Summer/Fall 2020 Volume 1, Issue 2
Senior Living
Need for Speed:
Residents Adapt & Live in the New Normal The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Technology Revolutionizing Eldercare A Veteran Resident’s Remarkable Story Making a Difference for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Contents
SUMMER/FA LL 2020 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
Cover Story is What They Need 20 Speed Gulf Coast Village residents Jim Baker and Frances Keogh crave
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adrenaline well into their 90s By Nick Fortuna
Features Hopeful Future: Adapting, Learning, and Succeeding 6 ADuring the COVID-19 Pandemic By Steve Bahmer, LeadingAge Florida President & CEO
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Shelter from the Storm: How Moosehaven and YCC Help Clay County’s Unaccompanied Homeless Youth By Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida
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Mission Driven: Shell Point Resident Jim Stapleton Remains an Army Man at Heart By Nick Fortuna
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Digital Health Technologies and Aging: A Q&A with University of Florida Professor Michael Bice By Cody Smith
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LeadingAge Florida and USF Offer New Professional ALF Core Training Course By Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida
Departments 5
President’s Message Looking Back and Looking Forward: Collaboration During Disruption By Steve Bahmer, LeadingAge Florida President & CEO
S upport Our Advertisers
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About the cover Gulf Coast Village resident Frances Keogh embarked on her maiden voyage on a motorcycle, fulfilling a lifelong dream and satisfying a drive for adrenaline. Read more on page 20.
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Advertiser Index
LeadingAge Florida 1812 Riggins Road, Suite 1 Tallahassee, FL 32308 (850) 671-3700 www.leadingageflorida.org LeadingAge Florida Executive Staff President/CEO Steve Bahmer sbahmer@LeadingAgeFlorida.org
Vice President of Operations Dawn Jimenez djimenez@LeadingAgeFlorida.org Vice President of Advocacy Susan C. Langston slangston@LeadingAgeFlorida.org
Janet Stringfellow, Affordable Housing Chair Kevin Smaage, ALF/HCBS Chair Garry Hennis, CCRC Chair Aimee Hilton, Nursing Home Chair
LeadingAge Florida Officers Joel L. Anderson, Chair Bruce Jones, Chair-Elect Kip Corriveau, Secretary Lisa Lyons, Treasurer
Publication Team
Senior Living magazine serves as a LeadingAge Florida member resource that supports the LeadingAge promise: to advocate, educate and serve aging services professionals. Managing Editor Nick Van Der Linden Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida For advertising inquiries, please contact Katie White at kwhite@thewymancompany.com or (352) 388-7031. Senior Living is the official publication of LeadingAge Florida. All rights reserved. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced without permission from LeadingAge Florida.
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President’s Message
Looking Back and Looking Forward: Collaboration During Disruption
D
ear LeadingAge Florida members:
Five months ago, a team of LeadingAge Florida staff and members had just returned from an advocacy visit to Washington, D.C. Our primary agenda item was the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule, which would have eliminated an exemption to the provider tax for our CCRC members. When we left for D.C., there was only the faintest trepidation about flying, as the notion of COVID-19 had only recently entered our national consciousness. When we returned, all of our worlds—yours and ours—began to change at a pace and intensity that have not let up to this day. Since January, our members have implemented the requirements and guidance from more than 120 different federal and state directives. They have fundamentally altered their operations in an effort to keep the virus out of their communities, to mitigate its impact once it inevitably found its way in, and to keep residents and staff safe and connected to family and friends around the world. At the same time, as of this writing, the LeadingAge Florida staff has hosted more than 100 member calls to provide the latest information, insight, and interpretation, working around the clock to support our members during this extraordinary time. We have participated as the only long-term care representative on the Governor’s Re-Open Task Force, advocated for our members in dozens of articles in media of every type, and communicated daily with the secretaries of state agencies and the Governor’s office. For our members and for our staff, it has been a monumental collaboration, indeed. A collaboration that has crystallized, as crises often do, the unique character, commitment, and compassion of LeadingAge Florida members across the aging services continuum in battling a virus that continues to threaten the most vulnerable among us. This edition of Senior Living magazine is dedicated to you, the heroic caregivers and leaders who have unfailingly walked into an incredibly challenging situation, day after day, with one goal in mind: the safety of your residents and staff. In this edition, we recount that effort in a piece about COVID-19, and we continue to shine a spotlight on the fascinating residents and outstanding communities you serve. There is, of course, much more work to do. But we hope you find a few minutes to spend with us in these pages as we all begin to look toward the future and the new normal in senior living.
Steve Bahmer Leadingage Florida President & CEO
“For our members and for our staff, it has been a monumental collaboration, indeed. A collaboration that has crystallized, as crises often do, the unique character, commitment, and compassion of LeadingAge Florida members across the aging services continuum in battling a virus that continues to threaten the most vulnerable among us.”
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John Knox Village President and CEO Gerry Stryker (left) shows his gratitude for members of the Home Health Agency.
