.

New this year were the Spirit Awards, which paid homage to workers who inspired through their devotion to residents and their employers during the pandemic.

The 2022 McKnight’s Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award went to Patricia G. Will, founder and CEO of Belmont Village Senior Living. During the Forum, Will described how she transitioned to senior living from real estate after helping care for her mother-in-law.

“We have a tremendous competitive advantage, ladies,” Will told attendees, referring to the prevalence of women as both residents and caregivers. “I think this is an industry that lends itself to female leadership.” 

She also noted the need for women leaders to retain their own sense of professional–personal life balance and help employees find it, especially in the current labor environment.

“It’s incumbent upon us as leaders to put ourselves back in the shoes where we were once upon a time and help people with their logistics,” Will said. “It wasn’t easy then, and it’s not easy now.”

Dinner and, oh, what a show

The mood at the May 12 awards dinner was one of resilience as well as jubilation at being able to come together after two years of virtual events. More than 300 guests attended from across the United States, including a handful of Women of Distinction honorees from the past two years who received their awards during the 2020 and 2021 online events.

Winners, family members, colleagues and other industry players first mingled inside the lobby of the Beaux-Arts style hotel. Helping to kick off the night were a photo booth and open bar. Attendees were treated to a seated dinner as the sold-out main event got underway.

After opening remarks by McKnight’s Senior Living Editor Lois A. Bowers and McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger, each honoree was beckoned to the stage by hostess Alle Pierce, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and hostess. Recipients chose their own walk-up songs, with the likes of Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” helping to fuel the fun.

Two lucky tables won champagne toasts, further livening the evening as Pierce acknowledged the 54 winners in the Hall of Honor, Veteran VIPs, Rising Stars and Spirit Award categories. 

Honorees had been nominated by colleagues earlier this year. They then were selected by an independent national panel of judges in spring.

Dedication and heroism on display

As Bowers noted in her remarks, this was the largest class of award winners and the largest party since McKnight’s launched the program in 2019. At the time, no one could have imagined the dedication and heroism that would be required of everyone during the pandemic.

“We are honored to continue to fulfill a need to recognize the outstanding women in long-term care, whose work often goes unrecognized or is taken for granted,” Bowers told the crowd.  “Especially during these times, which continue to challenge the industry and those who work in it, we are inspired by your efforts to make the world a better place and humbled that so many of you made the time to lift up your colleagues for recognition — and came here tonight to celebrate.”

Details on the program, including a photo gallery of all the 2022 winners, appear at
mcknightswomenofdistinction.com. Nominations for next year’s awards will kick off in December. Honorees will be celebrated in spring 2023.

PointClickCare was the Diamond sponsor, OnShift and PharMerica were Silver sponsors, Reliant Rehabilitation was Bronze sponsor, and table sponsors were Dreamscape, Gojo/Purell and Sound Physicians. 

“The No. 1 pain point for aging services providers this year is workforce shortages, so the potential for technology to help mitigate that is definitely bubbling to the top in terms of priorities,” said Majd Alwan, PhD, senior vice president of technology and business strategy for LeadingAge and executive director of the LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies. 

Operators must take a comprehensive look at the ways that different technology applications can help alleviate workforce challenges, Alwan said. 

Several senior living communities, for example, have embraced the use of Bear Robotics’ Servi robots, three-tiered food runners that make trips to and from the kitchen to deliver food and bus tables, allowing employees to remain in the dining area with residents. 

Earlier this year, Fort Myers, FL, life plan community Cypress Cove expanded to using three of the Servi bots to support its largest formal culinary venue. Through a combination of robots and process changes, the community was able to increase table responsibilities from four to six tables per server, according to Joe Velderman, vice president of innovation at Cypress Living.

“Staff are having to make far fewer trips between their section and the kitchen and are staying in their section to be more responsive and supportive of our residents,” he said. 

Also, the community now requires fewer servers than it did pre-pandemic and has been able to reduce its dependency on front-of-house culinary staff by 330 hours per week. Those savings were reinvested in the community’s workers, with almost all front-of-house culinary positions receiving a 40% to 50% pay increase. 

“We’re starting to see this high wage attract more experienced talent from people who maybe don’t want to work in the restaurant industry anymore and instead want to experience the benefits of working in senior living, including better hours, benefits and culture,” Velderman said.

