John Bowblis

Research Fellow
Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University
Oxford, OH
  • 17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

    Do Medicaid payment levels affect quality and influence racial and ethnic disparities in individual nursing homes? This session will present findings from recent research on this previously unexplored question. Presenters will describe their analysis of a new national database containing facility- and resident-level data for nearly 9,500 nursing homes across 44 states. They’ll share findings on racial and ethnic disparities in nursing home quality and outcomes and examine whether these disparities are associated with Medicaid payment levels. Discover how Medicaid reimbursement shapes the association between a nursing home’s racial and ethnic composition, 5-star quality ratings, staffing levels, and resident-level quality outcomes.

Tom Bowden

Senior Vice President
HJ Sims
Fairfield, CT
  • 131-K. Acquiring and Repositioning to Meet Consumer Expectations

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    131-K. Acquiring and Repositioning to Meet Consumer Expectations

    What does it take to successfully acquire, reposition, and transform a senior living community in today’s competitive market? This session will explore how a multisite organization repositioned a fifth campus to meet residents’ evolving needs, promote holistic well-being, and ensure long-term sustainability. Presenters will share how they identified the acquisition opportunity, partnered with a financial services firm to craft the winning bid, and developed a phased master plan that balances innovation, resident appeal, and operational sustainability. They’ll explain why the organization declined to acquire the new campus’s skilled nursing component and how it intentionally designed other parts of the campus to support physical, social, and intellectual wellness.

Karen Brandt

SVP of People
Transforming Age
Bellevue, WA
  • 140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

    Senior living communities seeking to strengthen their workforce must take deliberate steps to reach younger workers who may not yet view aging services as an attractive career path. This session will highlight a program that can help. The Rotational Operations and Development (ROAD) talent development model invites young interns to explore the full range of career opportunities in aging services through internship rotations across various departments such as operations, dining, marketing, resident services, and more. LeadingAge members who are using the ROAD model, along with interns who’ve participated in it, will share their experiences. You’ll gain the tools you need to attract Gen Z team members to your organization and to our field.

Tim Braunscheidel

Chief Operations Officer
CSI Support & Development
Warren, MI
  • 53-J. The Social Benefits of Embracing the Cooperative Housing Model

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    53-J. The Social Benefits of Embracing the Cooperative Housing Model

    Most of us are familiar with “co-ops,” multi-unit residential buildings collectively owned and democratically managed by their occupants. This session will examine how a nonprofit senior living organization adopted this commercial real estate model to empower “resident members” of its housing communities to govern themselves. Leaders of the organization will explain how residents participate in decision-making through councils and committees and volunteer to assist with or lead day-to-day operations in collaboration with the property manager. You’ll take home a structured outline of the cooperative housing management model and a new understanding of how this level of active participation helps resident members take pride in their housing and lead healthier, more enriched lives.

Michelle L. Bridges

Senior Director of Business Development
Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay
Virginia Beach, VA
  • 90-K. Navigating Obstacles to HCBS Growth, Quality, and Success

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    90-K. Navigating Obstacles to HCBS Growth, Quality, and Success

    Most home and community-based service (HCBS) agencies cite regulation, staffing, and the growth of managed care as their primary obstacles to growth. While these issues are real, this session will show that most obstacles to HCBS growth, quality, and financial success are internal rather than external. Representatives of a life plan community’s HCBS subsidiary will share highlights from their decade of experience helping senior living communities develop and operate home care, home health, and hospice services. You’ll gain insights into the pitfalls senior living organizations encounter when starting and operating HCBS agencies and take home practical, proactive, and remedial strategies to optimize your operations.

Anjie Britton

Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Life Enriching Communities
Loveland, OH
  • 72-K. Using Trapped Data to Understand What Consumers Want Most

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    72-K. Using Trapped Data to Understand What Consumers Want Most

    Many senior living providers struggle to design communities that reflect older adults’ priorities because information about the factors shaping consumer decisions remains trapped in their data systems. This session will show you how to free that data. Presenters will explore how a multisite senior living organization unified its internal data including survey responses, referral information, and wellness engagement statistics to uncover the drivers of senior living decisions. They’ll share what the organization learned from its siloed data about consumer preferences, show you how to free your own data, and offer strategies for using it to design new programs and consumer outreach initiatives.

Amy Brodie

Senior Vice President of Client Experience
Love & Company, Inc.
Frederick, MD
  • 71-J. How to Succeed Even When Expansion Presales Disappoint

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    71-J. How to Succeed Even When Expansion Presales Disappoint

    A solid reputation, high occupancy, and a long waitlist won’t guarantee presales success for your next major expansion. That’s the lesson of this session, which will tell the story of a successful life plan community whose expansion stalled unexpectedly. Instead of giving up, the organization retrenched to update its brand, reposition all lead generation materials, and turbo charge sales. The retrenching culminated with a three-month plan to reach its financing goals. Representatives from the community and the firm will discuss how they assessed the root causes of underperformance, developed collaborative action plans aligned with financial goals, refreshed the community’s brand to showcase its unique selling points, and made other adjustments and tough decisions. This cautionary tale with a happy ending could help you succeed in the face of future disappointments.

