David Donohue
- 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
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.
Amy Dore
- 135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience
- 136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers
Sunday, October 25, 2026
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.
135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience
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.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers
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
- 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
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 Dunham
- 9-I. A Mission-Aligned Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
9-I. A Mission-Aligned Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence
A Mission-Aligned Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence
Are you intrigued by the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) but concerned about adopting it responsibly? Let representatives from a life plan community walk you through the process they used to deploy AI while staying true to their nonprofit values. This session’s presenters will describe how they launched a structured, mission-aligned AI initiative to enhance the resident experience, improve workforce efficiency, and strengthen operational resilience. You’ll learn how they conducted visioning workshops, cross-departmental discovery sessions, and data-readiness assessments, and how they addressed governance, ethics, and long-term sustainability. By the end of this session, you’ll feel empowered to launch an ongoing, measurable, and responsible AI transformation at your organization.
Jen Egizi
- 48-G. The New Frontier: Inside Continuing Care at Home (CCaH)
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
48-G. The New Frontier: Inside Continuing Care at Home (CCaH)
The New Frontier: Inside Continuing Care at Home (CCaH)
As the desire to age in place grows among older adults, Continuing Care at Home (CCaH) programs are emerging as an innovative alternative to traditional senior living. In return for an entrance fee and monthly dues, CCaH members receive comprehensive long-term care services while remaining in their own homes. During this session, three CCaH providers will compare CCaH models, detailing their financial structures, membership designs, and operational approaches. Presenters will help you identify which CCaH model best aligns with your organization’s mission, market, and strategic goals. You’ll discover key factors that contributed to the success of organizations that have launched and grown CCaH programs, as well as the challenges they faced along the way.
Jacob Elliott
- 141-H. What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
141-H. What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
In today’s labor-constrained environment, senior living organizations need more than hindsight. They need actionable foresight. This session will showcase a tool that LCS built that can help. You’ll hear about Retention Radar, a predictive workforce intelligence solution that identifies departments with employees most at risk of leaving their jobs and recommends targeted, practical interventions to support engagement and stability. By analyzing indicators such as benefits participation, scheduling alignment, supervisor stability, and PTO utilization, this innovative tool helps community leaders focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Presenters will explain how Retention Radar equips Executive Directors, Administrations, Human Resources teams, and other operations leaders to interpret workforce trends and make data-informed decisions. Users of the tool will share strategies for translating predictive analytics into targeted retention interventions and explain how Retention Radar is helping to reduce turnover while enhancing the resident experience.
Mitchell Elliott
- 70-I. Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
70-I. Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling
Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling
Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Many senior living organizations are counting on it. This session will feature an organization that used visual storytelling to attract a new market segment to its senior housing options and to build support for a campus expansion among current residents. Presenters will explain what visual storytelling entails, how it drives effective marketing, and how to assess the appropriate use of AI-generated imagery, architectural renderings, and video flythroughs. You’ll gain practical guidance on effective visual storytelling methods and a candid assessment of approaches that fall short.
Jacob Elliott
- 141-H. What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
141-H. What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?
In today’s labor-constrained environment, senior living organizations need more than hindsight. They need actionable foresight. This session will showcase a tool that LCS built that can help. You’ll hear about Retention Radar, a predictive workforce intelligence solution that identifies departments with employees most at risk of leaving their jobs and recommends targeted, practical interventions to support engagement and stability. By analyzing indicators such as benefits participation, scheduling alignment, supervisor stability, and PTO utilization, this innovative tool helps community leaders focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Presenters will explain how Retention Radar equips Executive Directors, Administrations, Human Resources teams, and other operations leaders to interpret workforce trends and make data-informed decisions. Users of the tool will share strategies for translating predictive analytics into targeted retention interventions and explain how Retention Radar is helping to reduce turnover while enhancing the resident experience.
Amy Estridge
- 42-D. Underdog Strategies for Single-Site Life Plan Communities
- 60-A. Elevating Your Success with a Compelling Foundation Brand
Monday, October 26, 2026
8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
42-D. Underdog Strategies for Single-Site Life Plan Communities
Underdog Strategies for Single-Site Life Plan Communities
To affiliate u2026 or not to affiliate? That is the question many single-site life plan communities are asking. This session will appeal to mavericks who prefer to remain independent yet recognize they must improve at every level to thrive in a consolidating market. Leaders from successful single-site communities will share how they resisted affiliation by strengthening operations, culture, and finances. They’ll also recommend strategies to keep communities stable and future-ready. Whether you’re committed to independence or considering affiliation, this session will offer fresh perspectives on how a strong single-site brand can enhance market perception, attract mission-aligned staff, and build trust among residents, prospects, and referral sources.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
60-A. Elevating Your Success with a Compelling Foundation Brand
Elevating Your Success with a Compelling Foundation Brand
Life plan communities often focus on their organization’s brand, leaving their foundation’s brand undeveloped and unclear. This session will offer an alternative that could dramatically elevate your philanthropic success. Presenters will explain how a compelling, well-articulated foundation brand can build donor trust, signal your organization’s competence, and clarify its impact. They will examine how foundation branding influences donor behavior and outline practical steps to align your foundation’s identity with your organization’s purpose. You’ll take home strategies to secure larger corporate sponsorships, deepen donor engagement, and encourage more consistent giving by building a foundation brand that reflects your community’s heart and mission.
Jordan Evans
- 62-B. Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion
Sunday, October 25, 2026
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.
62-B. Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion
Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion
Senior living marketing and communications professionals often rely on unrealistic stock photos and messaging that idealize “super agers” while ignoring the diverse realities of aging. These choices, whether intentional or not, reinforce narrow, often damaging stereotypes about how older adults should look, live, and behave. This session will examine the drivers of ageist and ableist messaging and the risks these biases pose to older adults and the aging services field. Presenters will share strategies and practical tools to help you audit your current communications materials, identify and correct harmful biases, and build campaigns rooted in authenticity, respect, and representation. You’ll learn to craft messages that resonate more deeply with your target markets.
Lizzy Evens
- 1-A. Using AI to Measure Resident Well-Being
Sunday, October 25, 2026
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
1-A. Using AI to Measure Resident Well-Being
Using AI to Measure Resident Well-Being
Community engagement teams at aging services organizations prioritize the resident experience because they know residents’ voices help shape their communities. Unfortunately, not every resident speaks up. That’s where “Happy Aging” comes in. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the survey-driven prediction tool measures 23 observed indicators of resident well-being. This session will focus on the experiences of two life plan communities that engaged residents in a two-year research project to co-develop the “Happy Aging” tool. Presenters will describe the technology’s development process and residents’ participation in it. You’ll discover how objective behavioral data, when paired with AI, can accurately predict resident well-being and enable engagement teams to plan timely interventions.
Joe Ewert
- 28-E. Drive Growth by Aligning Governance, Operations, and Sales
Monday, October 26, 2026
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
28-E. Drive Growth by Aligning Governance, Operations, and Sales
Drive Growth by Aligning Governance, Operations, and Sales
Does your organization’s board focus on stewardship and risk, while your leaders handle operations, your marketers oversee branding, and your sales teams focus on conversions? Organizations struggle when stakeholders follow separate pathways, pursue siloed priorities, and tell different stories. This session will help you align governance, operations, marketing, and sales into a unified, credible narrative. Presenters will show you how to connect boardroom decisions to sales outcomes; what boards need to know about brand and sales; how leadership behaviors influence the brand promise; and how misalignment affects growth. You’ll learn to break down organizational silos, manage tensions, and build trust so that external messaging feels authentic and consistent.