The Eden international Conference wrapped up Friday in Cairnes Australia  - positive energy abounded from 200 or so attendees from at least 20 countries.  It was hard to disassociate the conference from the beauty of the location as Cairns is located in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, arguably one of the most beautiful spots on the planet.

My perspective is always a bit tainted as I do not have the experience in providing direct care to elders, but it certainly doesn't mean I could not learn and be amazed to learn about so much innovation taking place all over the world.  Cheryl George's success in demonstrating the "neighborhood" concept in Saskatchewan Canada, Alice Choi showing how the Eden concepts have benefited Chinese elders in British Columbia, Jane Verity talking about how Eden principles are being adopted in Scandanavia, etc.,etc.  These sessions were proof that the problems of nursing homes (or "aged care facilities" as they call them over here) are not limited to the United States, nor are the solutions.   I was particularly moved by the story of a nursing home in Nebraska (Mt. Carmel) that stepped up to the plate after Hurricane Katrina and drove supplies and staff to Louisiana to help out a nursing home devastated by the hurricane.  (They gave plenty of credit to Lavrene Norton and Willie Novotny from Meadowlark Hills for their help in this venture)  

The conference provided an excellent mix of these types of hands on solutions, as well as general sessions which pointed out the global issues (and solutions) that are happening around the world.  Each day also provided glimpses of "storytelling" (from local elders as well as from Bill Thomas) which kept the entire conference in perspective.   Congratulations to Nancy Fox and Petra Neeleman for doing a marvelous job of organizing the entire event.

I have to be honest as a father - the highlight of the conference for me was watching my 11 year old Nathan and 13 year old JP give a general session on their perspective of how nursing homes are impacted for the positive with adaptive technology.  Mom back home was not sure this was really a business trip but now I have the pictures of the boys presenting to prove it.

There was a tremendous amount of positive energy from the conference.  Maybe there's hope after all!