Studying expertise

Kathy Martin had constructed a distinguished profession in greater schooling – first as a trainer, then as an administrator, most not too long ago as Assistant Provost for Accreditation and Administration at UMass Amherst – when she noticed a possibility to take a pointy flip. And he or she accepted it.

“It was the fitting time for me to consider doing one thing totally different,” stated Martin, who served on the board of Glenmeadow, a senior residing group in Longmeadow, when the president and CEO place opened up there in 2023. “Glenmeadow's timeline for its presidential search coincided with my timeline for looking for a brand new alternative, as a result of the provost I labored with at UMass bought a brand new job, so she left UMass anyway. So it was simply a possibility for timing.”

Her function on the board was an excellent introduction to that venerable (as in 140 12 months outdated) group, and to senior residing basically.

“I used to be at an expert level the place I needed to decide about what I needed to do. Did I need to proceed pursuing a presidency in greater schooling, or did I need to attempt one thing totally different?” she instructed BusinessWest.

The change – she has been working for 15 months now – has been dramatic in some methods, but additionally rewarding.

“This can be a new language for me in some ways, however I get pleasure from studying new issues. This was a possibility for me to tackle the problem of studying and main in a brand new sector. And there are extra overlaps between greater schooling and seniors than you may assume.”

“This can be a new language for me in some ways, however I get pleasure from studying new issues. This was a possibility for me to tackle the problem of studying and main in a brand new sector. And there are extra overlaps between greater schooling and seniors than you may assume,” Martin continued. “Among the challenges and alternatives are the identical, and management is management, however I actually loved the transition from working with principally college students to working with seniors. It was a beautiful change in perspective.”

It's additionally been a means of studying concerning the day-to-day operations and every little thing the frontline employees and management workforce do to maintain a 24/7 operation working effectively, she added.

“We first have a look at it from the attitude of our residents. What do they want? What are they considering? What would make their Glenmeadow expertise every little thing they all the time needed? After which there are all of the behind-the-scenes operational choices we make; we have a look at issues like how dependent we’re on paper processes, and might we transfer extra issues to the cloud, and the way can we develop into extra environment friendly in our operations?”

However most choices come all the way down to bettering the residents' expertise, Martin stated.

“Each determination we make is predicated on what’s finest for our residents and making certain that we now have enough programming, and the kind of programming that’s significant to our residents,” she defined. “One of many issues we've talked about so much during the last 12 months is mental engagement, that it's not nearly enjoying mahjong, however about gaining access to native audio system or a TED Discuss or a guided dialogue on a subject of curiosity. So we make sure that we reply to what’s of curiosity to residents and that we additionally contain their households in life in Glenmeadow.”

Lengthy historical past

Glenmeadow traces its origins to 1884, when a gaggle of civic leaders amongst themselves and different space households raised cash and bought a home on Major Avenue in Springfield's South Finish, the place they based the Springfield House for Aged Ladies. This residence opened in November 1886 and housed 16 ladies from the group with out household or sources.

Fourteen years later, a brand new, bigger home opened close by, and in 1960 the identify modified to Chestnut Knoll. In 1992, the ability started admitting males along with ladies.

“House care is a superb gateway to Glenmeadow as a group. We now have residents who began as Glenmeadow at House shoppers. We even have residents who use Glenmeadow at House for some additional care. So it is a crucial a part of our enterprise mannequin.”

In 1993, the group bought a 23-acre parcel in Longmeadow to construct a brand new group that would supply each impartial and assisted residing services with a number of widespread areas, and the identify modified once more, this time to Glenmeadow. In 2002, it unveiled Glenmeadow at House, which supplies private care, companionship and in-home care to older adults residing of their properties in Larger Springfield.

House well being care is necessary for numerous causes, Martin stated. “We understand how necessary it’s that seniors can proceed to dwell at residence for so long as attainable. It may be very emotional to consider leaving your childhood residence and shifting to a group like Glenmeadow. That’s the reason we needed to do every little thing we will to make it attainable for seniors to proceed residing at residence for just a little longer.”

Moreover, she stated, “residence care is a superb gateway to Glenmeadow as a group. We now have residents who began as Glenmeadow at House shoppers. We even have residents who use Glenmeadow at House for some additional care. So it's an necessary a part of our enterprise mannequin, not solely due to what it presents to our residents, but additionally what we can provide again to the area people to make residence care extra accessible.”

A important a part of the group's providers is the idea of growing older locally, she famous.

