Learn how to build relationships with universities that can help you create internships for students in a variety of programs. Internships can help get younger people interested in working in communities and programs that serve aging adults while allowing you to benefit from their fresh ideas and enthusiasm. You can create internship arrangements for students in social work, occupational and physical therapy, technology, kinesiology, sports management, marketing and countless other programs.
You’ll be able to:
Identify the needs in your agency, community or program that could benefit from intern support.
Adopt a plan to monitor and evaluate interns.
Describe the benefits of an internship program to new recruits.
Connect and retain team members through diversity, equality and inclusivityAbby Harlacher
Celebrating team members for who they are can help create a more positive work environment. Emphasizing cultural policies may help you retain team members and enhance the positivity of your workplace. Learn about one community’s efforts to employ cultural practices to better connect team members and residents and explore how the initiative also created a more satisfying work environment.
You’ll be able to:
Utilize more cultural practices better for your team members.
Find ways to connect team members and residents.
Create a more positive environment that improves the satisfaction of your workforce.
A crash course in programming for wellness across the continuumRobert Sorenson & Liam Goddard
Too many life-plan communities continue to silo their wellness planning programming, making programs available only to those living independently, in assisted living, in skilled nursing or in memory care. Explore ways programs can be broken down into a common theme and scaled to meet the needs of residents across the continuum. You will have opportunities to share your own programs and workshop ways to make them more widely accessible.
You’ll be able to:
Support scaling existing programs for individuals living in all care environments.
Employ tips and tricks to optimize engagement and foster successful aging through dynamic approaches to future programs.
Use your own residents as a navigational beacon for programming.
Faculty: Robert Sorenson, PhD, NSCA, President, Dirty Dogg 2, Inc.; and Liam Goddard, MS, NSCA, Director of Wellness, Aldersgate. CEUs
Creating resilient leaders and loved onesKaren Woodard
Resilience is an important quality as it enhances the ability to recover readily from illness, depression or adversity. Strengthen your resilience by employing mental processes and behaviors to protect yourself from the potential negative effects of stressors. Learn how to define and deepen resilience for yourself, your loved ones and those you lead.
You’ll be able to:
Identify the three types of resilience and rate yourself and your employees in those three areas.
Describe and employ the five pillars of resilience.
What’s my score? Use numbers to differentiate your wellness programMichael Studer & Robert Winningham
Numbers matter. When people can measure their wellness progress, they will attend programs more frequently and participate more enthusiastically, which leads to greater improvement. How are you measuring your residents’ performance and wellness? In this session, you will receive a toolkit to help you measure strength, power, balance, endurance, cognition, quality of life and dual tasking outcomes in your programs. Engage your residents by showing them the numbers.
You’ll be able to:
Conduct measures of strength and power for your community.
Conduct measures of cognition and dual task tolerance for your community.
Conduct measures of balance and endurance for your community.
Faculty: Michael Studer, PT, DPT, MHS, NCS, CWT, CSST, BFPCE, FAPTA, Adjuct Professor, Oregon State University, and Cofounder/Coowner, Spark Rehabilitation and Wellness; and Robert Winningham, PhD, Professor, Western Oregon University.
CEUs
Intergenerational programming in senior community centers and residential communitiesTrent Stamp & Jenna Hauss
Hear an overview of intergenerational shared sites, including senior day centers located with a preschool or a kindergarten housed in a senior living community. Learn how ONEgeneration brings together older adults, very young children and students in high school and college. Receive a toolkit to help you implement intergenerational programs in your community.
You’ll be able to:
Articulate the unique benefits of intergenerational shared sites.
Use shared site toolkit to implement intergenerational activities in your community.
Connect with other intergenerational practitioners for continued learning and networking.
