Explore every episode of the podcast The Senior Advisor

Explore the rising cybersecurity risks facing senior living communities as technology, data and digital care tools become more deeply embedded in daily operations. Our guest provides expert insight into why senior living sits at a uniquely vulnerable intersection of healthcare, housing and hospitality.

Through a practical and conversational discussion, the episode examines how sensitive resident health data, financial information, connected building technologies and emerging tools like AI create both opportunities for better care and increased exposure to cyber threats. Listeners will gain a real-world understanding of current cyber risks, common attack methods, regulatory considerations, vendor management challenges and the critical role of leadership and culture in building cyber resilience.

In today's world, long-term care and senior living operators face an evolving landscape of emergencies, including natural disasters and severe weather, infrastructure failures, public health crises and unexpected facility incidents. For providers serving our aging population, preparedness isn't optional. It's a responsibility, a mindset and a commitment to safeguarding residents, staff and operations.

For this episode, we sit down with the industry's most experienced emergency management professionals, thought leaders and recovery specialists to break down the concepts that matter most:

• All hazards planning and how to build a readiness posture that stands up to real-world challenges
• Lessons learned from recent incidents impacting senior living communities
• Critical partnerships with first responders, vendors and utilities
• Continuity of operations, disaster recovery and what it truly takes to bounce back after an adverse event
• What keeps experts up at night and how providers can stay one step ahead

Join us for an important discussion on the ethical challenges facing senior living communities as they adopt AI. We'll look at two views. One focused on communities actively considering or using AI technologies, including how to evaluate vendors ethically, create ongoing oversight and ensure resident values guide decisions. The other will address concerns from senior living communities hesitant about AI, exploring their ethical worries and barriers to adoption. 

Whether your facility is moving forward with AI or taking a cautious stance, this conversation will offer essential frameworks for making ethical choices that truly benefit residents.

Elopement events result in high-severity claims, poor resident outcomes and reputational risk for senior living organizations. This podcast will guide the listener through firsthand mitigation measures and proven risk management techniques that aid in preventing resident elopements in senior living. 

The guest speaker will provide expert tips on prevention methods and activities that will enhance secure and supportive environments for at-risk residents. This episode will address how elopement prevention plans are crucial for senior living operations and risk management programs.

Learn more about the creative financing strategies to unlock growth opportunities and overall financing improvements. When senior living operators leverage financial stability during any type of transaction, they can fund development projects that lead to improved service offerings, modernized campuses and care outcomes. 

Today's conversation will explore creative financing options such as REIT partnerships, tax-exempt status and state and federal grants that can be helpful financing options with promise for return and achievement of positive financial results.

Join us for the second episode of the builders risk and wood frame construction episode.

Our host and guest continue their discussions on the current builders risk insurance marketplace for senior living with a focus on wood frame construction. We'll review the current state of the market and how we get got here. We'll also provide insight on how to create a "best in class" insurance market submission and presenting that submission to prospective underwriters to achieve optimal results. 

This episode explores the transformative world of safe resident moving and positioning and defining the transformation. Our host Rhonda DeMeno will interview podcast guest Kristi Moore, an Occupational Therapist and Certified Industrial Ergonomist. With over 15 years of experience in diverse healthcare settings and 9 years in industrial environments, Kristi excels in analyzing functional movements, body mechanics and human behavior.
 
Join us as we delve into Kristi's insights on functional movement training for safe patient handling excellence, redefining standards in resident care and employee wellness. The episode will address topics on functional movement, how it differs from traditional techniques, its benefits for senior living professionals and its role in patient-centered care. We'll also cover the challenges of implementing functional movement training, overcoming resistance to change and Kristi's vision for the future of resident handling in senior living and define the differences between traditional techniques to a new transformative technique of safe resident handling procedures.

The current environment for senior living community construction presents considerable challenges. One of the biggest of those challenges is adequately insuring your new project and doing so at a competitive price. This episode dives into the current builders risk insurance marketplace for senior living with a focus on wood frame construction. We'll review the current state of the market and how we get got here. We'll also provide insight on how to create an optimal insurance market submission and presenting that submission to prospective underwriters to achieve optimal results. Finally, we'll discuss the critical communication needed during your project to ensure its success.  

The growing senior living population and increasing demands for senior living communities has made this sector an important aspect of the real estate industry.  Real estate and senior living properties are interrelated through investment opportunities, property development, management, market analysis and regulations.  

While resident healthcare needs continue to be an ongoing challenge and expectation for senior living operators, owners and operators are also responsible for operating, and managing real property.  

The podcast discusses market-focused topics and details concerning real estate and senior living risk.  WTW Senior Living and Real Estate Vertical experts share their expertise on market focused topics and details on risk exposures concerning real estate investment, property management, acquisition, development challenges and the complexities of intertwining of resident care and real estate insurance placement solutions. 

