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What can we learn from each other in the field of senior living? Recently some of Westminster Communities of Florida’s leadership team attended the LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Nashville, to present, learn and discuss with our peers from around the country.

We asked five of our leaders to reflect on their three key takeaways from their experiences at LeadingAge, and advice they have for other leaders and future Annual Meeting attendees.

Three were also presenters who shared about our own experiences providing for the residents we serve: Alex Mookerjee, Executive Director of Housing; Brian Parks, Assistant Executive Director at Westminster Bradenton; and Jackie Sahhar, Health Services Administrator at Westminster Palms. These leaders presented on a panel alongside Jennifer Goodpaster from the Center of Excellence for Mental Health, to discuss overcoming mental health challenges in long term care communities.

Alex Mookerjee, Executive Director of Housing, Westminster Communities of Florida

1. Fellowship: It was wonderful to network with other providers and have casual conversations, which often led to a discussion of our practices and challenges we have faced. We can rely on each other to empathize with us and truly understand the issues we are facing, as well as give both parties the opportunity to share solutions and innovative best practices.
2. The importance of stepping away from my day-to-day: I can stay in my field and keep doing what I love. But at a conference, I get to step away from the daily grind of my job. This departure from the day-to-day gives me an opportunity to see new ideas, resources, challenges and solutions to problems.
3. A refreshed and renewed sense of purpose: The work that we are doing is so important, and even more so when you realize that conferences like these are the ways we spread a sense of what we do and our message. We give people affordable housing and shelter but it goes so far beyond that in long term care. We are giving people opportunities for spiritual and intellectual stimulation, connection with medical support, human connection, and a sense of community. What we do is important and we need to be out in the field spreading our message and purpose to anyone who will listen.

Brian Parks, Assistant Executive Director, Westminster Bradenton

1. The extensive collaboration that takes place: I always leave inspired. You really get to see how much good work is being done across the nation, cultures and geographies. You are constantly learning during these conferences but you are also a teacher. There is a lot of informal communication which is just wonderful and is quite inspiring for us to keep up the fight to provide the best care.
2. Joy that we were able to share our best practices by presenting to a room full of eager ears: Our presentation and panel discussion surrounded overcoming mental health challenges across long term care. Even if our audience took away two of the 15 things we’ve said, we have made a positive impact. We are all trying to keep our residents safe and provide the best care possible so we should ensure that we share as much information as possible to help other organizations.
3. Learning, learning, learning: This conference held some amazing sessions and always attracts the best presenters, covering a range of topics from Human Resources to compliance and merging of communities. There was an incredibly diverse audience of nurses, C-suite level managers, and board members, all of whom had some unique insight to add to the challenges we must overcome.

Jackie Sahhar, Health Services Administrator, Westminster Palms

1. Networking and collaborations: LeadingAge’s Annual Meeting provided me with a unique opportunity to connect with a diverse network of senior living professionals.
2. Peer support for shared challenges: I was fortunate to have the opportunity to engage with like-minded leaders, sharing some of our common challenges in the senior living environment like workforce challenges and regulatory changes. It can be so reassuring to discuss these topics and exchange strategies and solutions that others have tried or have proven to be effective at other organizations.
3. Innovation: The sessions offered insights into the latest trends and best practices in senior living. I feel motivated to bring back some of these best practices to drive a positive change in my community.

Jeff Coates, Vice President of Development, Westminster Communities of Florida

1. Learning through networking: I appreciated having the many networking engagements with peer foundation executives to share best practices and gain new ideas.
2. Working more effectively through data: We gained further insights into our key constituent demographics and engagement techniques in order to maximize our efforts.
3. Healthy aging: Much of the learning from the sessions I attended addressed new innovations and practices around healthy aging and its applications to senior living communities and organizations.

Laurie McKay, Vice President of Accounting, Westminster Communities of Florida

1. Networking: I was able to learn so much from my peers throughout the entire country about the practices of accounting and finance in senior living communities.
2. New opportunities to work smarter: We were able to meet with vendors and learn about what products are new in the market that will help us do our job more efficiently
3. Learning about managed care: The future of healthcare services increasingly focuses on a managed care model. How can we adapt to the future and ensure that we’re continuing to serve the residents and our mission?