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What if the key to a long, fulfilling life wasn't just genetics but the environment you build around you? In this episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, Dr. Mike Strouse and co-host Ivo Ivanov dive into the fascinating concept of Blue Zones—communities around the world where people live longer, healthier, and more connected lives.

From lessons in purpose-driven living to why traditional caregiving models must evolve, this episode will inspire you to rethink how communities can support independence, self-direction, and meaningful connection. What does your Blue Zone look like?

Also: 

• Who is our co-host Ivo Ivanov?
• How do you defeat a Russian bear?
• What did Curly say to the city slicker?

Tune in now!

Links & References: 

• The Russian Bear
• That bear's downfall
• A Study on the Sardinia island Blue Zone
• The Secret of Life

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Can unconventional thinking unlock the key to a better life? 

Dr. Mike Strouse, President & CEO of Good Life Innovations, takes listeners on an exhilarating journey into creative problem-solving, disability services innovation, and leadership transformation in the premiere episode of The Quest for the Good Life.

Inside this episode, you'll discover:

• How bold, out-of-the-box strategies are reshaping the disability industry and organizational leadership.
• Why Dr. Strouse draws inspiration from Indiana Jones in his pursuit of impactful solutions.
• Unforgettable personal stories, including encounters with Muhammad Ali and profound life lessons from loss.
• A rare glimpse into Dr. Strouse’s poetic reflections on destiny, rules, and audacity—written 30 years ago yet more relevant than ever.

Whether you’re in the disability services field, an organizational leader, or simply someone who craves innovative ideas that challenge the status quo, this episode will ignite your imagination and empower you to pursue your own quest for a meaningful life.

Listen now and rethink what’s possible!  

Links & References: 

• The Rumble in the Jungle

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Let's take a look back and review the first season of the GoodLife U podcast and at some important questions, each service provider should consider. 

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What is the Professional Extended Family Model? How did it start? What are the ingredients needed for its success and why it has become transformative?

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Find out how elevating direct support positions into a professional lifestyle can produce better compensation, schedule management, and work-life balance. 

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Paid time off presents unique challenges for service providers. A robust strategy can mitigate problems associated with the search for quality replacements and the increased number of people involved in care. In addition, a new reality demands a novel approach to your agency's payday schedule.

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How to achieve your dream wage target through premium pay.

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The new realities offer unique challenges making the traditional hiring methods insufficient. Now more than ever bridging the vacancy gap is imperative for service providers.

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Discover what the five faucets are and how they can be turned on to achieve a steady flow of stable schedules.

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How do schedules become "wonky" and what can service providers do to mitigate the ensuing challenges.

Definition: won·ky /wäNGkē/Slang: shaky, groggy, unsteady, off-kilter, unbalanced, faulty, unreliable.

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The workforce crisis has created a pressing need for effective solutions.

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In this episode, Dr. Mike Strouse will take you on an in-depth exploration of technology leveraged service models. The challenges experienced in the last year made it abundantly clear: traditional services are not the answer anymore. New technologies have made huge strides and opened vast possibilities but to achieve the potential benefits services must be carefully designed around a new, innovative paradigm. Discover how GoodLife's Neighborhood Network is revolutionizing the way services are delivered to vulnerable populations. This episode will also take you under the hood and show you the inner workings of GoodLife's Applied Technology Center where a variety of remote support components are meticulously constructed and organized to deliver the highest quality 24/7 support across multiple residential locations.

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This episode is called Back to the Future and for good reason! Every now and then since the 1960’s, the vision for care has been cast and it’s a bit like a broken record. The story is always the same: people with different abilities want what we all want—a good life. 

When we talk about what a good life looks like, we’ve got to admit that technology is absolutely integral to our lives. Especially since the pandemic, we rely more on technology than ever:
Other industries give us tremendous examples that help us imagine what technology makes possible and how to improve the delivery of goods and services.

But in the human service industry specifically, we have somehow let the delivery of care get in the way of leveraging technology. GoodLife’s stance is clear: those served should not have to choose between being served virtually or being served in person. You and I don’t ever have to make that choice. Our lives are integrated with technology and our human connections are improved and streamlined by technology. Withholding this from the lives of people with different abilities will only impede our ability to make the vision of CMS’s final setting rules a reality.