Faculty: Trent Stamp, MPP, CEO, The Eisner Foundation; and Jenna Hauss, MSW, President, CEO, ONEgeneration. CEUs
From function to flow: Unlock the power of relational, joyful movement for a healthier lifeRebecca Lloyd & Stephen Smith
Focusing on the relational aspects of movement can help older adults maximize joy in exercise and everyday life. Unlock the power of movement to boost the function, form, feeling and flow of motion and emotion, resulting in increased happiness and enhanced motivation to lead an active lifestyle. Access research-based strategies for cultivating relational connection in personal training, group fitness, dance and community-based programs.
You’ll be able to:
Focus on qualitative and relational aspects of movement that can improve emotional health.
Use research-based strategies to cultivate relational connection in a variety of fitness classes and settings.
Identify and implement ways to increase happiness and motivation to lead an active lifestyle by being fully present with yourself, others and the environment.
Faculty: Rebecca Lloyd, PhD, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa; and Stephen Smith, PhD, Full Professor, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University. CEUs
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Power training: Can it work in a group fitness setting?Aleen Dailey
Most research showing the efficacy of power training for the active-aging population focuses on one-on-one training with specialized equipment. Learn about a newly implemented power-training group fitness class for roughly 20 residents (average age 83) using little to no equipment. Discuss details about its inception and design, pretesting, class exercises and post-testing. Watch videos of residents in class, review data, and experience some exercises with adaptations for chair-based modifications.
You’ll be able to:
Design and implement a new group fitness class modality that focuses on lower body and core power training for individuals 65 and over.
Discuss the merit of power training techniques not based on equipment and how this modality can impact more people, enhance adherence and increase cost-effectiveness.
Apply power training techniques to existing strength and balance group fitness classes to increase effectiveness in reducing falls and enhancing independence within your community.
Ageless flexibility and mobility: The role of fasciaLeslee Bender
Discover the essential combination of myofascial release and specific movements to enhance flexibility and mobility, decrease pain and promote overall well-being. Discover how thoughts and emotions can affect the health of the body’s fascia (connective tissues) and learn to use movements and specific language cues to help clients restore the body and decrease pain and stress.
You’ll be able to:
Explain how emotions are connected to fascia health and demonstrate how to release both physically and mentally.
Utilize movements and myofascial release techniques in many training modalities.
Choose movements that use the benefits of gravity to enhance tissue lengthening.
Faculty: Leslee Bender, BA, FASF, NASM, ACSM, FIA, NPCA, ACE, Owner, Ageless Training Academy. CEUs
Conductorcise: Longevity through MUSIC, MOVEMENT, JOYDavid Dworkin
Learn basic conducting patterns and conduct music that stimulates all dimensions of wellness while creating joy, hope and positivity. Experience the stimulation of body and brain through the energy in the room during this session and take home a program you can quickly initiate for your residents. You will receive playlists and tools to help you listen to music in a new way and to stimulate residents through the movement that conducting creates.
You’ll be able to:
Acquire basic conducting skills and utilize 2/3 and 4/4 conducting patterns to share with residents.
Acquire listening skills that will help you recognize colors, conversations and rhythms in an orchestral work.
Explore the research that has enabled Conductorcise to be successful for more than two decades and recognize how “chronological age” has little to do with wellness in the older-adult population.
Faculty: David Dworkin, MA, professional diploma in music and music education, President, Conductorcise, LLC. CEUs
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8:45 a.m.–10:00 a.m.
THE MAIN STAGE
TBA
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10:15 a.m.–11:15 a.m.
Building staff emotional resilience to improve caregiving outcomesCarrie Shaw
In this session, Carrie Shaw, MS, CEO & Co-Founder of Embodied Labs, delves into the need to bridge hard skills with adaptive skills to better prepare staff for their day-to-day roles. While creating a world everyone feels safe aging into requires attuning the ecosystem of care to equally support the well-being of individuals, their care teams, and care circles, providing clinical staff and non-clinical staff with accelerated lived knowledge experience is essential to prevent burnout and improve caregiving outcomes.
You’ll be able to:
Understand how job preparedness needs to go beyond hard skills.
Learn how to nurture and re-ignite empathy to transform the way we care and create a world we feel safe aging into.
