Melody Desilets

Executive Director, Cypress Cove Foundation
Cypress Cove
Fort Myers, FL, US
  • 51-H. Enhance Workforce and Community Impact with Employee Scholarships

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    51-H. Enhance Workforce and Community Impact with Employee Scholarships

    Your organization can address workforce challenges and promote employee development by offering scholarships to help employees pursue higher education and improve their professional skills. This session will highlight three organizations that award scholarships to employees and students with support from residents who make donations, review applications, and allocate awards. Presenters will discuss the development, implementation, and outcomes of scholarship initiatives while sharing practical steps for securing funding, engaging stakeholders, and measuring success. Discover how to create scholarship programs that empower employees, attract new talent, and reinforce your organization’s commitment to mission-driven service. You’ll obtain tools to evaluate your scholarship program’s success, ensure its lasting impact, and demonstrate a return on investment for your organization and workforce.

Lisa DeSimone Arthur

Senior Partner and Practice Leader
WittKieffer
OakBrook, IL, USA
  • 38-J. Accelerating the Impact of a New CEO

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    38-J. Accelerating the Impact of a New CEO

    All chief executive officers (CEOs) can benefit from a proactive and supportive transition process that fully engages the board and leadership team to ensure early success in the role. Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge (WCBR), a life plan community in Charlottesville, VA, sought to orchestrate such a comprehensive transition for its new CEO. During this session, the community’s board chair and new CEO will share key elements of that transition plan. They’ll also address common and unexpected obstacles organizations must overcome to ensure a successful transition process. You’ll discover how a leadership transition can represent a strategic opportunity that enables organizations to step confidently into a brighter future.

Pam DeVito

Managing Director, Well-Being Services
Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
Fort Washington, PA, USA
  • 89-B. Thriving Your Way: Supporting Person-Directed Living Across the Continuum

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    89-B. Thriving Your Way: Supporting Person-Directed Living Across the Continuum

    Senior living professionals aspire to implement holistic, person-centered living in their communities. But how can this be achieved most effectively? During this session, leaders from Acts in Fort Washington, PA, will describe practices to help team members know, value, and connect with residents as unique individuals. You’ll examine common barriers to creating a more inclusive community culture, underscore the importance of breaking down silos between levels of living to promote inclusive engagement, and underscore the role all team members can play in supporting person-directed living. This session will emphasize the value of offering holistic engagement opportunities and well-being practices across the living continuum.

Stephanie DeWees

Quality & Regulatory Specialist-LTC
LeadingAge Ohio
Columbus, OH, US
  • 87-L. How to Align Quality Improvement and Financial Success

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    87-L. How to Align Quality Improvement and Financial Success

    A collaborative Quality Incentive Payment program implemented by an Ohio-based aging services provider resulted in a $14 million increase in Medicaid reimbursements and a 70% improvement in quality measure points. Attend this session to learn how the organization achieved this remarkable feat. Presenters will discuss the critical need to align clinical and financial goals, especially now that federal and state programs increasingly tie funding to quality outcomes. They will provide an overview of federal and state quality-based payment programs and show you how improved quality outcomes can drive clinical excellence and financial sustainability. You’ll learn how to navigate quality-based payment programs, implement evidence-based performance improvements, and leverage facility-specific data to create positive changes.

Bill Dillane

President
Responsive Group Inc.
Markham, ON, Canada

Denise DiNoto

Senior Director, Partner Engagement
Intrepid Ascent
Berkeley, CA, USA
  • 5-E. Maximize the Benefits of Bidirectional Data Exchange

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    5-E. Maximize the Benefits of Bidirectional Data Exchange

    Bidirectional data exchange the process of sending and receiving data across organizations and care sectors is increasingly common nationwide thanks to federal interoperability initiatives. This session will show how aging services providers can maximize the benefits of this exchange for care delivery and business operations. Presenters will discuss how their life plan communities use health information exchanges to support coordinated care during care transitions, enhance emergency preparedness, and better serve older adults with multiple chronic conditions. You’ll also learn how data exchange supports health plan contract negotiations, population outcome reporting, and point-of-care interventions.

John Dixon

Dean of Education
Lasell Village
Auburndale, MA, US
  • 130-E. International Perspectives: Fostering Lifelong Engagement in Age-Inclusive Urban Areas

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    130-E. International Perspectives: Fostering Lifelong Engagement in Age-Inclusive Urban Areas

    A growing percentage of older adults live in urban areas, and this trend is expected to continue. This session will illustrate how to reimagine urban spaces as collaborative, age-inclusive environments that view ageing as a societal asset. Presenters will share their expertise in age-friendly urban design and urban longevity. They’ll introduce you to the City of Longevity framework, developed by the United Kingdom’s National Innovation Centre Ageing to promote healthier, more inclusive urban environments. Representatives from Lasell Village in Newton, MA, will describe their community’s focus on integrating lifelong education, multigenerational design, and community engagement. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore program designs, urban planning strategies, and data-driven approaches to creating healthier, more inclusive cities for all ages.