“One of many causes our residents do effectively in Glenmeadow is as a result of they work together with individuals who have related life experiences. We actively work to fight social isolation. And for seniors who keep at residence and should develop into more and more frail, it’s harder to keep up these social interactions. So a variety of our residents simply get pleasure from being with individuals of the identical age… it’s as a lot a social group as it’s a residential one.”

In 2024, Glenmeadow elevated the senior expertise in one other means, recognizing achieved people over the age of 60 throughout the area in its first annual Age of Excellence awards program.

“That really got here out of a dialog between our board of administrators about how we will create a signature occasion for Glenmeadow as a fundraiser,” Martin stated. “We thought it was necessary to attract consideration to the achievements and inspiration of individuals over 60.

“I believe too usually if you get near retirement it seems like the tip of one thing and that your finest years are behind you,” she continued. “And we needed to take this chance to spotlight older adults who’re doing nice issues. For some individuals it's a brand new profession. For some individuals it’s a new passion. We needed to be those to place these people within the highlight appropriately.”

The inaugural honorees, celebrated with a gala occasion in September, included Springfield Police Chief Lawrence Akers; Debbie Gardner of Reminiscence; Jeffrey Greim of Jeff's Granola; Ethel Griffin of Revitalize CDC; James Lagodich, who has been concerned in native youth and grownup sports activities; Maria Roy of the Indian Orchard Residents Council; Patrick Sullivan, not too long ago retired director of Springfield Parks; and Karen Tetreault of the Springfield Regional Chamber.

They had been honored for quite a lot of causes, from mentoring to volunteerism, from management to easily inspiring change, and the choice course of was difficult, Martin stated. He defined that the general public nominated people, and a small panel of area people leaders evaluated the nominations and made the picks.

“It was nice for us to listen to individuals say, 'Oh, I want we had performed this ten years in the past,' or 'why hasn't anybody had this concept earlier than?' And it was actually inspiring, I believe, for everybody concerned within the choice course of, however actually for everybody who went to the occasion in September, I believe all of us left there with just a little carry after we heard what all these have achieved distinctions.

“And there are dozens extra, so we stay up for the chance in 2025 to pick the following class of Age of Excellence honorees,” she continued, noting that the occasion will happen on September 3.

Challenges and alternatives

Senior residing is a difficult subject in some ways, Martin stated, however one of many greatest proper now could be the continued generational change as the common age of Individuals continues to rise.

“We now have roughly 10,000 new Medicare subscribers day by day as child boomers attain retirement age. So whereas we deal with how we will finest meet the wants of our present residents, we’re additionally desirous about how we will get forward of what the child boomer technology will likely be searching for in a group like Glenmeadow.”

That's why the group is within the closing levels of an $11 million renovation designed to accommodate seniors considering sustaining a wellness-oriented way of life as they retire, she famous.

“Attempting to foretell the wants of the following technology, I believe, is actually a problem. And we're a nonprofit, and sustaining a wholesome income stream as a nonprofit is all the time a problem. We’re targeted on our staffing ranges, however we’re grateful for the assist our residents and area people members and organizations present in supporting Glenmeadow financially so we will proceed to do what we do.”

One other problem dealing with the sector – one widespread to many sectors right now – is recruiting and retaining employees, and Glenmeadow has been lucky on that entrance, Martin stated.

“All through the pandemic and since then, our workforce has remained comparatively steady. We don't have many open positions,” she explains. “We focus so much on employees engagement, and I believe that goes a good distance towards that retention price, nevertheless it's additionally concerning the interactions that our employees has with our residents.

“Each time I ask the employees what they like most about working right here, they are saying the residents,” she continued. “And once I ask the residents what they like most about residing right here, they are saying the employees. So it's a extremely nice working atmosphere for our staff, and we see that we're all doing actually good and necessary work, and it makes it a lot simpler to come back to work day by day realizing the constructive affect you're having.”

Martin stated this sentiment extends to households, a few of whom dwell far-off, however lots of whom dwell regionally and drop by repeatedly for visits, meals and occasions. “We get pleasure from seeing their interactions with our residents as a result of it really is their residence. That's why we would like our residents to deal with it like residence and have their households right here for holidays and different particular events, or simply to come back see a film on a Thursday evening.”

As for her personal expertise, Martin stated she's glad she made this intriguing profession change — and she or he's nonetheless studying.

“I really like that it's new day by day,” she instructed BusinessWest. “There's all the time one thing new occurring that I didn't count on. However I loved attending to know the residents, their households and our employees. It truly is the individuals who make the distinction on this work, and attending to know the tales of the people who find themselves right here has been actually inspiring, motivating and reinforcing why that is such an excellent profession path.”