By Jack Cumming
This year, I attended what will likely be my last LeadingAge meeting. My first was when it was still AAHSA (American Association of Homes and Services for the Aged). Changing a name is not a change in substance, but I’ve changed substantially.
A Great Presentation
Some of the sessions are great. I particularly liked Session 80-G, “It’s Time to Reset Your Approach to Culinary Success,” and I’ll do a separate article on that. Most of the sessions, though, are the same old same old, i.e., 55-minute PowerPoint presentations with 5 minutes or less for audience interaction. Although the industry is aging services, it’s mostly about what it is to build a career, make a living, develop and finance real estate, or create an old-age business.
Of course, the best way to serve old people would be to listen, really listen to what they can tell you. I know. It’s tough. Listening to residents can sometimes make your eyes glaze over. One resident, who is also a board member, grabbed a mic in one session to tell us at great length how unique her community is. I’m glad she’s happy, but frankly, it sounded like most every other community of which I know. It’s still unique for her.
Losing Weight
What I will remember about this year is losing weight. Opportunities for breakfast are absent, especially for people who can no longer stand in long queues. There were some closed breakfasts on the schedule, and I went to one for an organization on whose board I had once served. I was met at the door by a smile, but it was closed for me, so I went without breakfast. Since I no longer have the stamina for the evening activities, dinner is also out, so I subsisted throughout the conference on the lunch provided.
To LeadingAge’s credit, residents are tolerated at its meetings, and I think the association leaders believe that they are more open to residents than is actually the case. Still, LeadingAge is one level removed from residents, per se. Its members are providers and their staff. Residents have a limited membership derived from the providers with whom they have contracted for services and a residential license.
The Standalone Advantage
The same detachment from residents is true for corporate, multi-facility providers. The advantage of a standalone community like Rockwood Retirement Communities in Spokane, Washington, the presenter for the culinary session referenced earlier, is that the management and staff are all intimately involved with residents every day, all day. Moreover, on-site management can act quickly without remote oversight.
Of course, there’s no reason why a corporate model couldn’t be customer responsive. The great brands in every industry have that in common. Still, human nature tends to be more self-aware than other-aware, and the natural wish for control impedes the natural responsiveness characteristic of the standalones. Few executives have the awareness or empathy to build such a responsive business model from a corporate headquarters.
Rockwood’s Andrew Gorton said, “A thick skin is a job requirement.” He meant that resident feedback can be disconcerting. It’s a kind of tough love. There’s not much tough love or tough talk at LeadingAge conferences. As Jennifer Young, a resident, put it. “The tone is upbeat.” For that reason, she was reluctant to share unpleasant truths, such as the financial fragility of many not-for-profit CCRCs. This is the providers’ party.
Including Residents
In one panel discussion, J. Hunter Moore, Interim President & CEO, Swiss Village, Inc., told of how he included residents in a conversation about how to reverse an untenable financial situation. He was fully open with them. They had many ideas, some practical, most less so, but they were all listened to and involved. The result is that the residents themselves take on the task of persuading other residents that change is needed.
One has to wonder why that isn’t the norm. Of course, people who are involved in a consensus undertaking will sell the decisions to others who are peers like themselves. That’s true whether it’s financial doldrums or technological innovation. It erases the bright-line separation of the staff culture from that of the residents. That can provide the key ingredient that is most often missing from today’s communities, i.e., a sense of belonging.
Home Is Where You Belong
Belonging is knowing that you’ll be welcome. Consider two scenarios. In both, residents are gathered for happy hour. In one scenario, Jim comes in and takes a seat, where he is immediately welcomed into the conversation. He belongs. In the other, Jim comes in and starts to take a seat but is told, “We’re saving that seat for Sally Murchison. She’s always late.” Jim doesn’t belong. He knows it. And goes home to heal his wounded feelings.
Now think of the message when dining requires a reservation. Jim doesn’t know better, so he comes without a reservation. He is chided and told to wait. Instead, he goes home, where he knows he will be welcomed and where he belongs. Managing random traffic flows without reservations requires mathematical finesse, but making people feel like they belong is the difference between corporate and home.
Hear, Hear! You hit a bullseye with everything you write.
Totally disagree! Residents and elders were welcomed and encouraged! There were many venues to purchase additional meals and an abundance of scooters for transporation in the large conference center. The sessions that I attended were interactive and not just the same old PPT. Sorry you had a disappointing experience. From where I sit, it was a great confernece.
Jack – I admire your restraint and kindness to the chicken (was it chicken?) served at lunch. Out of 15 or so conferences attended this year, that chicken took the prize and made for a memorable LA2025. I look forward to reading your “OPA” article – love your work.
I do not agree with either of the previous two comments. The truth is in the middle. Jack is correct in that the industry could do better in involving residents more. Most communities want to get to a “Resident Directed” model, but cannot event get to “Resident Centered” model. At best, most are at a “Staff Directed” model and even some still at the old “C-suite” directed model. With that said, I think the industry is trying hard to correct itself. Can it do better? Yes. And I think every industry leader should read this and take it to heart.
I am so sorry to hear that Jack had a bad experience. I was too vain to get a scooter and became overtired, missing some sessions that I regret not attending. It was a good, well-planned conference. I particularly appreciated the many lounges, benches, and informal gathering spots scattered throughout. But alas, I am no longer a thirty-something young executive. At 86 I must respect my limitations.
I went to the dentist this morning and came home to find this robust discussion, not that there’s any connection. This is exactly what we need if we are to do all we can to make aging the wonderful time of life that it is destined to become. Thank you for reading the article and for caring enough to respond.
Maybe calling aging “wonderful” is too saccharine. Aging comes with pain, loss, and grief. In my case, my legs are acting up. It’s painful to walk and nearly unbearable to stand to converse. Perhaps it’s a weakening heart, incipient diabetes, the residual effects of childhood polio, or something else. I just know that I’m resistant to giving up walking altogether.
First for Richmond Shreve: I did not have a bad experience. It’s not a binary situation. I had many wonderful and informative interactions. Moreover, Dee Pekruhn did her best to ensure that residents felt welcomed and tended to. My comments reflect long term experience attending these meetings. LeadingAge is not a grassroots organization advocating for those who are aging. It’s a business collaboration and that is evident in the Exhibit Hall and elsewhere.
The first three comments are “anonymous” but I think that has more to do with the form than a lack of courage. For instance, I think I have a notion who the third anonymous is. My comments of course reflect my own situation and my own choices. I turned 89 this year, and that has taken a toll. I was comforted to read in this morning’s Wall Street Journal that Carl Icahn, who is my age and who has a similar background to mine, is feeling his age as well. https://www.wsj.com/finance/carl-icahn-nearing-90-is-still-trying-to-right-his-empire-ee40cbf8?st=XTG39r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Yes, my message leaned hyperbolic, though it’s all factual, but the industry, and LeadingAge’s leadership, would do well to take a deep breath, reflect a bit on circumstances, and give self-acclamation a second thought. You, the industry represented at the conference, are many thousands strong and in the full flower of your prime years. Residents, as Richmond Shreve notes and my experience echoes are little more than vox clamantis in deserto. It requires plain speaking to be heard.
Thank you for reading the article.
PS The OPA article is in the works.
The wisdom and truthfulness that comes with age and experience…the good, bad, and the ugly. Thanks, Jack, and no apologies or explanations needed. Keep callin’ em as you see em, and stand (or sit) proud in your custom and well-travelled earth-suit!