Summit 2020
Senior leaders from over 30 national aging and long-term care organizations gathered in Chicago June 16-17, 2005 for a landmark summit to forge personal relationships and create a shared positive vision of elder care in the year 2020. The spirited meeting was designed to foster a "community of collaboration" among stakeholders and to develop strategies for spreading the diffusion of person-directed care far and wide.
The meeting opened with an exercise to encourage the sharing of personal stories about aging and long-term care. Barry Barkan described his own journey and spoke of "my story, your story, our story" -- challenging those present to listen to their hearts as well as their minds in our collaborative efforts. Small groups of five or six then met to exchange personal stories and later the "common threads that bind us" emerged in a full group discussion.
One shared realization was that real change will be possible only if pursued with elders as active contributors. Another common thread concerned the power of hope in making possible a self-directed life for elders. The fundamental need for leaders to make a transformation in their professional and personal approach to aging was also explored. Finally, a shared sentiment emerged that home must be the focal point in any dicussion of person-directed care or culture change -- that individuals have a basic claim to home and all the rights and privilages the word implies.
At the close of the Summit the participants made a committment to build a community of collaboration and to do all that is necessary to speak with one voice about the culture change imperative in long-term care. Rose Marie Fagan and Charlene Boyd ended the session by speaking for all in attendance and thanking the Commonwealth Fund for the generous support that made the Summit possible.
Organizations represented:
Action Pact
Alzheimer's Association
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
American Health Care Assocation
American Medical Directors Association
American Society on Aging
CARF-CCAC
Catholic Health Association
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Consumer Consortium for Assisted Living
Direct Care Alliance
Eden Alternative
Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence
Institute for Caregiver Education
Live Oak Institute
Meadowlark Hills
National Center for Assisted Living
National Citizen's Coalition for Nursing Home Reform
National PACE Association
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
Planetree
Pioneer Network
Pragmatic Innovations at University of North Carolina
Providence Mount St. Vincent
Quality Partners of Rhode Island
SAGE/I.D.E.A.S
Teresian House
The Commonwealth Fund
The Rothchild Foundation
The Retirement Research Foundation
Veterans' Administration
Wellspring