A Hopeful Future: Adapting, Learning, and Succeeding During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Steve Bahmer, LeadingAge Florida President & CEO
T
he activities look different. Masked, and more distant, sometimes spanning thousands of miles of high-speed fiber, and sometimes separated only by the beauty of a southwest Florida lake. “Throughout the past 100 days, we have surprised ourselves by living fully, staying active, and finding interesting things to do—pandemic or no pandemic,” said Bunny Nesbit, a member at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch in Sarasota. “We’ve painted some amazing works of art, we’ve written some zany poetry, and we’ve exercised by our gorgeous Center
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Lake, all the while wearing our masks and maintaining social distancing,” she said. Since the first known case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States in mid-January, the term ‘social distancing’ has become common parlance, and masks have become a necessary accessory for LeadingAge Florida members and their residents. Those precautions, and so many more, comprise a reimagining of services and service delivery in the midst of a virus outbreak that is most threatening to seniors and continues to spread rapidly after the Fourth of July holiday. “I think I can truthfully say that this has been the most terrible and most inspiring
time in my career,” said Tim Ficker, Executive Director of Cypress Cove in Ft. Myers. “It is, at once, overwhelming and uplifting,” Flicker said. “This pandemic elicits some of the deepest expressions of fear and the greatest acts of courage by both residents and staff. I cannot imagine a time in the history of our field when our mission of holistic care with dignity and choice has been so important.”
In This Together The transition from open communities of care bustling with activity to safe havens fortified against the virus began shortly af-
To our LeadingAge Florida members and all those who are caring for seniors during this very challenging time, we wanted to take a moment to offer our sincerest thanks. We are truly grateful for you, and for all you are doing to keep your residents and your teams healthy and safe. You have our deepest respect and our full support. A Cypress Cove resident enjoys seeing friends and family through the use of technology.
ter news broke about the first COVID-19 case in the United States. LeadingAge Florida members quickly instituted screening protocols at their entrances, established COVID-19 response teams, instituted mask policies for staff, restricted visitation, closed dining rooms, pools, and gyms, and set up COVID-19 isolation units to keep the virus off their campuses and to prevent its spread if it broke through. Meanwhile, members also rethought many of the long-cherished social elements of life in a senior living community, including communal dining and group activities. “Our employee dining room was reorganized so that there is only one chair at each table to encourage social distancing,” said Rob Goldstein, CEO of Menorah Manor in St. Petersburg. While many of these measures necessarily limited staff and resident interactions, members went to great lengths to ensure that services were delivered and to prevent isolation and loneliness. “We wanted to make sure that our members understood that they are not alone,” said Jim Cater, CEO of The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch. “We are in this together. Our staff is there for them, and they are there for each other. We encouraged people to reach out and be neighborly.” With that in mind, staff and members in his community worked on ways to stay connected. Ben Turoff, Director of Member Life and Events at The Glenridge, implemented a
shopping service run by volunteer staff who handled grocery shopping, prescription pick-ups, and dry-cleaning drop-offs and pick-ups, among other services. The Glenridge also delivered three meals a day, at no charge, to members’ homes. And for a special no-contact surprise, bags filled with “information and fun stuff” were hung weekly on members’ doorknobs. Inevitably, technology became a central feature of communities’ plans to communicate with residents, and to help residents and their families stay connected as well. “We broadcast activities over our inhouse TV system, which the residents
can view in their rooms,” Goldstein said of Menorah Manor’s efforts. “Our director of spiritual care uses this technology to broadcast religious services, inspirational lectures, and readings. We have partnered with a local musician who has the capability to livestream performances from their in-house studio to our television system.” Since March 5, Ficker has been delivering messages to Cypress Cove residents and their families via the community’s TouchTown TV station, providing updates on prevention and mitigation efforts. His healthcare activities staff also pivoted to a technology-based approach, facilitat-
Staff at Menorah Manor show off the meals they received from a local business as a thank you for all the hard work that they do. SENIOR LIVING •
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Another day, another opportunity to serve residents! While maintaining social distancing and practicing safety measures, staff at Harbour’s Edge delivered ice cream treats to all of their residents. Spirits are high at Harbour’s Edge!
“With all the apps that are available, you can be in direct contact with family and friends,” Nesbit said. “You can talk to them, see them, play games with them; the list is endless. There are also loads of educational opportunities available on YouTube, as well as local Sarasota arts programs from groups like the opera, symphony, ballet, and theater.” COVID-19 has affected all aspects of LeadingAge Florida member communities, including forcing them to rethink some of their own traditional events. Annual fundraisers provide additional financial resources that help senior living providers deliver the highest-possible quality of care. But the elimination of large gatherings meant that members had to consider foregoing their annual fundraisers and dealing with the resulting financial hit. After cancelling its Bucket List Ball, originally scheduled for mid-April, Menorah Manor found a way to host its annual gala in June, despite the persistence of the virus. “As the pandemic rapidly unfolded, the decision was made to pivot to a virtual event, to be safe and to eliminate placing
our guests in an uncomfortable position of having to decide whether or not to attend,” Goldstein said. In the end, more than 300 people attended the virtual event, which featured a rap video that was produced pre-COVID, as well as a Heroes video that highlighted Menorah Manor’s frontline employees. And the community surpassed its fundraising goals. “This uplifting event created tremendous goodwill for our organization during this difficult time,” Goldstein said.
Caring for Caregivers For providers, fighting COVID-19 has been a two-front war from the very beginning: keeping residents safe and healthy, and keeping the heroic staff who care for those residents safe and healthy as well. Across the state, LeadingAge Florida members implemented numerous strategies to ensure their employees had the resources they needed to continue providing high-quality resident care. In the early days of the pandemic, that often meant providing hard-to-get supplies and other resources. Goldstein said Menorah Manor offered toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant,
HEROES WO
ing nearly 2,000 virtual visits between residents and family members around the world. Although there is no replacing in-person visits and other social activities, Glenridge member Bunny Nesbit and her friends credit the internet and online socialization with helping them stay connected.