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How iLink actually ENHANCES privacy and eliminates intrusion.

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Learn about GoodLife's innovative services architecture and approach to data management and protection.

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How does GoodLife's Applied Technology Center factor in the new ecosystem of delivering services.

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In this episode, Dr. Strouse takes us on a detailed tour of an iLink home and explains how each component contributes to the safety, independence, and privacy of GoodLife residents.

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GoodLife's iLink provides much more than smart home technologies.

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High level of engagement + purpose + support = full, enriched life. 

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Our focus: Taking all the beneficial aspects of an old-fashioned neighborhood and combining them with a great care model, technology, and the spirit of volunteerism.

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What exactly is "the quest for the good life"? Our unprecedented times require an unprecedented and innovative approach to delivering safe and effective services. Dr. Mike Strouse introduces "GoodLife Innovations" and addresses the challenges and intricacies of improving the lives of people who need help to live independently.  

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This month, Dr. Mike Strouse talks with Ivo Ivanov about how to grasp a simple and attainable vision of The Final Rule, where individuals—regardless of their abilities—can access the support they need in the ways they most want. ( @GoodLife Innovations )

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Mike Strouse goes further in depth in part three of the series. This episode includes visual demonstrations of cutting edge iLink technology integrated within service models to improve independence, privacy, and safety. To get the full benefit of the demonstration, please visit our YouTube channel  @GoodLife Innovations and watch the HD video.

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Technology is forever changing. What’s possible for virtual care as it is used to empower self-direction, care, privacy, and independence is rapidly evolving. That said, there are some important current system design and practice considerations that providers using virtual support technologies should know. Dr. Strouse introduces series of episodes dedicated to the rapidly evolving technology enabled service models, their practical implementation, and significance.

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Mike Strouse discusses ICHRA and how bifurcation creates opportunities, flexibility, and savings for both the workforce and the employers.

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Replacement staffing represents multiple challenges. In this episode, Dr. Strouse introduces practical solutions specifically designed to address each one of these challenges.

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GoodLife's 36 and 48 Contingency is specifically designed to meet the challenges of the new workforce reality.

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Dr. Mike Strouse and Jim Holland of Fisher Phillips discuss Premium Pay and more...

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Are you ready to challenge the status quo in care services, staffing models, and organizational behavior? In this episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, Dr. Mike Strouse and co-host Ivo Ivanov take you on a deep dive into the science of change management, implementation strategies, and innovative solutions that redefine what's possible in disability services and beyond.

From behavioral analysis to workforce stability, Dr. Strouse reveals how GoodLife has pioneered groundbreaking models—leveraging technology, refining staffing structures, and pushing the boundaries of what traditional care looks like. Learn why standing still is not an option, why active listening and strategic delegation matter, and how the lessons of Netflix and Blockbuster apply to transforming human services.

If you’re passionate about change, leadership, and making a meaningful impact, this is the conversation for you. Tune in and discover why at GoodLife, Impossible is What We Do Best.

Listen now!

Links & References:

• The Family Teaching Model
• Herbert von Karajan
• The Royal Concertgebouw
• Implementation: Practice & Science Book

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In this episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, we’re redefining what’s possible in workforce benefits, disability services, and staffing solutions.

Join Dr. Mike Strouse, Ivo Ivanov, and special guests Lauren Vohland and Megan McKinney Todd as they dive deep into what it truly takes to build a thriving workforce in care services. From innovative benefit structures and staffing models to the power of flexibility, personal choice, and work-life balance, this conversation might just change your mind about benefits at your company.

How can organizations retain top talent while operating in an industry with limited funding? What if we reimagined benefits to better serve both caregivers and those they support? And how can thinking beyond traditional compensation—like housing, transportation, and scheduling—lead to a win-win-win for employees, organizations, and the people they serve?

Through personal stories, industry insights, and a few movie references (yes, Indiana Jones makes an appearance!), this episode is packed with actionable takeaways for HR professionals, disability service providers, and anyone passionate about creating sustainable, people-first workforce solutions.

