Sunday, April 29, 2012
4:15 p.m. — 5:30 p.m.
K01
Toward a Radical Reinterpretation of Aging and the Built Environment
William H. Thomas, MD, Founder, Changing Aging; Founder, The Eden Alternative and Green House Project
Humanity is blessed (and sometimes cursed) with the capacity to choose the form of the dwellings we make for ourselves. As a result, the buildings we construct are defined by our culture and beliefs. This is especially true when it comes to aging services and the places we make for older people. For example, contemporary American culture struggles to reconcile the warm feelings we have for elders on a personal level with the hard-edged, and often blatant, ageism that is woven into our social fabric. This lecture will explore these intersections. Drawing on his experience as a geriatrician as well as his founding role with the Green House Project, The Eden Alternative and the Pioneer Network, Dr. Thomas will present a “developmental” approach to aging, and give examples showing how this point of view can remake the organizations we use to care for elders, and remake the structure and function of the spaces we create to enable that care. We are on the cusp of a radical reconsideration of aging services, and architecture and design professionals are playing a critical role in this unfolding culture-change movement.
About Dr. William Thomas:
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Dr. William H. Thomas is an international authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare. After graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1986, a part-time position as the medical director of a small rural nursing home turned into a full-time and life-long passion for improving the well-being of older people. Noting that the elders he encountered were lonely, isolated and bored, he became intensely interested in changing care and environments designed for older people, so as to ensure growth and engagement with life. |
In the early 1990s, in partnership with his wife, Judith Meyers-Thomas, Dr. Thomas developed The Eden Alternative, which put forward a radical critique of the status quo in long-term care and offered a creative way to change the culture of nursing homes by bringing growth and laughter into the lives of elders. Now a global non-profit, the Eden Alternative has affiliates in Japan, Australia, Scandinavia, Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom and all 50 states. Dr. Thomas continues to serve as president.
A self-described “nursing-home abolitionist,” Dr. Thomas recognized that America’s nursing home buildings are “aging faster than the people living inside them.” This led him to imagine a radical alternative to nursing homes that became known as the Green House® Project. The model creates small, intentional communities where 7-10 elders and staff focus on living full and vibrant lives. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded $15 million to support rapid replication of the model in all 50 states.
Dr. Thomas has published many books advocating for the dignity and value to society of older people, including In The Arms of Elders (first published as Learning From Hannah, 1999) and What Are Old People For? How Elders Will Save the World (2007). His most recent book, The Tribes of Eden, is a novel that explores these same themes in the context of an end-of-the world scenario.
Dr. Thomas also runs ChangingAging.org, a blogstream that “uses social media tools to help those of us who believe in a better old age communicate our message to audiences who are important to us.” He continues to speak around the world and write prolifically, and teaches in the Master’s degree program at the Erickson School of Aging.
Monday, April 30, 2012
4:30 p.m. — 5:30 p.m.
K02
Culture Change: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?—The Experts Speak Out!
Moderator:
Cecily Andrews, Publisher, Long-Term Living
Panelists:
Margaret Calkins, PhD, CAPS, EDAC, President, I.D.E.A.S., Inc.
Jack York, CEO and Co-founder, It's Never 2 Late
Jeffrey W. Anderzhon, FAIA, President, Crepidoma Consulting, LLC
The Culture Change movement has been an international initiative. It calls for the transformation of elder-care services so they are based on person-directed values and practices where the voices of elders and those working with them are considered and respected. Central to this movement are values resting on choice, dignity, self-determination and wellness.
Join us for this gathering of interdisciplinary experts as they explore trends in the Culture Change movement and examine the challenges inherent in implementing those trends. This esteemed panel will forecast answers to critical questions about the future of Culture Change and will share real-world examples from across the U.S. and around the world.
Questions will be fielded from the conference delegation and collective insights will illuminate new paths forward!
About the Panelists:
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Margaret P. Calkins, PhD is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of environments for the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. She is president of I.D.E.A.S.: Innovative Designs in Environments for an Aging Society, a consulting firm dedicated to exploring the therapeutic potential of the environment--social and organizational as well as physical--particularly as it relates to frail and impaired older adults. She is also the board chair of I.D.E.A.S. Institute, which focuses on research and education in the same area. |
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Dr. Calkins is a member of several national organizations and panels that focus on issues of care for cognitively impaired older Americans, and she speaks frequently at conferences both in the U.S. and abroad. She has recently served on several design juries, which seek to identify state-of-the-art facilities in both health care and long-term care. She has published extensively, and her book Design for Dementia: Planning Environments for the Elderly and the Confused (1988) was the first comprehensive design guide for special care units. She also developed a comprehensive four-volume book set titled Creating Successful Dementia Care Settings (2002). Dr. Calkins has served as Principal Investigator on many grants from the National Institutes of Health. She is also a Senior Fellow Emeritus of the Institute on Aging and Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and teaches in the Master’s degree program at the Erickson School of Aging. |
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Jack York is the founder and CEO of It’s Never 2 Late (www.iN2L.com). He’s a veteran of more than 14 years in Silicon Valley as a sales executive for companies like Vishay Intertechnology and TEMIC Microsystems. In 1999, York became the founding president and CEO of It’s Never 2 Late, a firm dedicated to empowering older adults through the use of technology. Today, It’s Never 2 Late has grown to more than 600 programs in 49 U.S. states, Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland. Their work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, National Public Radio and numerous senior living publications. |
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Jeffrey Anderzhon is a Washington, D.C.-based architect and consultant specializing in environments for the elderly and a principal with Crepidoma Consulting. He is co-author of the books “Design for Aging Post Occupancy Evaluations: Lessons Learned from Senior Living Environments,” featured in the AIA’s Design for Aging Review, and “Where You Will Want to Live: International Designs for Aging,” and has written numerous articles on environments for the elderly. |
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
12:30 p.m. — 2:00 p.m.
K03
Observations From Building and Living at the Universal Design Living Laboratory — National Demonstration Home
Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD, President, Rossetti Enterprises Inc.
The Universal Design Living Laboratory is a national demonstration home and learning laboratory that serves to enable understanding for how to create a more comfortable, independent living environment and provides an unparalleled resource for universal design for today and tomorrow.
Join Rosemarie Rossetti for an in-depth tour of this home and garden. Rossetti and her husband are the general contractors, owners and inhabitants of this home. Its program offers a unique, behind-the-scenes look from design to construction and post-occupancy. Learn what features and products captured the most interest from those who toured this home, as well as those that are providing the most independence, convenience, safety and accessibility. Discover the fine points in design that make the kitchen, bathroom, wardrobe and entrances stand out as a model of excellence for all living environments.
About Rosemarie Rossetti
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Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D., is a powerful, internationally known speaker, trainer, consultant, writer and publisher who walks her talk. On June 13, 1998, Rossetti’s life was transformed when a three-and-one-half ton tree came crashing down on her. Her life was changed in that instant! Paralyzed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury, Rossetti looked deep within and found new strength and new resolve. In her keynote speeches, she shares the lessons she has learned since that fateful day, and demonstrates how to rise above misfortune and live life with conviction. |
Rossetti is the president of Rossetti Enterprises Inc., founded in 1997, and Fortuna Press LLC, founded in 2003. She has been in the speaking and training arena for 27 years. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, and served on the board of directors for the Ohio Chapter from 1998—2003.
As a communications specialist, she offers seminars, workshops and one-on-one speech coaching to clients. She works with organizations that want their people to communicate more clearly and convincingly, and with people who want to feel at ease in front of a group. Her tailor-made presentations are targeted at communication and presentation skill development, and train-the-trainer programs.