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and bleach to employees at the community’s cost at a time when the paper goods shelves in grocery stores were bare. The St. Petersburgbased community also provided free hand sanitizer and cloth masks to employees to take home to protect them and their families. “We have tried to be as supportive of our employees as possible,” he said. “Many members of our community have also stepped up and provided catered meals for our entire staff.” At Cypress Cove, Ficker said his community also provided food for employees. All staff on all shifts were offered free to-go lunches twice a week. And to provide additional help, the community’s Employee Emergency Assistance Fund raised $142,000 in about three weeks, and then distributed those funds to 320 staff members in gifts ranging on average from $540 to $2,500. Those funds provided employees with much-needed support. But a statewide stayat-home order that resulted in the closure of daycare centers put further pressure on caregivers and other senior living staff who rely on childcare services so they can get to work. Cypress Cove stepped into that breach on behalf of its employees as well. Ficker said
his community began providing free daycare at a nearby childcare center in late March for children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years.
A Hopeful New Normal Five months after the first known case of COVID-19 in the U.S. and fully three months into new protocols that include restrictions on visitation in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, it remains unclear what ‘the new normal’ in senior living will look like. Until there is a vaccine, it will likely include the masks, screenings, staggered meal times, and social distancing that have become so familiar. Indeed, activities may continue to look different. Throughout the pandemic, though, LeadingAge Florida members have consistently adapted and innovated to ensure resident and staff safety above all else, and to hold fast to their missions of delivering the highest-quality care to Florida seniors. “Looking back on these past few months, I can’t say enough about the resiliency and dedication of our members and staff,” said
Across the state, LeadingAge Florida members implemented numerous strategies to ensure their employees had the resources they needed to continue
WORK HERE
providing high-quality resident care.
Jim Cater from The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch. “We’ve all learned to embrace uncertainty, use knowledge to overcome fear, adjust to new ways of living in a world full of unknowns, and remain hopeful for the future.”
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Roger Quirantes, Transitional Living Specialist for Touchstone Village Clay, with one of their residents.
Shelter from the Storm: How Moosehaven and YCC Help Clay County’s Unaccompanied Homeless Youth By Nick Van Der Linden Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida
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t only the age of 17, Savannah traveled across the United States looking for a better and more stable future. Savannah lived without stable housing in California, so she connected with her father in Florida who promised her a place to stay and a better life. She left with only the clothes on her back and came to Florida to meet up with her dad. But none of what he had told her was true. Her father didn’t have his own place and was addicted to drugs, leaving her once again on her own to pick up the pieces. Savannah struggled mentally and emotionally, looking for safety, security, and guidance. This is the unfortunate reality for far too many youth with unstable housing in Clay County and across the United States. These are young people who are not in the physi-
cal custody of a parent or guardian and do not have stable or secure housing. According to the Clay County School Board, during the 2017-2018 school year, 118 unaccompanied homeless youth were enrolled. According to the non-profit organization, SchoolHouse Connection, 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness each year. John Capes, Executive Director of Moosehaven Retirement Community at the time this story was written, was approached by the Clay County Police Chief. The Chief told Capes that Orange Park Town Council members were concerned about this situation and tried to find a solution for the unaccompanied homeless youth in their county. They specifically wanted to identify students who were temporarily displaced and give them a place to live, sleep and eat, ultimately to re-
move as many hurdles as possible to help with their high school education. Capes attended a committee meeting and offered up Moosehaven’s services in support. Moosehaven was eager to take on the challenge. The active retirement community—located on the banks of the St John’s River that houses senior residents typically above the age of 65—now had new residents, 18-yearolds without a place to call home. Moosehaven provided rooms, food, relationships with the elderly, and even jobs for the teenagers as part of the initiative. For Capes, it became part of the Moose’s mission and the first step toward a bigger picture. “Think about your high school experience,” Capes said. “Think about whether it was about fun or whether it was about a safe and warm place to stay for six hours of the
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Designing a NEW GENERATION of Senior Environments
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day. For many that’s what it’s about. The ability to bring them to Moosehaven is great. Our residents are excited to have these young people on their campus because they can interface with them and it’s like a childgrandparent relationship. They can learn from each other and it heals the heart to be able to blend the two generations together.” Capes said that while all the youth graduated high school throughout the duration of their time at Moosehaven and they were able to provide a lot of the necessary resources, there were some components the Moose simply wasn’t able to manage. “We had to be everything to those children,” Capes said. “The problem was that we didn’t have the resources to be the life coaches they needed us to be. We didn’t have the opportunity to go through the day with each child and identify troubling circumstances as they developed.”