Listen now to discover how GoodLife is rewriting the rules.

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In this episode Dr. Mike Strouse and Dr. Florence DiGennaro Reed discuss topics relevant to current challenges in I/DD and senior services such as:

• Performance management
• Improvement strategies
• Implementation of scientific research in practical environments
• How to leverage the exponential growth of technology 
• Out-of-the-box thinking
• The vulnerability of independence
• Eclectic approach to problem solving
• Intrusive vs. non-intrusive practices
• Importance and limitations of conventional training

and much more

Our guest:

Dr. Florence DiGennaro Reed is the Chief Operating Officer of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. She is a board certified behavior analyst with a doctorate in school psychology from Syracuse University. She also completed a clinical post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute for Child Development and a pre-doctoral internship in clinical psychology at the May Center for Education and Neurorehabilitation and the May Center for Child Development.

Formerly, Florence was an Associate Professor in and Chairperson of the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas where she directed the Performance Management Laboratory. Her research examined effective and efficient staff training and performance improvement practices. She also conducted translational research in on-campus laboratory facilities.

Florence has published articles and book chapters on a variety of topics including training, performance management, assessment, and intervention. Florence is co-editor of two books published through Springer titled Handbook of Crisis Intervention for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities and Bridging the Gap Between Science and Practice in Autism Service Delivery.

Florence has published over 100 articles and book chapters and two edited books on a variety of topics including training, performance management, assessment, and intervention. With co-authors Drs. Gregory Madden and Derek Reed, Florence recently published a textbook titled An Introduction to Behavior Analysis. Moreover, Florence has been an Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Journal of Behavioral Education, and Behavior Analysis in Practice. 

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Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jG4M1him8Hk?si=4qKdXTWneqaS5y3o

Watch this Episode on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/goodlifeu/quest13?share=copy

About this Episode:

In this special video episode of The Quest for the GoodLife Podcast, Dr. Mike Strouse travels to Arkansas to meet Noel—an insightful, passionate young man with cerebral palsy—and Whitney Garrison, Director of Regional Services for GoodLife.

What unfolds is a deeply personal, eye-opening conversation that lays bare the realities of support systems for people with disabilities. Noel shares his experiences navigating Arkansas’s fragmented care landscape, his struggle to remain independent, and the emotional toll of unreliable staffing, limited transportation, and bureaucratic complexity.

With humor, grace, and wisdom beyond his years, Noel reminds us what it truly means to live a “good life”—not just with support, but with friendship, dignity, and the freedom to contribute meaningfully to one's community.

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In this episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, Dr. Mike Strouse and co-host Ivo Ivanov welcome Todd Lewis, VP at IMA and a passionate advocate for those who care for others. Together, they unpack the complex world of ICHRAs—Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements—and why these innovative benefits are gaining traction across the caregiving industry.

With over 400% growth in recent years, ICHRAs empower employers to offer flexible, individualized, and portable healthcare options for employees—especially critical for the hourly caregiving workforce. Todd and Mike discuss how these plans can break the one-size-fits-all model, ease the financial burden on staff, and stabilize a workforce under strain.

If you’re a CEO, HR leader, or policymaker navigating rising insurance costs and caregiver retention challenges, this episode offers a fresh perspective—and a path forward.

👉 Learn how to customize benefits, contain costs, and truly “take care of the people who take care of people.”

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Is your workforce strategy stuck in the past? In this episode, Dr. Mike Strouse and co-host Ivo Ivanov dig into the hidden traps of traditional scheduling in the care industry. Through powerful analogies and data-driven insights, they explore how rigid five-day workweeks, fragmented part-time roles, and outdated scheduling models are driving workforce instability—and what you can do to fix it.

Listeners will learn:

• Why your “stayers” might be hurting your hiring pipeline
• The measurable impact of schedule design on recruitment and retention
• How to transform scheduling from a liability into an incentive
• Why a 3-day workweek might be your secret weapon for workforce sustainability

Whether you're a leader in healthcare, disability services, or just curious about human-centered operations, this episode offers fresh perspectives and practical frameworks to help you pivot with purpose.