Lindsay Doak

Vice President of Data and Research
Netsmart
Overland Park, KS, United States
  • 94-B. Best Practices in Home Health and Hospice

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    94-B. Best Practices in Home Health and Hospice

    What strategies, structures, and processes distinguish high-performing home health and hospice organizations across the United States? This session will address that question by reviewing findings from the 2026 National Healthcare at Home Best Practices Study. Presenters will translate the study’s national findings into practical, actionable insights and share best practices for care transitions, referral management, visit utilization, symptom management, and end-of-life care planning. You’ll learn how evidence-based practices influence quality outcomes, patient experience, staff retention, and financial performance, and how external factors such as workforce shortages, payment reform, and regulations are shaping the adoption of best practices nationwide.

  • 101-F. Surviving Uncertainty to Fulfill the Home Health Promise

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    101-F. Surviving Uncertainty to Fulfill the Home Health Promise

    Home health agencies have faced significant financial, regulatory, and program integrity challenges for years. At the same time, demand for home-based services among Medicare beneficiaries has grown exponentially, straining the already limited capacity of home health providers. This session will explore how we reached this point. Presenters will examine threats to the sector’s sustainability, including the declining number of home health providers, the six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for home health agencies, and ongoing negative payment adjustments. You’ll gain a clearer understanding of these threats and learn about new policy opportunities that could spur a reimagination of the home health benefit.

Rebecca Donato

Executive Director, Vitalize 360
Orchard Cove
Canton, MA, United States
  • 86-K. Integrating Affordable Housing and Healthcare

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    86-K. Integrating Affordable Housing and Healthcare

    Hebrew SeniorLife developed the Right Care, Right Place, Right Time (R3) model to offer enhanced wellness services to older adults living in affordable housing. This session will focus on a partnership between Hebrew SeniorLife and Schochet, a property management company that implemented the R3 model. Presenters will outline the resources, organizational readiness, and leadership commitment necessary to become an R3 provider. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the significant impact your organization could have if it integrated housing and healthcare. Take home practical steps for engaging more frequently with residents about their health and well-being.

Amy Dore

Professor & Program Director, Aging Services Leadership
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
  • 135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

    Senior living organizations are navigating a workforce environment marked by staffing shortages, rapid onboarding, rising recruitment costs, and shifting expectations among new and seasoned team members. This session will explore how thoughtful experience design and strategic technology use can reshape the employee experience and foster lasting commitment. Presenters will share workforce-strengthening strategies that adapt customer-experience methods to the aging services workplace. They’ll outline the advantages of treating employees as “internal customers” by offering internships, mentoring programs, community-building initiatives, data-driven coaching tools, and streamlined career pathways. You’ll learn practical steps to reduce turnover and make workforce investments more predictable and measurable, even with resource constraints.

  • 136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers

    Young people pursue various pathways to launch careers in aging services. Which of these pathways work well, and where are the gaps? This session will offer evidence-based answers to those questions. Presenters will share findings from new national research on academic programs, internships, mentorships, and Administrator-in-Training (AIT) programs that have helped students pursue careers in aging services and gerontology. They’ll also share strategies and case studies to help you create similar programs. You’ll hear success stories about how organizations with modest budgets have attracted new talent. You’ll also take home a clear, customizable framework to reduce vacancies, strengthen career pathways, and develop the next generation of aging services leaders.

Susan Downey

Director of Healthcare
North Hill
Needham, MA, US
  • 23-K. How Residents with Dementia Transform a Community’s Culture

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    23-K. How Residents with Dementia Transform a Community’s Culture

    A dementia diagnosis can heighten stigma and withdrawal, leading older adults to experience social isolation and a loss of purpose. This session will explore how a life plan community developed an innovative adult day program that encourages residents living with dementia to plan twice-weekly volunteer initiatives that draw on their strengths. You’ll learn how the program fosters belonging by integrating support from other residents and offering adult day participants meaningful service opportunities, such as creating artwork for Alzheimer’s research, preparing meals for unhoused people, and arranging flowers for hospice patients. Discover how inclusion initiatives can transform campus culture and how residents can empower one another to build connection and campus-wide unity.

Derek Dujardin

VP of Creative Direction and Leadership
3rd3rd
Vashon, WA, USA
  • 69-L. Are You Wasting Money on Marketing? Assessing Your Blind Spots

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    69-L. Are You Wasting Money on Marketing? Assessing Your Blind Spots

    “Half my marketing budget is being wasted: But which half?” If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, this session is for you. Presenters will address the critical blind spots many organizations experience when evaluating their marketing budgets. They’ll provide tips to help you confidently assess and improve marketing performance at every level while unlocking growth opportunities, boosting sales, eliminating wasteful spending on underperforming tactics, and crafting marketing messages that resonate in competitive markets. You’ll learn how to align your marketing plan with your broader strategic goals and ensure accountability within your sales and marketing teams. Take home tools to achieve better returns on your marketing investment by amplifying what works well and adjusting what doesn’t.