Courtny Brooks

Director of Home Health
EverTrue
Saint Louis, MO
  • 36-A. Building In-Home Services through Acquisition and Innovation

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    36-A. Building In-Home Services through Acquisition and Innovation

    Many providers of aging services are interested in new ways to deliver high-quality support in the home, especially for middle-market consumers. This session will explore how one multisite sponsor of affordable housing and life plan communities expanded its at-home services through a strategic mix of acquisitions, program innovation, and affiliations with home and community-based service providers. Presenters will also highlight two new programs they designed to serve life plan community residents and the broader community: a concierge care navigation and coaching service, and an at-home support program for older adults with incomes just below traditional private-pay thresholds. Gain concrete ideas for building or expanding scalable in-home services to serve current residents and the price-sensitive middle market.

Kristy Brown

Director of SNF Strategy
Assembly Health
Chicago, IL
  • 84-G. Operationalize ADR Management to Protect Your Resources

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    84-G. Operationalize ADR Management to Protect Your Resources

    Nursing homes and post-acute care providers face heightened scrutiny when Medicare and other payers issue Additional Documentation Requests (ADR) or conduct targeted medical reviews and post-payment audits. Delays in responding to these requests can lead to improper payment findings against the provider. This session will help leaders shift from reactive, one-claim-at-a-time ADR responses to a structured, collaborative approach. Presenters will outline common review triggers, explain how documentation gaps and fragmented communication pose financial and compliance risks, and review each step of an ADR, from request through appeal. Learn how to operationalize ADR and denial management to support quality and financial stability.

Melissa Brown

Chief Operating Officer
Gravity Healthcare Consulting
Cumberland, MD
  • 75-B. From Minutes to Medicine: Protecting Your Reimbursement

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    75-B. From Minutes to Medicine: Protecting Your Reimbursement

    Medicaid’s Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) has shifted reimbursement away from therapy minutes and toward documented clinical complexity. As a result, many organizations are seeing their Case Mix Index decline and Medicaid rates compress because resident acuity, the model’s focus, is not fully documented in the record or captured in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). This session offers a practical playbook to restore payment accuracy and audit defensibility by replacing “minutes” with “medicine.” A healthcare consultant will recommend engaging specialty physicians to confirm active diagnoses, document how conditions affect daily care, and classify diseases to improve MDS precision. You’ll discover ways to protect reimbursement while improving care for complex, long-stay residents.

Kevin Bunn

Vice President of Dining Services at Erickson Senior Living
Erickson Senior Living
Cantonsville, MD
  • 118-J. Turn Your Dining Venue into a Wellness Engine

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    118-J. Turn Your Dining Venue into a Wellness Engine

    When Baby Boomers and members of Gen X arrive at your community’s dining venue, they’ll likely bring new expectations to the table. How will you measure up? This session will report on consumer preferences for culinary programs that deliver flavor, cultural relevance, agency, and a sense of community connection. Presenters will help you meet those preferences with a new culinary framework pioneered by the International Council on Active Aging’s Culinary, Nutrition & Hospitality Network. You’ll learn to reframe senior living dining venues as strategic wellness engines that support physical health, cognitive vitality, and social connection. Get the support you need to rethink how food environments can foster purpose, engagement, and wellness for today’s older adults.

Diane Burfeindt

Managing Principal
Trilogy Connect
Cogan Station, PA
  • 27-D. Build a Better Board with Better Meetings

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    27-D. Build a Better Board with Better Meetings

    Keeping senior living board members aligned can be challenging in this age of competing priorities. Many boards struggle with fragmentation, uneven engagement, or unfocused conversations, even as organizational leaders face unprecedented challenges. During this session, you’ll learn how to build a more effective board by designing meetings that surface the right insights, promote shared understanding, and encourage strategic questions. Discover how to reinforce the board’s strategic focus between meetings, frame discussions during meetings, and avoid having to reset the conversation every quarter. Here’s your chance to get everyone on the same page and keep them there as your organization’s operating landscape evolves.

  • 55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    Independent living occupancy has surpassed 90% nationally, even as inventory growth has reached record lows. With demand projected to accelerate, life plan communities must ask a critical question: If the market is ready for growth, why aren’t we? This session will help you become more comfortable with organizational growth. Presenters will guide you in assessing when to grow, when to wait, and which indicators matter most. They’ll share step-by-step processes to build alignment on growth across your organization and show you how to reduce uncertainty and accelerate progress. Learn to differentiate between healthy risk awareness and counterproductive risk avoidance, and get ready to take meaningful action to grow your organization.