Discover how to leverage public-private sector partnerships across the aging/caregiving continuum for maximum impact.
Creating healthy built environments: Enhancing wellness inside and outside the built environmentRichard Carmona, Esther Sternberg & Liz Miles
Join us for a presentation that explores the crucial role of healthy environments in promoting the health and wellbeing of residents, members, staff, and their families. Discover how well-designed built environments positively impact physical and mental health and learn practical strategies for creating nurturing spaces that foster a culture of wellness. Explore key elements for establishing health-focused environments, including optimizing natural lighting, ventilation, and space utilization, as well as incorporating outdoor green spaces and recreational areas. Gain insights into the measurable impact of health-focused initiatives on individuals' health outcomes and satisfaction. Join us in unlocking the transformative potential of creating healthy environments to improve the lives of all stakeholders.
You’ll be able to:
Understand the significance of a health-conscious environment
Key elements for creating a health-focused environment
Real-life examples and measurable impact
Faculty: Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States; Distinguished Laureate Professor, University of Arizona; and Chief of Health Innovations, Canyon Ranch (moderator/presenter); Esther Sternberg, MD, Research Director, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Founding Director, University of Arizona Institute on Place, Wellbeing & Performance & Inaugural Andrew Weil Chair for Research in Integrative Medicine and Liz Miles, WELL Faculty, WELL AP, LEED Green Associate, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at International WELL Building Institute. CEUs
“Wellevate” workplace culture to improve employee wellnessLana Saal
Elevate a culture of well-being to improve the engagement, morale and resiliency of your team. Learn collaborative approaches to help your employees/team members practice healthy lifestyles and feel better about themselves and their purpose, team, boss and organization, boosting worker morale and team effectiveness. Discuss evidence-based positive psychology interventions and strategies to help cultivate a healthier, happier and more productive workforce.
You’ll be able to:
Apply physical, emotional, social and spiritual pillars of wellness to elevate a culture of well-being.
Implement a positive change systems approach activation plan to make well-being culture a foundational building block for total worker health.
Create a peer support system to build and maintain an environment that cultivates healthier habits.
Faculty: Lana Saal, EdD, CWP, MCHES, President, Board of Directors, National Wellness Institute; and Founder, Owner and CEO, VitHealthity Wellness and Safety. CEUs
Intergenerational arts programming for people living with dementiaElizabeth “Like” Lokon & Laura Ellen Christian
Explore how the arts can transcend memory and conventional use of language to become an effective tool to build intergenerational connections. Explore the success of the Opening Minds through Arts (OMA) program at Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, where people living with dementia are paired with trained volunteers to use imagination and remaining strengths to foster connection through the arts. Leave with the foundational building blocks to implement OMA’s proven concepts in community-based settings.
You’ll be able to:
Articulate the rationale for conducting arts-based intergenerational programming that benefits older adults living with dementia and younger adult volunteers/students.
Describe how dementia affects the brain and offer specific tips to younger adults for supporting the creative expression of people living with dementia.
Compare the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program with typical arts and craft activities in senior living communities and reflect on factors that contribute to OMA’s success.
Faculty: Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, PhD, MSG, Director and Founder, Opening Minds through Art, Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University; and Laura Ellen Christian, BSEd, President, AGE-u-cate Training Institute. CEUs
Stress, memory and brain health: What aging experts should knowCynthia Green
Stress is a common experience, no matter our age, but it can damage health, cognitive performance and long-term vitality. Learn about the psychobiology of the stress response, discuss the health consequences to thinking, memory and well-being, and explore how stress uniquely impacts older adults. Examine nonpharmacological interventions that promote the relaxation response and bolster resilience. Leave with tools to help you and your community cope more effectively with stress.
You’ll be able to:
Explain the psychobiology of the stress response and its impact on our thinking, memory and well-being.
Share at least two nonpharmacological stress-reducing interventions that may help older adults in your community cope more effectively with stress.
Use at least two nonpharmacological stress-reducing interventions to help mediate your own stress response.