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Enter Touchstone Stone Village of Clay, a program apart of the Youth Crisis Center (YCC) that was founded in 1974 as Florida’s first runaway program and is now one of the largest and best-known providers for youth and families. Touchstone Village offers transitional living services for young adults ages 18-21 who may be homeless, need independent living skills, are aging out of foster care, are leaving a group home, or find themselves in a variety of other situations that limit self-sufficiency. “We connected with John and Moosehaven and saw a perfect opportunity for a long-lasting partnership,” said Kim Sirdevan, President and CEO of Youth Crisis Center. “Our program depends heavily on community partnerships, and Moosehaven is a big part of that.” Capes said Touchstone Village saved the initiative by providing the much-needed extra time and resources. “For many of these youth, their upbringing has been difficult,” Sirdevan said. “Most of us think that when someone is 18, they are ready to move out, but in these instances that is certainly not the case. We think they’re ready to get a job and sit in a classroom, but these youth are at the very basics in terms of their development. Sirdevan elaborated on the challenges these youth also face. “They have endured significant trauma. Whether it is drug or alcohol abuse, deaths, false promises, you name it; we’ve probably seen it all,” she said. We’ve even had one young adult who was caged for half their life. Literally living in a dog cage. When someone endures this type of trauma throughout their youth, it does not automatically place them at an 18-year-old mindset when they reach 18 years of age. That is where we come in. We start with the basics. Getting up every morning, brushing your teeth, and leaving and arriving on time.” YCC has three programs in Clay County: short-term outpatient counseling, twice-a-week designated school walk-in clinics that are available to youth and adults, and therapy. “We want those who are at-risk or simply need help to seek our services as well,” said Cecelia Stalnaker-Cauwenberghs, Touchstone Village of Clay Chief Clinical Officer. “As busy as normal families are, kids can lack the necessary resources. We can help teach them life skills such as writing checks, saving money, cooking, and more. Through our funding we are able to also offer mental health therapy or psychiatry free of charge. We can also help pay for certain medications while working to get them health insurance.” The services provided by Touchstone Village of Clay are invaluable, but what might be the most unique of all is their house-parent service model. This is where several young adults live together in the same home and have a house parent seven days a week.
“This is more than just housing,” Sirdevan said. “It’s a program, which means our staff interfaces with them constantly and they’re required to meet certain goals to continue in the program.” Stalnaker-Cauwenberghs added that the presence of a parent figure and structure makes a significant difference. “They’re placed into a situation where they have safe, stable housing in a non-judgmental environment,” she said. “When they are stressed or upset, they can come home and have each other or a parent to talk to. They also go grocery shopping each Sunday and have dinner every day at 6 p.m., providing much-needed structure. Because everyone is from different walks of life, everyone had to get used to the different smells of everyone’s style of cooking. This past Thanksgiving, they even cooked their own meal together.” Moosehaven remains a significant part of the program. The retirement community owns the housing in which the youth live and also helps employ those youth that are interested in working on the campus. “Moosehaven assists with housing, but is also key in employability,” Sirdevan said. “Of course, everyone still has to go through the interview process, but if they’re hired,
Moosehaven provides a variety of professional attributes to these young people.” Capes added that because of the services provided by Touchstone Village, the youth are now much better prepared for professional development opportunities than in the past. “Thanks to the services provided by Touchstone, students are much better prepared for social interaction with residents,” he said. “Previously we weren’t able to provide the necessary mental and developmental services. But now, you can tell that relationships and friendships with residents are even better. Residents and students get invested in each other and it’s great to see the continued development in self-worth and self-esteem.” According to Generations Unlimited, interactions with youth are beneficial for older adults as well. It can energize them and give them a sense of purpose, especially when sharing their experience and skills. Working with young adults also can have health benefits. Older adults who regularly volunteer or interact with children burn more calories per week, experience fewer falls, and do better on memory tests than their peers. Partnerships like the one between the Youth Crisis Center and Moosehaven truly
Roger Quirantes of Touchstone Village Clay meets with residents.
embody the value and importance of bringing generations together through intergenerational programs. Thanks to programs like the Youth Crisis Center’s Touchstone Village, youth like Savannah have a fighting chance at getting their life back on track. Savannah was able to get connected with the program, get the help she needed, and recently found a job and is set to graduate high school. As for Moosehaven’s investment into the program, there is no end in sight. “The vision is to get more property, create a village to serve more youth and be able to tie it to an outpatient setting,” Capes said.
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Mission Driven
After a lifetime of service, Shell Point resident Jim Stapleton remains an Army man at heart By Nick Fortuna
E
ven now, 26 years after he retired from the U.S. Army, Col. Jim Stapleton is protecting his men. Back in 1967, Stapleton led a rifle company ranging from 90 to 110 men on a seven-month trek through the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and he didn’t lose a single man during more than 30 combat engagements. Fast forward to this spring, and Stapleton’s mission wasn’t nearly as challenging or perilous, though it still was important. Stapleton coordinates the veterans group at Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, where he has lived with his wife, Carolyn, since 2018. On a morning in
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March, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to shut down public life, Stapleton could be found sitting on a bench outside the community’s meeting hall. A meeting of the veterans group had been canceled, and Stapleton wanted to make sure none of its 140 members showed up and socialized in tight quarters. It’s well documented that this particular virus is especially hard on seniors, so Stapleton took force-protection measures, just as he had five decades ago overseas. It was an example of Stapleton living according to his personal motto: “Mission first, people always.”
Stapleton seemingly was destined to be a soldier. “I was born in Army diapers,” he said with a laugh. He was born at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, where his father, Army surgeon James “Buck” Stapleton, was stationed. The family moved around a bit before Jim’s dad was assigned to West Point to run its hospital. A teenaged Stapleton quickly established friendships with neighbors who intended to enroll in the Military Academy, solidifying his future plans. He would enroll and play for West Point’s lacrosse team before graduating as an infantry officer in 1964.
