Katy Barnett

Director, Home Care & Hospice Operations and Policy
LeadingAge
Washington, DC, US
  • 106-A. Hospice Agencies: It’s Time to Sharpen Your Survey Skills

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    106-A. Hospice Agencies: It’s Time to Sharpen Your Survey Skills

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) employs surveys as a primary tool in its fight against hospice fraud. With changes to the Hospice Special Focus Program on the horizon, now is the perfect time to deepen your understanding of the hospice survey process and sharpen your survey skills. Join this session to learn what types of fraud CMS and its survey contractors look for during a survey. You’ll gain insights and tips for using mock surveys to prepare your hospice team for its next survey.

  • 119-H. Medicare’s Aging at Home Policy Paradox

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    119-H. Medicare’s Aging at Home Policy Paradox

    Studies have consistently shown that older adults prefer to age at home. Despite these trends, investments in home health, hospice, and other Medicare-funded home and community-based services remain misaligned with growing consumer demand for these essential services. Join this session to acquire up-to-date knowledge about home health and hospice policy. Presenters will examine changes to Medicare that are helping and hurting home-based providers striving to meet the needs of older adults who wish to age in place.

Sebrina Barrett

President & CEO
LeadingAge New York
Latham, NY, USA

Brent Bartell

Principal
Hart Gaugler + Associates
Dallas, TX, USA
  • 128-D. Weathering the Storm: Resilient Senior Living Design

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    128-D. Weathering the Storm: Resilient Senior Living Design

    Well-designed senior living communities provide a valuable and reassuring sense of stability to residents and team members. However, those feelings of security can be threatened, sometimes in an instant, by natural or human-made disasters that disrupt daily life and damage or destroy buildings. This session will showcase practical building design and emergency preparedness strategies to help your organization prepare for, adapt to, endure, and recover from adverse events. Presenters will familiarize you with the fundamental principles of resilient building design and guide you through proven methods to safeguard occupants and structures from natural disasters. They will also examine how evolving building codes, insurance requirements, and other factors influence resilient design.

Barbara Bauman

Resident
Goddard House Assisted Living
Brookline, MA, US
  • 131-F. Inclusive Planning and Design to Support an Expanded Mission

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    131-F. Inclusive Planning and Design to Support an Expanded Mission

    Goddard House, a 175-year-old single-site assisted living and memory support community in Brookline, MA, embarked on a journey in 2019 to expand a mission that already distinguished it from the competition. This session will showcase the significant physical updates that Goddard House undertook to support programs deemed essential to that expanded mission, which calls for greater engagement with the Boston community, an increased focus on the creative arts, and renewed efforts to foster a sense of belonging for everyone. Presenters will describe the community’s innovative approach to aging and examine the inclusive master plan and evidence-based design process that have enabled the Goddard House campus to create spaces tailored to support current and future residents and programs.

Ben Beazley

EVP National Property Practice Leader
Jencap Insurance Services
Atlanta, GA, USA
  • 79-F. What Rising Insurance Rates Mean for Your Property

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    79-F. What Rising Insurance Rates Mean for Your Property

    Today’s property market remains fractured, unstable, and increasingly expensive. This is especially true for properties in geographic regions at greater risk for severe natural disasters or other events that can cause significant damage and lead to double-digit increases in property insurance rates. This session will help you understand the current property market, how insurance rates are determined, and strategies for combating rising costs. Panelists will share their predictions for the future and outline the opportunities that a chaotic insurance market might present for your organization.