Faculty: Cynthia Green, PhD, President, Total Brain Health/TBH Brands. CEUs
Programming for purposeful living: Promote vocational wellness at all levels of careVickey Daugherty
One of the seven dimensions of wellness, professional/vocational wellness allows individuals to use their knowledge, skills and talents to enhance their sense of purpose and purposefulness. Learn how to hone in on vocational wellness and incorporate it into all levels of care to help aging adults enhance their sense of purpose.
You’ll be able to:
Explain vocational wellness and why it is considered an essential domain of wellness.
Recognize what constitutes vocational wellness in the context of senior care environments.
Take away practical ideas for incorporating vocational wellness programming for all levels of ability and in all types of care settings.
Use chair-based workouts to increase participation in senior communitiesAlexis Perkins
Participate in this dynamic workshop that kicks off with a 30-minute chair-based dance fitness class. Explore how the addition of chair workouts to your exercise programming can improve enrollment and increase participation from residents. And learn how chair-based programs can not only add years to an individual’s life but also add quality to those years.
You’ll be able to:
Adapt classes for a variety of senior living settings and for people of every functional level.
Blend activities of daily living into wellness programs with music and motion.
Create a social environment that increases enrollment and participation.
Faculty: Alexis Perkins, BS, AFAA, Certified Personal Trainer, Group Exercise Instructor, Creative Director, Chair One Fitness. CEUs
A different stance on yogaTamera Clifton
Learn how to create a class that falls between fully physical mat yoga and seated chair yoga. Use the intermediate class as an opportunity to challenge participants who are strong enough to stand and improve balance and posture yet hesitate to get down on the floor. Beginning and ending with seated meditation, the class provides moderately challenging standing yoga that offers a chair for balance and helps exercisers to cultivate the confidence to continue to build strength and focus.
You’ll be able to:
Find an intermediate place for members who are strong enough to continue doing yoga but do not want to get on the floor.
Offer an alternative challenge for participants to improve balance and core strength without putting excess pressure on knees and wrists.
Offer modifications for yoga participants who may be grappling with their changing physical needs.
Faculty: Tamera Clifton, BA, ACE Group Ex/PT, YA RYT 200 Yoga, Wellness Manager, Terwilliger Plaza. CEUs
Stick to it! Create engaging activities for various abilitiesStacey Judge & Amanda Oberg
Using a layered, multidimensional approach to physical activities can attract and engage older adults with a variety of abilities and multiple levels of fitness. Learn how to create choreography that challenges your most fit participants while still engaging your chair exercisers. Learn to use rhythm sticks, drumming sequences and choreographed movement in a dual-tasking approach to physical activity that will also have a positive impact on cognitive health.
You’ll be able to:
Take home two choreographed workouts that you can use immediately and build upon for your community’s needs.
Create dual task-oriented activities that will engage both body and brain.
Build versatile choreography that can be used with many music genres or based on a theme for special events.
Faculty: Stacey Judge, BS, NASM CPT, Wellness Program Director; and Amanda Oberg, MA, LivWell Program Manager for Affordable Housing, Springpoint Senior Living. CEUs
Purposeful exercise to reduce falls and disability in high-risk residentsColin Hoobler
Learn to apply the latest scientific research to efficiently boost balance and enhance independence for individuals at high risk for falling. Explore the critical importance of purposeful exercise as “medicine” to enhance independence and census and reduce strain on staff. Participate in demonstrations to experience the sensation of effective, safe balance and strength training that is sensitive to individuals with osteoarthritis.
You’ll be able to:
Assess individuals at high risk for falls properly using a valid, reliable and efficient functional outcome measure.
Formulate a starter program for individuals at high risk for falls that minimizes risk to the individual and to staff members.
Explain the new training methods so administrators and staff will be willing to adopt them in key environments, such as memory care, assisted living and skilled nursing programs.
