Making it Happen
in a Large Urban Nursing Home
Michael Lubetkin & Rita Morgan
Thursday, August 3
1:15pm-2:45pm

What are the unique challenges of implementing person-directed caregiving and workplace practices in large, urban nursing homes? This session will explore how the Jewish Home & Hospital has transferred lessons learned from the pioneer community and adapted them to fit their New York City setting. The JHH team will discuss applying pioneer values to a complex, unionized environment with a highly diverse resident population and direct care workforce. Attendees will learn skills to implement similar initiatives and leave prepared to communicate with others who are still hampered by an "it can't be done here" attitude.

Home & Community-Based Culture Change:
Area Agencies on Aging in Action
Heather Mayger & Darlene Burlazzi
Thursday, August 3
3:15pm-4:45pm

Attendees will engage in an interactive discussion about how culture change can be achieved in home and community-based settings. The difficult but rewarding culture change journey of the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging and its partner agencies will be reviewed. The multi-agency network -- all with different values, missions and cultures -- is working to develop a shared set of person-directed values and behaviors that, through collaborative support, can be sustained into the future. Attendees will recognize the complexities, challenges and excitement of changing the culture of home and community based services.

Bridging the Gap:
Mentoring for Residents & Team Members
Jim Kinsey & Myrna Eshleman
Friday, August 4
8:00am-9:30am

This dynamic session will establish an effective means of transitioning both elders and team members into his/her new residential community. Session guides will share their unique approach to creating a welcome environment while highlighting some key outcomes including: increased elder participation in the community, increased choice, respect, and caring relationships along with improved 90 day retention. Come learn how this approach to community building can be replicated in your own organization.

Empowerment & Relationships:
Three Innovations You Can Use
Michelene Neubert & Friends
Friday, August 4
11:00am-12:30pm

Just as the Liberty Bell is cracked and flawed, at times our care and service communities are flawed in the ways we have approached older adults and staff. Representatives from Presbyterian SeniorCare will share their individual innovations to empowerment and relationship-building for residents and staff in this highly interactive session designed to involve attendees in problem-solving and rapid fire innovation sharing.

Flattening Organizational Silos
Teresa McCann & Myrna Eshelmann
Friday, August 4
11:00am-12:30pm

One of the greatest obstacles to the creation of true community within the walls of a nursing home setting are departmental silos – the nursing silo, the housekeeping silo, the administrative silo, etc. Our traditional views on our work duties have limited us to tasks in a departmental paradigm operating on outdated job descriptions. In this session, participants will explore the real possibility of leveling the playing field by implementing neighborhood teams. This pioneering concept asks us to stretch outside of our comfort zones, and begin sharing duties. For pioneers whose personal and organizational journey is ready to move to a more advanced phase of transformation.

Learner-Centered Training:
Transferring Knowledge into Practice
Margie McCloughlin
Friday, August 4
2:00pm-3:30pm

Research shows that less than 30% of all that we teach in long-term care training is actually transferred into practice. This session will explore the various learning styles of adults and impart insights about how your own style fits with various training designs. We will identify teaching and program design strategies that will address the learning preferences of all staff. You will be equipped with ideas and information to help your staff optimize their learning experiences and your organization's valuable training dollars.

Caught in the Middle:
Unintentional Victims in the Battle of
the Old vs. the New Culture
Art Mason & Garth Brokaw
Friday, August 4
2:00pm-3:30pm

During a transformation so deep it reaches the very roots of an organization's value system, there is an inevitable struggle that ensues. There is a time period where the way we've always done it pushes strong and deep against new person-directed values that are not yet a cultural norm. This session will explore that very difficult struggle that can produce unintentional victims. Art Mason and Garth Brokaw will share their combined real experiences to highlight strategies to prevent subtle abuses of staff and residents who are caught in the middle of the battlefield between the old and the new culture.