Stapleton had known friends and fellow West Point cadets who died in the Vietnam War, but after graduating, he was determined to do his part. “There wasn’t fear,” he said. “Nobody wanted to miss the opportunity to command a company or a rifle platoon, and people were raring to go. We all wanted to get our chance.” Stapleton joined the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington, where he spent nine months preparing to deploy. To get acclimated to the terrain in Vietnam, the soldiers trained in the dense forests, mountains and foothills surrounding Mount Rainier. Proclaimed battle ready, the division embarked on a 16-day transport to Vietnam aboard the U.S. Navy ship Gen. Nelson M. Walker, arriving in August 1966. The typical tour in Vietnam was 12 months, but Stapleton served for 28 consecutive months, spending his 25th birthday in the Central Highlands and his 26th in Saigon. Amid the harsh reality of war, Stapleton also had leisure on his mind. By extending his tour twice, he earned an additional 60 days of rest and recuperation and a chance to spend time in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. His bravery had its benefits. “It wasn’t all bad,” he said of extending his tour.
Photos courtesy of Col. Jim Stapleton and Shell Point Retirement Community.
A Disciplined Approach Stapleton began his tour as a rifle company executive officer, but was promoted to captain a few months later and was made the commander of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment. But the circumstances of the promotion were more somber than celebratory. The man Stapleton was replacing had just been killed in action, presumably by sniper fire while checking to see why progress had stalled at the front of the company. “When an officer got killed, it was usually when he was doing something that he shouldn’t have been doing,” Stapleton said. “He was somewhere that he shouldn’t have been. That obviously weighed heavily on me before I took over the company.” Early in his tour, Stapleton noted that the commanding officer routinely waited until late afternoon to order his soldiers to dig in for the night, leaving them with little time to set up their overhead cover. Consequently, some soldiers were killed or injured in mortar attacks. Now in command, Stapleton was determined not to repeat that mistake, so he established a routine centered around maximum force protection. Stapleton’s rifle company covered several miles a day through jungles, woods, mountains and fields during its seven-month journey through the Central Highlands. They typically would engage in search-and-destroy combat operations until about 2 p.m. before beginning to settle in for the night—establishing a perimeter, erecting structures for overhead cover and manning listening posts. Artillery support from the Army and aerial support from the Air Force were always on call. Soldiers at listening posts were relieved every few hours to reduce the chance that they would fall
asleep and leave the company vulnerable to ambush. In the morning, patrols were sent out to ensure that the path ahead was clear and that the company hadn’t been surrounded overnight. “I think a large part of our success stemmed from the fact that we stopped early every day,” he said. “We never let our guard down. I also had a crackerjack electrical engineer who was my forward observer, and he could do magic calling in artillery, so while we were patrolling, we would call in artillery rounds so we knew where we were; we didn’t have to rely on our poor navigation in those days before GPS.” Subsequently, Stapleton was chosen to be an aide-de-camp to Lt. Gen. William “Ray” Peers, best remembered for leading the Peers Commission investigation into the My Lai massacre and other war crimes in Vietnam. It was during this time in 1968 that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched the second Tet Offensive, the surprise attack on U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese. The offensive, timed to coincide with the Tet holiday, or Vietnamese new year, took aim at more than 100 cities and towns and was the largest military operation conducted by either side at that point in the war. Two weeks into the offensive, the Pentagon estimated that about 33,249 enemy combatants had been killed, with another 6,000 wounded. The U.S. and South Vietnamese had seen about 3,470 soldiers killed and another 12,062 wounded, with Americans accounting for about one-third and one-half of those figures, respectively. The Tet Offensive marked a turning point in the American public’s support for the war and led renowned journalist Walter Cronkite to conclude that the U.S. was mired in a stalemate.
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Stapleton spent the tail end of his tour as a battalion adviser with the Vietnamese Airborne Division, one of the elite fighting forces in the South Vietnamese army.
Success on Two Fronts Of course, the war would end eventually, but Stapleton’s service to his country was just beginning. He would remain on active duty until retiring in 1994. He taught physical education at West Point before becoming an aide to Gen. Sam S. Walker, the Military Academy’s commandant of cadets. Subsequent assignments would send him to Germany and Italy to train and command a battalion and a brigade, and to Turkey and northern Iraq to help protect the Kurds from Iraqi aggression during the first Gulf War. Stapleton’s military career ended right where his life had begun: at Fort McPherson, where he served as Gen. Colin Powell’s staff coordinator for Forces Command (FORSCOM), the largest Army command, consisting of more than 750,000 active-duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers.
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Success followed Stapleton into civilian life as he and his family remained in Atlanta. He joined the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as director of logistics for the athletes’ villages, helping the city prepare for the 1996 event. He later was a vice president for the National Linen Service and Allied Automotive Group before becoming a consultant, helping to turn around and launch businesses. Stapleton also served on the boards of the Atlanta Food Bank, Atlanta Restaurant Council, Atlanta City Sales Club, Veterans Upward Bound, U.S. Army War College Foundation and the West Point Society of Atlanta. “It was a storybook military career, followed by 24 years of a storybook career as a civilian,” Stapleton said.