Faculty: Colin Hoobler, PT, DPT, MS, Founder, Inventor and CEO, S3 Balance, LLC. CEUs
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11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Creative exchanges: Collaborative innovationLawrence Biscontini; Kim Eichinger; Robert Sorenson; Libby Norris; and Jessica Drecktrah
WELLNESS PROGRAMMING
Join us for another creative exchange of ideas as we dive into the world of wellness programming. Explore innovative concepts and strategies for successful wellness programs in a supportive, creative environment that encourages networking and provides valuable takeaways.
Moderator: Lawrence Biscontini. Faculty: Kim Eichinger, AA, Executive Director of Dynamic Living, Country Meadows Retirement Communities; Robert Sorenson, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Florida Coast University; Libby Norris, BA, Cofounder, Your Fitness Sisters; and Jessica Drecktrah, MHA, MN, RN, Education and Research Consultant, International Council on Active Aging.
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12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Lunch and LearnLandon Evans, Colin Milner
Join us for another "ICAA Lunch and Learn" session, proudly presented by Keiser and ICAA. This free lunch* provides you another unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge and network. Savor a delicious lunch while gaining insights from a feature speaker and our esteemed partners. Don't miss this outstanding chance for personal and professional growth.
Session: TBA
Faculty: Landon Evans, Director Sport Science, Ed & Research, Keiser Corporation
Featured session: Wellness IS the future!
Explore why wellness is undeniably the future and how it will reshape your organization's destiny. Prepare for this transformative change and grasp its significance for your future. Don't miss this essential session where Colin Milner provides a sneak peek into what lies ahead.
Faculty: Colin Milner, CEO, International Council on Active Aging
* Free lunch is exclusive to ICAA Conference and Expo paid attendees, exhibitor staff, speakers, and volunteers. Tickets for all others are available for $65 per person, per day.Collapse
1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
Immersive employee training: Combating ageism through empathyJennifer Schachner
Employee training that simulates the physical barriers of older adults can encourage staff to be more understanding and empathetic. Explore ways to use inexpensive, easy-to-find equipment to demonstrate challenges such as vision impairment, hearing impairment, joint mobility, sensation issues and more. Prepare a framework to identify ageism in the senior care industry and safely design simulation activities for your agencies and employees.
You’ll be able to:
Identify personal and professional attitudes and behaviors that may perpetuate ageism.
Identify physical activities that are appropriate to teach staff empathy and understanding of challenges that may come with aging.
Develop a training session for employees across multiple departments using low-cost, easily accessible supplies.
Faculty: Jennifer Schachner, EdD, ACE Personal Trainer, Program and Operations Director, San Jose State University Research Foundation, Timpany Center. CEUs
The intersection of wellness, well-being and designNicole Bergquist, Traci Wagner & Mary Ann Cadger
Learn how Sunrise Senior Living designs and operates its communities to support its holistic approach to resident care. The built environment is the backdrop for care, services, and programming that focuses on enhancing the resident’s mind, body and spirit. Reflect on how common areas are lived in and used by residents, staff and family members. Learn how design can support wellness and well-being.
You’ll be able to:
Explain how design can promote independence, allowing residents to safely navigate their new home.
Use design to support community life and your community’s programming.
Design to support person-centered care and create a project that celebrates individuality in every detail.
Faculty: Nicole Bergquist, BS, Senior Design Director; Traci Wagner, Regional Director Engagement & Program Services; and Mary Ann Cadger, BS, Vice President of Resident Care, Sunrise Senior Living. CEUs
Adapting and implementing a psychologist’s strategies on aging well Joseph Casciani
Learn strategies for managing setbacks that threaten to derail successful aging, such as strokes, hip fractures and personal loss. Receive prescriptive tools to foster more effective coping. These tools and exercises include positive thinking, reframing, resilience, positive monitoring and cognitive appraisal.
You’ll be able to:
Describe five strategies that help older adults age well and cope with setbacks.
Adopt an approach that helps older adults lift their depression.
Describe how thinking patterns and cognitive appraisal can help older adults cope with stressful events more effectively.