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In this episode, Dr. Mike Strouse and Ivo Ivanov sit down with Lewis Walton—attorney, tech innovator, longtime board member, and one of the most respected professional family teachers in GoodLife’s history. Together, they revisit the pivotal years between 1999 and 2002, when the seeds of remote support, professional family living, and the three-day work week were planted—years before the rest of the field caught on.

Lewis shares his unique path from philosophy student to tech leader to extended family caregiver. You’ll hear behind-the-scenes stories of GoodLife’s first analog-to-digital transition, the birth of the extended family model, and the invisible infrastructure that has supported some of the nation’s most innovative care models. The trio also dives into professional wrestling, podcasting, neighborhood networks, and why some lives—and careers—just don’t punch in and out.

🎧 Tune in to explore what happens when care becomes a lifestyle, not a shift—and how technology, relationships, and purpose are transforming what’s possible.

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This week on The Quest for the GoodLife podcast, Mike & Ivo honor the legacy of Diane Bannermen Juracek, the first employee of GoodLife, and explore how her pioneering spirit still fuels innovation today. Dr. Mike Strouse, Ivo Ivanov, and newly-appointed Executive Director Megan McKinney Todd reflect on the roots and future of GoodLife U—a bold, evidence-based initiative tackling workforce stability and technology-driven service models.

You’ll discover how the “coaching tree” of behavioral science mentors continues to inspire transformative leadership, how teaching family models evolved from KU to Boys Town and beyond, and why implementation science and mentorship remain at the heart of building lasting systems change.

This is more than a podcast—it’s a call to pioneers in healthcare, disability services, and human services to forge forward and “wrestle dragons” together.

Episode Links: 

• Diane Bannerman Juracek Obituary
• All About Gregg Popovitch
• Who is Phog Allen?
• Boys Town
• Make a Meaningful Difference

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In this episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, Dr. Mike Strouse is joined by Beth McCoach and David MacDonald—GoodLife’s leaders in operations and tech innovation—for a compelling conversation on how smart technology is reshaping the way we support independence, safety, and connection.

Together, they explore:

• How iLink is evolving into a national platform for care that’s simple, responsive, and privacy-forward
• The role of neighborhood networks in creating belonging and interdependence
• Why technology must be both powerful and invisible to truly serve people well

Plus, hear insights from a thriving off-the-grid community, the philosophy behind “one button, one finger” design, and why duct tape might still be the ultimate survival tool.

🎧 Please note: This episode includes a few sections with reduced audio quality due to technical difficulties. We have the transcript available if you need it! Thanks for your patience—and your curiosity.

Link from Episode:

EastWind Community

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In this heartfelt and visionary episode of The Quest for the GoodLife, Dr. Mike Strouse and co-host Ivo Ivanov explore the power of real communities—what makes them work, why they matter, and how GoodLife's Neighborhood Network is redefining intentional, inclusive living. From memories of small-town Missouri to the story of a remote Alaskan building that houses an entire town, Mike and Ivo reflect on the deep human need for connection and interdependence. Learn how professional neighbors, purposeful design, and organic supports can build what Dr. Strouse calls “Powder Blue Zones”—places where everyone belongs and everyone contributes.

Links: 

Whittier, AK & City of Whittier

Smith Center, KS

Roger Barta

Norman Rockwell Museum

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In our typical candid manner, Dr. Mike Strouse, Ivo Ivanov, and Lauren Vohland dive into the systems behind success in care services. From zeroing in on medication error rates to designing personalized health dashboards and embracing tech-driven remote care, this conversation reveals how performance metrics and system design fuel real outcomes. Discover why good systems—not JUST good people—are essential in an industry plagued by turnover, and how culture, accountability, and unconventional thinking create measurable impact. 

What you’ll hear about:

• Why individualized care still needs standardized systems
• Why agencies fear change—and how to move forward anyway
• What Yellowstone, Uber, and behavioral analytics all have in common

Whether you're leading a care organization, managing a team, or just love learning how great systems empower great people, this episode is your roadmap to rethinking performance in the care services sector.

Links & References:

• The Showrunner
• The Four Sixes
• Landman
• 1923