Enjoying Shell Point Retirement Stapleton and his wife Carolyn will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year, but they’ve known each other far longer than that. With their fathers both serving at West Point and their mothers working in a thrift shop there, the two were
friends in high school. Just like Stapleton, Carolyn’s first husband served as a rifle company commander in Vietnam, but he was killed in action. Five years later, she married Stapleton, and he eventually adopted her two children. The couple now has seven grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren. These days, the Stapletons are enjoying retirement at Shell Point, and Jim shows no signs of slowing down, despite a bout with head and neck cancer about 14 years ago. He and his wife volunteer to deliver mail twice a month to residents of the Larsen Pavilion, an assisted-living and rehabilitation facility, and are on the social and welcoming committees for Harbor Court, their neighborhood subdivision. They also are active in their Catholic church, and Jim is in the Knights of Columbus. “We studied lots of retirement communities, and Shell Point beat out the competition hands down in terms of being the best place to live,” he said. “I tell people this is like living in a top-tier timeshare unit 365 days a year. I can’t think of a better place to be.”
Digital Health Technologies and Aging: A Q&A with University of Florida Professor Michael Bice By Cody Smith
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ichael Bice, a University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions Professor, has studied the technological advancements impacting the elder care industry. This year, Bice spoke at LeadingAge Florida’s virtual 57th Annual Convention and Exposition, discussing artificial intelligence, virtual care, and care robots. Ahead of the convention in this exclusive Q&A with Senior Living, Bice discusses the major technology areas changing the elder care industry.
What are the main digital health technologies impacting the eldercare industry today? The basic building block of all the digital health technologies is artificial intelligence, which is an umbrella term for any computer program that does something akin to intelligent human behavior. There are five different forms of digital health technology which are available to support the elderly population. The first are care robots, which include robotic pets (these tend to be very popular), ro-
bot care companions, and nurse assistant robots. These latter robots are appearing during COVID-19 as they play a major role in cleaning and disinfecting rooms. Another kind of elder technology is the Internet of Health Things (wearables and devices). These technologies help people manage medications, respond to falls, and keep track of their vital signs. Another technology is virtual reality, which is a completely immersive experience that can be used for therapeutic as well as recreational purposes. There’s the voice activated devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home. And fi-
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nally, there is telehealth, which includes telemedicine and virtual care.
Can you help us better understand the concept of artificial intelligence (AI)? Artificial intelligence is like a Russian nesting doll, with the smallest doll being deep learning or deep neural networks, followed by machine learning, and then artificial intelligence incorporating both deep learning and machine learning. AI describes the way in which machines act as if they were an intelligent human being. In my generation, you would program a computer by rigid codes and formats. But machine learning uses examples, rather than code. You feed it examples, and then it begins to understand what you’re looking for, whether it’s facial recognitions, words, or terminologies, and then it learns on its own. That’s why it’s called machine learning. A good example of machine learning is Google Search. The subset of machine learning, the deep neural networks, also doesn’t use code. They function the way people think that our neural networks work. A lot of medical breakthroughs are occurring at the
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deep neural network level. For example, they have algorithms which can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease within six years. They can predict the onset of depression. They could also be used for predicting and treating cancer.
How can nursing homes and facilities use new technology, such as telemedicine, to keep residents safe during a pandemic such as COVID-19? In the past, telemedicine was never fully realized for a number of reasons. Every single state had a different approach to telemedicine, and often it wasn’t covered by insurance plans. A breakthrough occurred in Florida last July when Governor DeSantis signed House Bill 23, which was a broad initiative to make telemedicine more available throughout the industry and held promise for home health agencies sponsored by our nursing homes. COVID-19 came along and people had to socially distance and stay at home, particularly older people who are more at risk. Now, the Federal government has basically said, “Go for it.” They pulled away from con-
straints about the use and the location of the service, and enhanced payment systems. There’s a point of view that we’re not going to go back to the old ways, and that telemedicine and virtual care are going to be with us for some time to come. Much of home healthcare, which is a big and growing part of aging services, could be handled virtually. This includes monitoring medications, managing falls, keeping connected to family members, and more. There’s a huge, bright future for virtual care in aging services. No question.
How do you think homes can incorporate, educate, and train their administration, employees, and residents about new technology? It’s very important that there’s enterprise Wi-Fi in a facility that’s available everywhere for free. A number of nursing homes might have Wi-Fi only in the common areas, but they would not have it in an enterprise way. So, a requirement for supporting digital health technologies in a nursing home is having enterprise-wide Wi-Fi. All digital health technologies re-
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quire wireless access to operate and to communicate with other devices and the patient’s electronic health record. You also need a willingness of a facility’s chief executive officer to be supportive of a pilot program in a digital technology. You also have to have a cadre of people in the organization who are product champions, who really want to try something like virtual reality viewers or pet robots for Alzheimer’s patients. For example, there is a good body of evidence to indicate that robot pets calm people with dementia, and they are increasingly a feature of memory care units. So, you might initiate a pilot program where you would get five to 10 of the devices and have them available for patients. track their usage, make observations about what works and what doesn’t, and make your findings more widely known. You should keep your board fully informed and go to events like LeadingAge Florida’s convention to hear speakers and view vendor-sponsored exhibits.