Faculty: Joseph Casciani, PhD, Chief Curator, Living to 100 Club, LLC. CEUs
Keys to building a successful engagement plan for persons living with dementiaAJ Cipperly
Learn how to promote meaningful opportunities to engage people with dementia throughout the day. Find out how to engage a person as dementia progresses and also when special challenges arise, such as exit-seeking, wandering and increased falls risk. Learn how a safe, inviting physical and emotional/social environment can enhance engagement in all levels of living and wellness environments.
You’ll be able to:
Apply person-centered engagement principles to support various behavioral challenges in people living with dementia.
List ways to adapt various programs based on the person’s best ability to function.
Create a supportive environment for engaging people living with dementia.
Faculty: AJ Cipperly, MEd, Vice President, Memory Care, The Arbor Company. CEUs
Create a culture of well-being for residents and team membersShannon Draayer
Learn how WesleyLife uses its annual Community for Healthy Living assessment, which contains more than 80 points, to continually shape and sharpen its initiatives promoting well-being. Explore how this internal tool incorporates best practices from national resources, workplace trends and the latest research, plus how it engages all departments by recognizing work done by each leader to support overall well-being. Discuss how this comprehensive approach to well-being has been embedded in WesleyLife culture and facilities.
You’ll be able to:
Prioritize and document your community’s approach to health and well-being, using a proven format to identify your goals.
Use three steps—inspiring, measuring and storytelling—to help leaders in your organization recognize their role in promoting well-being.
Describe the impact of physical environment on health and well-being and take home one low-cost implementation to improve well-being at your location.
Faculty: Shannon Draayer, MCL, Director of Health and Well-Being, WesleyLife. CEUs
Punch Out PDCammy Dennis
Punch Out PD is a boxing style workout to help combat the challenges of Parkinson’s disease. Boxing requires speed, agility, balance, strength and stamina, which are functions that are vital for people with PD. Learn why boxing is so good for supporting strength, balance and cognitive function and how exercise is critical for helping to stave off the worst effects of Parkinson’s.
You’ll be able to:
Describe why boxing skills and drills support the management of Parkinson’s symptoms.
Implement a “forced intensity” stimulus in a group fitness format.
Implement boxing-specific exercises and circuits into Parkinson’s programs.
Faculty: Cammy Dennis, BS, ACE, AFAA, AEA fitness certifications, NAFC master trainer, Fitness Director, On Top of the World Communities. CEUs
Robust aging: Pillars, Buckets and Bs (baselines, basics and benchmarks)Patricia VanGalen
Learn the REHAB (Restore-Energy-Hardiness-Aspirations-Benchmarks) system for fighting chronic disease and aging accelerants. The system is built upon five “buttressed pillars,” 7S “functional training buckets,” and the “three Bs”—baselines, basics and benchmarks. Within each pillar are three “big rocks,” cemented in the bedrock of daily, weekly and seasonal habits, patterns and practices. Learn this approach to bolster hardiness and help individuals develop the resilience, durability and robustness to buffer Father Time and bounce back from the curveballs of life.
You’ll be able to:
Distinguish a “rock” from a “pebble” from a “granule,” and a habit from a pattern from a practice.
Explain a comprehensive hardiness approach to aging well and moving better for decades to come.
Create and embrace a system that works for you and adapt that system to meet the needs of clients, students or residents.
Work through gait-efficiency and gait-recovery patterns that can increase the opportunity for socialization while preventing a fall. Discuss the need to address overall ankle mobility and learn how to implement patterns that work with your clients from the ground up. In this small-group circuit session, learn how to easily transfer this format to classroom or virtual settings using a chair but little additional equipment.
You’ll be able to:
Launch a new programming option, expanding business opportunities and enhancing the overall experience of existing clients.
Implement a gait-training circuit that can be introduced in a classroom or virtual setting.
Suggest progressions and regressions to address an individual’s needs during a class or session.
