Ensuring physical safety was top priority during the pandemic. But many also saw immediately that mental well-being would also be a health and safety challenge. Isolation, uncertainty, grief, and lack of control take a toll. Many of the usual comforts and coping mechanisms are out of reach. That’s what led to the How Right Now…

Ayana King took a job in senior living almost by chance, while finishing her degree in communications. Like many who enter senior living, she fell in love with the industry. Before a year was up at her new job, she was promoted to corporate level. Now she is CEO and founder of her own business,…

According to a 2013 study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, 90 percent of adults in the United States have been exposed to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Think of how many in your community might have gone through a natural disaster just in the time they have been residents there—and then…

Whitney Austin Gray, PhD, LEED AP, WELL AP, senior vice president at the International WELL Building Institute, wants you to think about a fact: You spend about 90 percent of your life indoors. And she’s dedicated to making that 90 percent a healthier experience. While there are multiple standards for sustainability, cleanliness, and function of…

Even in ordinary times, managing swallowing disorders can require complex coordination and care in senior living communities—and these are not ordinary times. With the limitations and precautions the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed, senior living operators have had to make adjustments to ensure residents who suffer from swallowing disorders continue to receive the close attention that…

The look and feel of the entrances to many senior living communities has changed drastically since February 2020. In addition to a huge reduction in the number of people going in and out—visitation restrictions and quarantines, those who do come in may face a number of safety measures including screening questions and remote temperature sensing.…

From the beginning of the pandemic, even before the coronavirus was discovered to be a greater airborne threat than a surface one, senior living communities turned their attention to air circulation. The knowledge that air matters in infection prevention and control is basic to people in senior living, who take all steps possible to keep…

It happens to everyone, whatever your age: You’ve covered family, work, and the weather, and the conversation stalls. What do you say next? That’s where CircleTalk™ comes in: training and curriculum designed to create meaningful and authentic social interactions—a chance for “older adults to connect with each other and feel accepted and valued by others.”…

Around the new year, many people set resolutions to end or start new habits. But can we really change who we are—our personality? William Chopik’s research says yes. Not only does your personality change, but the way you feel about aging—and the way others around you regard age—changes. Chopik is a social-personality psychologist with multiple…

Jennifer L. FitzPatrick, LCSW-C, CSP, is the author of “Cruising Through Caregiving: Reducing The Stress of Caring For Your Loved One,” a speaker on senior living issues, and an instructor with Johns Hopkins University’s Certificate on Aging program. Her firm, Jenerations Health Education, Inc., provides continuing education to health care workers in all areas and…

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, “a time management coaching company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed, and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident, and accomplished.” It offers group and one-on-one time management consulting. A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and television networks, she has published…