What do you think the future of elder care looks like? There are four compelling reasons why I think technology is going play a very significant role in the future of past acute care. The first is a concept called aging in place, and that describes staying in the home of your choice for as long as you are able. For example, my wife and I are both almost 80 years old. We prefer to stay and live independently for as long as we’re able to, and we are not alone in that desire. If technology can help us do that, we’ll adopt it. Second, there are patients who are in nursing homes and residents in assisted living facilities, and the digital health technologies have the potential to improve the quality and quantity of their care. Third, it isn’t unusual for parents to be in Florida and their daughter or son to be reside in a different state such as Pennsylva-
nia or Michigan. How do they stay in touch with each other? How do the kids know that their folks are taking their medications on time and they’re being protected against falls? Digital health technologies which offer remote patient monitoring services will certainly help. The fourth reason is that there aren’t enough caregivers available to meet the needs of those people requiring personal care. Not long ago, AARP had predicted that in 2020 there will be three people that need care and only one caregiver available. It’s a huge gap! And by 2030, AARP predicts that there will be four people needing care and only one person available to provide it. This huge manpower deficit cannot be resolved by hiring and training more people. If technology can do something to make the organization more efficient, effective, or safer for patients, then it’s going to play a very significant role.
LeadingAge Florida and USF Offer New Professional ALF Core Training Course By Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida
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eadingAge Florida is proud to partner with the University of South Florida on a new professional, convenient, and online ALF Core Training course for prospective assisted living administrators, or those interested in learning about assisted living. This one-of-a-kind course is exclusively online and provides regularly scheduled interactive discussion sessions with industry experts. Students may work at their own pace from anywhere and on almost any device to complete the 26-hour course. Students can register for this course at any time and get started immediately. “We are very proud to partner with the University of South Florida to offer this unique, online approach to Core Training,” said Steve Bahmer, President and CEO of LeadingAge Florida. “Their depth of expertise and the quality of the programming, combined with the expertise of Susan An-
derson, our Director of Assisted Living Public Policy, and the experience of our member assisted living communities make it a truly one-of-a-kind educational opportunity.” The course instructor is approved Core Trainer Dr. Kathryn Hyer, professor in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida and an international expert on long-term care. Weekly 30-minute online sessions feature Dr. Hyer, LeadingAge Florida’s Susan Anderson, ALF administrators, and specialists. They will answer questions, provide additional information, and help you in your pursuit of an assisted living license. “I am excited to bring together the expertise of our professors at the USF School of Aging Studies with the regulatory and operations experience brought by LeadingAge Florida and its members,” said Kathy Hyer, who is also a professor and Director
for the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging. “While all core courses must cover the same required material, we hope to differentiate our program with weekly live chat sessions, discussion board assignments, and opportunities to learn more about why things are structured the way they are. All sessions will be recorded and posted for at least two months. Our goal is to not only help you pass the exam, but to learn how to be an administrator who runs a quality assisted living program.” The course meets the requirements established in Florida Statute 429.52 and Florida Administrative Code 59A-36.011 and prepares students to pass the core exam to become an administrator. Upon successful completion of this 26hour course, students will receive a certificate of completion, which will allow them to register to take the state core competency exam.
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SPEED
is What They Need Gulf Coast Village residents Jim Baker and Frances Keogh crave adrenaline well into their 90s By Nick Fortuna
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hroughout the coronavirus pandemic, Jim Baker could be found hugging the turns and putting the pedal to the metal at iconic racetracks the world over, all from the comfort of his home at Gulf Coast Village in Cape Coral. More than 170,000 auto racing fans have subscribed to the online racing simulation platform iRacing, and as his 94th birthday approaches in October, Baker just might be the oldest. But the competitive juices that made him a successful insurance executive, racecar driver, and sailboat racer still flow freely, and the need for speed endures.
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It’s been that way ever since he was a farm kid in Tennessee, racing those little red wagons with his friends. Baker learned early on that by shifting his weight and leaning into turns while inside the wagon, he and the kid pulling it could gain an edge. Over the years, the mode of transportation may have changed, but Baker hasn’t. “I still love competition,” he said. “I do it because it’s a great outlet.” Baker isn’t the only Gulf Coast Village resident spicing up his golden years with the occasional adrenaline rush. Later in this piece, we’ll meet Frances Keogh, who
checked an item off her bucket list at age 92 when she rode on the back of a motorcycle for the first time. But right now, the green flag is out, and Baker is ready to race.
Realistic Racecar Cockpit Jim Baker sits in a racecar-style driver’s seat in the dining room of his one-bedroom apartment, with three high-definition monitors lined up at eye level to provide a 180-degree view from the cockpit. There’s a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, a gear shifter, and speakers that boom with the sounds of a day at the races.