Faculty: Ann Gilbert, BS, ACE Certified Personal Trainer, Owner and Operator, Shapes Fitness for Women. CEUs
Brain boogie booster for Boomers and beyondTerry Eckmann
Explore a wide variety of movements and networking activities you can use with residents in exercise classes, social gatherings or during other activities. Combine engaging networking activities with dances and movement to music to challenge the body and boost the brain. Take home activities that can be used in individual pieces or to create a full class.
You’ll be able to:
Participate in movement to music that challenges proprioception.
Explore easy-to-use networking activities.
Discuss the ways these activities impact the brain and body.
Faculty: Terry Eckmann, PhD, ACE Group Fitness Instructor, Professor, Minot State University. CEUs
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2:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m.
ICAA EXPO Marquis Ballroom
Explore new and innovative offerings at the wellness-focused ICAA Expo. Discover products and services, technologies and equipment to support multidimensional wellness from providers committed to meeting the industry’s needs.
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4:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m.
Alzheimer’s and dementia science: Entering a new phase of research, treatment and careClaire Sexton
Tremendous gains have been made in understanding the basic biology underlying Alzheimer’s disease. These advances are leading to great strides in prevention, detection, diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. Explore the latest scientific advancements and progress in Alzheimer’s and dementia research and discover the diversity in therapeutic approaches currently under investigation.
You’ll be able to:
Name risk factors for Alzheimer’s and discuss which may be modifiable.
Describe why early detection and diagnosis is important to define biomarkers, why they are needed and how they are used in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s.
List two to three advances in clinical trials, treatments and/or lifestyle interventions.
Ensuring community, wellness and purpose for solo agers in senior livingSara Zeff Geber
Solo agers are older adults without family support. The growing number of solo agers in the Baby Boom generation offers an unprecedented opportunity for senior living communities, but adjustments need to be made to attract and serve this cohort of active adults. Learn unique ways to meet the social and emotional needs of this growing population and create a community that can serve as family for solo agers.
You’ll be able to:
Discuss and champion the unique support needs of solo agers in a senior living community.
Design programs that help solo agers develop a sense of purpose at this point in their lives.
Describe systems and programs that facilitate family-like bonding among residents and staff.
Faculty: Sara Zeff Geber, PhD, Fellow, Nexus Insights; and Founder and President, LifeEncore. CEUs
Using experiential learning to create community connections: A case studyLaura Ellen Christian & Haley Kinne-Norris
Learn how you can leverage experiential training to increase engagement and skill for team members and community partners. Hear how Liberty Senior Living capitalized on its investment in an experiential learning program across multiple departments, including engagement, care and sales/marketing. Leave with the knowledge to enhance your current education and training programs.
You’ll be able to:
Assess existing education and training programs to identify opportunities for improvement.
Recognize the benefits of experiential learning for professional and family caregivers.
Leverage education programs to build key partnerships connected to organizational goals.
Faculty: Laura Ellen Christian, BSEd, President, AGE-u-cate Training Institute; & Haley Kinne-Norris, MS, Regional Wellness and Enrichment Coordinator, Liberty Senior Living. CEUs
Activating a vibrant mindset through all levels of livingKay Van Norman
How do wellness opportunities for your assisted and skilled care residents compare to the wellness opportunities for your residents in independent living? Even communities with a robust wellness culture in independent living often find it difficult to offer similar opportunities for residents who need other levels of care. Could a change in mindset change that dynamic? Explore possible solutions and outline specific strategies to help your community activate a vibrant mindset and offer attractive wellness opportunities at every level.
You’ll be able to:
Explain how reframing expectations and embracing a mindset of overcoming challenges versus coping with challenges will impact community culture in all levels of living.
Identify specific strategies to help residents across the care continuum embrace a mindset of well-being regardless of health challenges.
Describe a deliberate process and specific tools to empower staff and residents in assisted living and skilled care to reframe expectations and overcome barriers to well-being.
