Dr. Joseph Gaugler

It's a crisis. It's a calamity, you know, all these different things. And My feeling, Clarence, is, you know, as a society, we have to begin to view the aging of our population for all communities as not just a challenge, but also an opportunity. What is there to be tapped in innovative ways that we haven't done yet successfully?

It's a crisis. It's a calamity, you know, all these different things. And My feeling, Clarence, is, you know, as a society, we have to begin to view the aging of our population for all communities as not just a challenge, but also an opportunity. What is there to be tapped in innovative ways that we haven't done yet successfully?

I think if we take that philosophy first, then we can more readily achieve, you know, what I would consider and others such as the ERP, which has championed this idea of true age-friendly communities.

I think if we take that philosophy first, then we can more readily achieve, you know, what I would consider and others such as the ERP, which has championed this idea of true age-friendly communities.

Well, social determinants of health certainly have been. Yes, that for sure. That's been incorporated into Healthy People 2030. Yeah. Whether aging specifically is unhealthy people 2030, I would have to look more closely. I don't recall there's a lot of significant focus just on aging per se.

Well, social determinants of health certainly have been. Yes, that for sure. That's been incorporated into Healthy People 2030. Yeah. Whether aging specifically is unhealthy people 2030, I would have to look more closely. I don't recall there's a lot of significant focus just on aging per se.

But that being said, you know, certainly many institutes like the governmental institutes like the National Institute on Aging, Centers for Disease Control certainly as well, and others have advocated and have tried to focus not just scholarship, but more importantly, I think also policy and service development on

But that being said, you know, certainly many institutes like the governmental institutes like the National Institute on Aging, Centers for Disease Control certainly as well, and others have advocated and have tried to focus not just scholarship, but more importantly, I think also policy and service development on

along these ideas of aging as a public health imperative, not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity as well, so.

along these ideas of aging as a public health imperative, not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity as well, so.

Yeah, that's a great question, Dr. Baines. I developed this community presentation probably around 10, 15 years ago now. I called it The Turning Point. And what it was, it was for families and others that kind of provided not just information about, okay, what is residential long-term care?

Yeah, that's a great question, Dr. Baines. I developed this community presentation probably around 10, 15 years ago now. I called it The Turning Point. And what it was, it was for families and others that kind of provided not just information about, okay, what is residential long-term care?

What's the difference between assisted living, nursing home, et cetera, but then also various resources that families could leverage to help them make better decisions. And, you know, you really hit the nail on the head with this idea of a knowledge gap in that many families don't know that we have a Minnesota nursing home report card.

What's the difference between assisted living, nursing home, et cetera, but then also various resources that families could leverage to help them make better decisions. And, you know, you really hit the nail on the head with this idea of a knowledge gap in that many families don't know that we have a Minnesota nursing home report card.

That actually goes beyond what is available nationally, which is called CMS Compare, you know, in terms of the different areas and citations and other domains of quality of nursing homes. The Minnesota Nursing Home Report Card also includes information around satisfaction of residents, number of private pay, you know, or number of single occupant rooms.

That actually goes beyond what is available nationally, which is called CMS Compare, you know, in terms of the different areas and citations and other domains of quality of nursing homes. The Minnesota Nursing Home Report Card also includes information around satisfaction of residents, number of private pay, you know, or number of single occupant rooms.

I mean, all this like key information, I think many of us would find very helpful and critical in making decisions, but many people just don't know about it and haven't heard of it before. That's one example.

I mean, all this like key information, I think many of us would find very helpful and critical in making decisions, but many people just don't know about it and haven't heard of it before. That's one example.

CMS, as well as I believe the Assisted Living Federation, have also created really nice checklists that families and others can use when presumably visiting different settings and making decisions and helping them just with the various types of questions to ask and think about when they're taking a tour, talking with the staff and whatnot.

CMS, as well as I believe the Assisted Living Federation, have also created really nice checklists that families and others can use when presumably visiting different settings and making decisions and helping them just with the various types of questions to ask and think about when they're taking a tour, talking with the staff and whatnot.