Racers from all over the world compete for more than $300,000 in annual prize money on iRacing, which has used laser-scanning technology to virtually recreate more than 80 international racetracks. With big money on the line, many racers approach it like a full-time job. Playing for a few hours every other day, Baker isn’t likely to win any big races, but if his younger competitors don’t bring their “A” game, they’re likely to be passed by a nonagenarian. “Some of them know that I’m an elder racer, but they don’t necessarily know that I’m coming up on 94,” Baker said. “Normally, at my skill level on the simulator, I still get a thumbs-up. “It’s not like when you’re in a real car, but it captures roughly 70% of the feel. You can sense bumps and curves through the steering wheel and from your brake action and acceleration action. With virtual racing, you’ve got to let your imagination go and allow yourself to think that this is the real thing. That makes it more enjoyable.” Baker led an exciting life long before joining iRacing. With his parents’ permission, he dropped out of high school at age 15 and joined the Navy, serving during World War II as a quartermaster helping to navigate the USS Courtland. After the war, Baker graduated from Washburn University in Kansas, began law school, decided that it wasn’t for him, and joined Firestone’s marketing management program. He left the tire company a few years later and began selling life insurance, eventually becoming an executive. Baker’s career crowded out family activities during the week, so on weekends, he
would race a three-man Lightning Class sailboat with his two sons. His kids eventually grew up and moved away, but he wasn’t done competing. Baker bought a one-man Banshee sailboat and competed solo, winning the over-55-year-old division of a national competition on San Francisco Bay. After moving from Illinois to Louisiana, Baker met a friend who organized local car rallies, sparking his interest in racing as a retirement activity. Beginning in his 70s, Baker spent more than a decade racing at tracks throughout the Northeast, South, and Midwest, including Sebring International Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Daytona International Speedway. Driving his silver 2000 BMW Z3 Coupe, which he still owns, Baker won several regional races before giving up the sport. “I enjoyed the competition and the camaraderie with the other racers,” Baker said.
“The exhilaration is hard to describe. It increases your heart rate. It’s a lot of tension, but after the race, you feel relaxed and, in most cases, a little bit exhausted.” Baker moved to Cape Coral in 2010 and lost his wife of 61 years the following year. Subsequently, a prominent iRacer in Cape Coral helped Baker set up his own in-home racing simulator, putting Baker back into the game. He said that before COVID-19, his two adult children and two grandchildren often would visit, taking one of the roughly two dozen virtual racecars he “owns” out for practice laps on the simulator. After giving up competitive racing, Baker made his Z3 Coupe street legal again, and he still gets behind the wheel to get groceries. Prior to the pandemic, he also would drive to the library or to volunteer as a greeter at the Southwest Florida Military Museum. Stuck inside now, Baker said he’s glad to be competing as an iRacer, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop. “It’s certainly nice to have [iRacer] with what we’re going through right now,” Baker said. “I spend my time on it, and it takes up a lot of my time during the day.”
On Two Wheels at 94 Frances Keogh is a fearless lady who exudes positivity, so don’t tell her not to go skydiving at age 94. That’s one of the activities on her bucket list, along with flying in a hot-air balloon. After surviving a stroke several years ago and going zip-lining on a family trip to Missouri, Keogh is up for just about anything fun and exciting. “I’m a daredevil,” she said with a laugh in her charming Southern accent. “I just live every day as if it was my last one. I did that SENIOR LIVING •
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zip-line, and I’m telling you, that’s something else. You drop about a hundred feet.” Keogh got to cross one item off her bucket list in a memorable way in July 2018, when friends, family, and even a local television news crew gathered to watch her maiden voyage on a motorcycle. Keogh had wanted to ride one ever since seeing an executive at AT&T, where she was a supervisor decades ago, commute to work every day on his bike, but the opportunity never presented itself. That is, until Keogh mentioned her bucket-list item to friends Sheila Sweeney and Joyce Easton, who just happened to know a generous guy with a classy bike. Michael Dreikorn agreed to ride in from Bokeelia on his Indian motorcycle and give Keogh a ride around Gulf Coast Village, but he went one step further than that, outfitting her like a true biker.
Keogh donned her shiny black “skeleton” helmet, an open-faced helmet popular with riders of cruiser-style bikes, along with black leather gloves and a black leather vest. With help from Dreikorn, she gripped the handlebars and revved the engine with a smile on her face while getting onto the bike, then settled into the luxurious leather backseat. Away they went, traveling throughout the community and on the surrounding streets before arriving back at Gulf Coast Village, with Keogh beaming and waving at her friends. “I enjoyed it,” Keogh said. “My hair was flying; I was flying. I would have taken a longer one. It was just fulfilling a dream that I’d always looked forward to. You feel so free on that motorcycle, just sitting back there, your hair blowing.” Keogh, born to tenant farmers in rural Piedmont, N.C., had a successful career working in management for the federal government in the equatorial Marshall Islands, where she hired many women at a time when doing so was rare. Later, she would serve as president of three chapters of the American Business Women’s Association, earning the group’s Woman of the Year Award in 1974.
Keogh is also the author of “God’s Spotlight,” which earned her the Golden Poet Award and the Silver Poet Award from World of Poetry in 1985 and 1986. Having lost her husband of 60 years and her only son about a month apart in 2008, Keogh’s three grandchildren are especially dear to her. Though they can’t visit during the pandemic, Keogh remains as upbeat and effervescent as ever. She said she enjoys life at Gulf Coast Village, especially all the activities and opportunities to dance. “I love dancing,” she said in June. “We weren’t allowed to dance when I was in high school, but I went to Elon College, I started dancing there, and I’m telling you, I haven’t quit.” Keogh is also passionate about politics, having recently served as chaplain of the Lee Republican Women’s Club and earning a lifetime achievement award from the Republican Women of Cape Coral Federated. Keogh said she hasn’t set a date for her next bucket-list activity, but, having gotten news coverage for her motorcycle ride, she said the spotlight agrees with her. “I turn 95 in January,” she said. “I’m hoping I’m going to have the press in here for No. 95.”
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