Faculty: Kay Van Norman, MS, President, Brilliant Aging. CEUs
Active aging for all bodies: Best practices for working with higher-weight older adultsRagen Chastain
Research and lived experience can teach us how to help higher-weight older adults thrive. Discuss evidence-based, real-world strategies you can use to create supportive, inclusive environments, improve your messaging and tailor programming to improve engagement, access and quality of life for this population.
You’ll be able to:
Identify weight stigma and its impact on higher-weight older adults.
Create programs that support higher-weight populations without engaging in or perpetuating harmful weight stigma.
Dispel common myths about the health and fitness of higher-weight older adults.
Faculty: Ragen Chastain, MEd, Board Certified Patient Advocate, Health Coach, Group Fitness Instructor, Functional Training Specialist, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. CEUs
Build relationships with meaningful—and fun!—intergenerational programmingSue Dichter & Anna Rendall
Intergenerational connections can help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation for older adults and also for members of younger generations. Learn tips and ideas to engage older adults in various activities involving younger people to enhance their quality of life. Explore how to identify youth-based partnership opportunities and the best ways to engage potential partners.
You’ll be able to:
Develop a mutually beneficial relationship with youth-based partners or organizations.
Create a menu of intergenerational activities that can enhance connections between your residents and local youth.
Recruit older adults and staff/organizational support to develop intergenerational programming.
Faculty: Sue Dichter, MS, Vice President of Community Services and Anna Rendall, BA, Resident Services Coordinator, Sequoia Living. CEUs
Add even MORE fun to your workouts!Sue Grant
Your older-adult clients and residents need some FUN in their lives now, more than ever! Learn creative new ice breakers, partner games, circle games and unique brain games to keep your residents laughing and thinking. Your clients and classes will love these innovative, simple activities that will transform your workouts into “playouts.”
You’ll be able to:
Sprinkle imaginative reaction drills, cognitive challenges and ice breaker activities into personal training sessions and classes.
Implement lighthearted games virtually or in person.
Infuse joy and laughter into seated or standing classes and personal training sessions.
Faculty: Sue Grant, BA, ACE Certified Personal Trainer, Owner, Older Wiser Workout and Fit Tips For Pros. CEUs
Personal training in healthcare: Expand your fitness offeringsAllissa Raway
Offering personal training services in healthcare settings can help older adults in your care improve circulation, breathing, posture, strength and ability to perform activities of daily living, plus reduce pain, enhance engagement and focus, and boost overall well-being. Personal training offerings can also benefit families and caregivers and help increase interest in your community or your business. Learn the first steps you should take to begin offering personal and catered exercise experiences in your community or setting.
You’ll be able to:
Enhance existing or create a new personal training program in long-term care.
Provide safe and effective exercise to enhance the lives and well-being of individuals in long-term care.
Use tools to partner with other departments and track services and outcomes within a person-centered care model.
Learn how to improve your workout outcomes by examining the physiological principles behind each exercise. Participate in an exercise demonstration that incorporates cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, balance, agility, power, coordination, reaction time and cognitive challenges into a class format. Leave with a sample workout and a better understanding of how the combination and sequencing of exercises works to enhance functional mobility, realize gains in fitness and improve adherence.
You’ll be able to:
Design an exercise program that incorporates cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, balance, agility, power, coordination, reaction time and dual task training.
Describe the physiological benefits of each skill-related component of fitness, the sequencing of exercises and the inclusion of cognitive challenges.
Describe the benefit of teaching exercise progressions to allow participants to regress or progress exercises as needed.
Faculty: Kimberly Huff, MS, CSCS, Director of Fitness and Wellness, Acts Retirement-Life Communities. CEUs
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5:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
REFLECT & RECHARGELawrence Biscontini
Renew and re-inspire yourself after a day filled with conference activities. Take a moment to unwind, reflect on your experiences, and recharge your mind and body as you prepare for day three. Led by experienced wellness professionals, this session will offer breathing and guided meditation, gentle stretching and other relaxation techniques to help you release tension and leave feeling refreshed.