In the second episode of our three-part mini-series on severe weather and disaster management, host Rhonda DeMeno is joined once again by Wade Miller from OneRallyPoint, David Gluckman from WTW and Cal McCarty from ServiceMaster. This episode delves into the essentials of business continuity plans, disaster response strategies and emergency shutdown procedures. The experts also cover crucial topics such as fire protection, mitigation strategies, utility management and evacuation planning. Tune in for an in-depth discussion on proactive planning and its critical role in navigating severe weather events effectively.

Don't miss the final episode of The Senior Advisor's three-part mini-series on severe weather and disaster management. Host Rhonda DeMeno returns with Wade Miller from OneRallyPoint, David Gluckman from WTW, and welcomes Henry Daar, WTW's National Leader for Property Claims. This episode provides expert insights into preparing for, quantifying, and resolving large and complex insurance claims including property damage, business interruption, extra expense, contingent interruption and third-party claims management. Tune in for valuable strategies and expert advice on handling major insurance challenges.

In this episode, host Rhonda DeMeno discusses critical strategies for senior living operators to ensure the safety of employees and residents during severe weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or storms. Joined by Wade Miller from OneRallyPoint, David Gluckman from WTW and Cal McCarthy from ServiceMaster, they emphasize the importance of conducting thorough risk assessments to identify community vulnerabilities. The conversation covers the essentials of effective communication plans, facility preparations, and ensuring readiness among staff, residents, and families, including detailed evacuation plans.

Host Rhonda DeMeno welcomes guests Maryann McGivney, Healthcare Industry Vertical Leader for North America for WTW and Randy Stimmell, a Senior Vice President and Client Executive for WTW where they take a deep dive into WTW's distinctive industry vertical specialization and comprehensive approach to broking and servicing solutions. They discuss how it accomplishes the building of a risk management program customized to a senior living operator's needs. Our guests also highlight the benefits of managing risk across all insurance segments specific to senior living, provide details on current and future risks that senior living operators face and discuss concepts for designing a customized risk management program to drive down a total cost of risk.

It is essential to provide clear and concise information about a fall event. In the final episode of our five-part mini-series on fall management, Rhonda and guests Maria Wood, an attorney at Hall Booth Smith and Joan Porcaro, Client Relationship Manager at WTW walk the listener through a post-event root cause analysis and disclosure. This episode discusses the importance of timely disclosure and conducing the root cause analysis post-event to identify the cause of the resident fall. Our guests also dive into the importance of keeping open lines of communication with the resident and family members in mitigating lawsuits and reputational risk. 

Rhonda and guest George Netscher, CEO of Safely You focus on technology applications and their use in fall prevention and management in the fourth episode of our five-party mini-series on fall management. George and Rhonda discuss valuable AI insights and the ways that AI can augment a fall management program through critical interpretation on AI generated information and keep residents and families more informed about fall events.

In the third episode of our five-part mini-series on fall management, Rhonda talks with guests Austin Elkin, Underwriting Specialist for Berkshire Hathaway and Randy Stimmell, Senior Vice President for WTW. Austin, Randy and Rhonda discuss the frequency and severity of claims that the senior living industry is experiencing as a result of resident falls and touch on fall trends and best practices to mitigate claim activity. 

Part two of our five-part mini-series on fall management features guests Neely Sullivan, Education Specialist for Select Rehabilitation and Camille Jordan, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services for Brookdale Senior Living. This episode focuses on wellness and fall mitigation programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, balance and fall prevention classes. Rhonda and her guests are able to highlight the importance of wellness assessment and comprehensive rehabilitation programs to address fall prevention effectively.

The WTW Senior Living Claims Benchmarking Study identified that resident falls continue to be the number one driver of claims in the senior living industry. In part one of our five-part mini-series on fall management, Rhonda talks with Kathleen Weissberg, National Director of Education for Select Rehabilitation on fall mitigation strategies and fall program concepts. This episode examines basic concepts to include in a community fall management program and discusses a multi-faceted approach to fall prevention involving collaboration among care-giving teams and residents' families.  

In the third and final episode of our series on I-SNPs, Rhonda and guests Kenny White and Amy Kaszak are back, taking a look into regulatory structure and compliance. They'll also discuss a case study where a community engaged in SNP's to its advantage and the advantage of its residents. 

In part-two of our series on I-SNPs, Rhonda talks to Kenny White, National Managed Care Practice Leader for WTW and Amy Kaszak, EVP of Strategic Initiatives for Curana Health to discuss the costs and the risk/benefits of special needs programs in both the senior living and long-term care spaces. 

In the first episode of The Senior Advisor, host Rhonda DeMeno welcomes Cheryl Phillips, President and CEO of the SNP Alliance and Amy Kaszak, EVP of Strategic Initiatives for Curana Health, to the show to address Medicare Advantage Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs). This episode focuses on defining SNPs: what they are, what they do and how they inter-related to senior living and long-term care.