» Adaptability and innovation have been “foundational” to the success over time of continuing care retirement communities and will be key to future success as well, according to specialty investment bank Ziegler. Four trends are shaping the future of life plan communities: a reduced emphasis on skilled nursing, contract diversification, rebranding and an increase in scale, said Lisa McCracken, the firm’s director of senior living research and development.

» In July, Sunrise Senior Living announced the opening of its second and newest community on Staten Island, Sunrise of New Dorp. Units are designed by the company’s in-house design team to support residents’ comfort and safety, featuring custom finishes and an emergency response system. The community combines an elegant mix of modern interior design touches across its common areas and private spaces and features custom furniture built for residents’ needs. At the heart of the community, constructed in partnership with KBE Building Corp. and PWC Companies, sits a multi-functional bistro area, offering a place for coffee and snacks as well as seating options for lounging in front of the large fireplace, dining, playing games and socializing. An enclosed courtyard spanning the entire width of the community will provide outdoor space for residents to enjoy year-round and includes a pergola with seating. The community also has a theater room and boutique nail and hair salon.

» Senior living providers can adapt HVAC systems to increase protection of occupants, according to Vito Ilacqua, PhD, a scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor Environments Division. Viruses, including COVID-19, travel on particles. Filtering out those airborne particles can help reduce the risk of infectious agents in the air, Ilacqua said.

By the 1800s, Joseph Lister was promoting a method of packing wounds with gauze soaked in carbolic acid.

It was only in the 1960s that modern moist healing techniques emerged — and it has taken another half-century for engineering, chemistry and medicine to land on the kinds of products now being used by wound and ostomy nurses around the world. But the innovation has been fast and furious in terms of lasting impact.

“As moist wound healing and the concept of undisturbed wound healing have become more widely accepted, new technology and evidence-based practices have led wound care treatments into a new realm of innovation,” said Chrystalbelle Rogers, MSN, RN, CWCN, CENP, a wound care nurse with Medline Post-Acute Care Skin Health. “This, coupled with unprecedented limitations of resources, has proven the value of products and practices that can help decrease pain, increase adherence to up-to-date recommendations and ultimately improve the overall quality of life.”

Moisture isn’t the only method that continues to be improved. Reta Underwood, a wound care expert and president of CLTC Inc., said that pressure-relieving and reducing mattresses have earned their place in mainstream wound care practice, too.

“If it’s not routine in a facility, it should be,” she said. “It is a beneficial must-do.” 

But there’s no limit to how wound care might continue to evolve, especially with new technologies in the mix, such as wound-tracking cameras, moisture-assessment tools and products such as a surfactant based-gel that can manage devitalized tissue and promote cell survival. Underwood said she is hopeful the future will bring faster wound care interventions and lead to an ever-higher standard of care.

 “We have the power, with the current climate of change, to push for resources that are necessary to provide the most effective care for those we serve.” Rogers agreed. “The greater innovation is not in the product alone but, ultimately, our ability to use it.”

Perceptive Solutions, developer of WoundZoom Digital Wound Management, has integrated with MatrixCare in an effort to ease exchange of wound care data between WoundZoom and MatrixCare  customers’ electronic health record systems.  

Data captured using WoundZoom at the bedside, such as precise wound measurements, images and clinical assessments, automatically syncs to residents’ charts, creating a more efficient workflow. 

“This enables healthcare facilities to more efficiently share valuable wound care data between both clinical and administrative team members within their EHR,” Perceptive Solutions President Mark Lacerte said.

Immunotherapy could delay wound healing, practitioner advises

The practice of treating chronic wounds in the elderly is being exacerbated by emerging immunosuppressive therapies, Editor-In-Chief Terry Treadwell reported in the April issue of Wounds.

“As technology improves and patients with more complicated problems are living longer, treating wounds in these patients is becoming more challenging, not because of the wounds specifically but because of the comorbidities and associated treatments,” Treadwell wrote.

He has observed immunosuppression complications in patients treated for pulmonary disease, diabetes and more. He advises practitioners take “a more attentive and flexible approach” to the wound healing process in such patients.

Vizient gives limb shield innovation nod

Healthcare consulting firm Vizient awarded Hanger Clinic’s AmpuShield limb protector an Innovative Technology contract, a designation meant to point members toward products that may improve quality outcomes.

The AmpuShield is a residual limb protector clinically proven to reduce length of stay through contracture prevention, wound protection, faster healing time, earlier ambulation and reduced risk of revision surgery due to falls. Hanger said wearing an adjustable, removable shield allows easier access and monitoring of the patient’s surgical site and can reduce post-operative swelling.