Felicia Beckham

Director of Clinical & Community Engmt
Episcopal Retirement Services
Cincinnati, OH, US

Jeffery Beegle

Senior Director of Projects
Three Pillars Senior Living
Dousman, WI, US
  • 133-G. Integrating Intergenerational Principles into Your Projects

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    133-G. Integrating Intergenerational Principles into Your Projects

    Intergenerational connections can enhance both the design and operation of senior living environments. This session will offer practical strategies to help you create meaningful and sustainable multigenerational environments that give owners, developers, and designers a competitive edge in today’s evolving market. Presenters will share a roadmap developed by the Joint Intergenerational Task Force convened by SAGE, AIA Design for Aging, and the Center for Health Design. They will unveil the task force’s new findings, case studies, and actionable strategies. You’ll gain valuable insights into the challenges you may encounter as you integrate intergenerational principles into your projects and operations. You’ll also gain strategies that can lead to successful outcomes.

Mark Beggs

President & CEO
Edenwald
Towson, MD, US
  • 42-A. Meet Future Market Demand with a Satellite Community

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    42-A. Meet Future Market Demand with a Satellite Community

    A life plan community seeking to meet the growing demand for new housing options often encounters a frustrating roadblock: a lack of available space for expansion on campus. Some organizations address this challenge by developing satellite communities to reach untapped or underserved markets. This session will showcase a variety of satellite communities, including those located in walkable neighborhoods and on college campuses, and those catering to residents with specific income levels, cultures, and special interests. Discover how satellite campus planning can help you meet current and future growth demands, capitalize on partnership opportunities, and explore new markets. You’ll learn how to leverage the resources of your main campus to support satellite campus development.

Leslie Belfance

COO of Communities
Ohio Living
Westerville, OH, USA

Karen Bender

Chief Mission Officer
Los Angeles Jewish Health
Reseda, CA, US
  • 96-G. Body & Soul: Connecting Spirituality, Health, and Wellness

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    96-G. Body & Soul: Connecting Spirituality, Health, and Wellness

    Spiritual care helps older adults find purpose, increase resilience, build coping mechanisms, and address concerns about suffering and mortality. This session will explore innovative approaches to meeting residents’ increasingly diverse cultural and religious needs. Presenters will discuss activities that nurture spirituality, such as nature outings, organized social interactions, and dedicated spaces for prayer or meditation. They’ll also demonstrate how training staff to provide high-quality spiritual care can positively impact employee morale, job satisfaction, and personal growth. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the link between spirituality and health, the benefits of integrating residents’ spiritual preferences into their care plans, and the value of making high-quality spiritual care a strategic and mission priority for your organization.

Raymond Benegas

Vice President of IT
Presbyterian LIving
Skokie, IL, US
  • 2-B. Ask ChatGPT: Can AI Address Senior Living Challenges?

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    2-B. Ask ChatGPT: Can AI Address Senior Living Challenges?

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take center stage as an active panelist in this unique session. Join an IT consultant and two senior-level IT specialists from LeadingAge member organizations as they invite ChatGPT, an interactive AI model, to tackle senior living challenges in real time. Human panelists will begin the session by sharing their insights into how AI impacts operational efficiencies, resident engagement, strategic decision-making, and resident care in aging services. Then, attendees and panelists will engage in a lively question-and-answer session with ChatGPT. You’ll discover how AI can respond to your organization’s unique challenges and how to critically evaluate AI tools before implementing them in your organization. Don’t miss this opportunity to see AI in action.

Zane Bennett

Executive Director
Porters Neck Village
Wilmington, NC, USA
  • 29-C. A Collaborative Approach to Strategic Planning

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    29-C. A Collaborative Approach to Strategic Planning

    Strategic planning is a team sport requiring clear communication, mutual accountability, and a shared vision among all participants. This session will draw on the experiences of Porters Neck Village, a life plan community in Wilmington, NC, to explore essential steps in the strategic planning process. Presenters will outline the roles that the single-site community’s board members, management organization, executive director, staff, and residents played in developing its 10-year growth and campus expansion plan. They will describe how planning decisions were discussed and communicated, how participants held each other accountable, and how retreats, committee meetings, board meetings, and resident gatherings advanced the process. You’ll gain practical strategies that can be applied to your community’s strategic planning process.