Education Sessions

Wednesday, May 6

Thursday, May 7

Breakout Sessions

• Recognize the most common and dangerous pathogens impacting long-term care facilities in Iowa in 2026.
• Explain the roles of environmental contamination and airborne transmission in the spread of healthcare-associated infections.
• Implement practical infection prevention and preparedness strategies, including air disinfection, outbreak response planning, and leadership engagement.

Restoring Restorative Nursing

Service Line: SNF/CCRC
Track: Care and Services
Objectives:

• Define Restorative Nursing Program.
• Describe necessary components of Restorative Program.

• Create operational and clinical strategies to implement a restorative program.

Stories That Sell: How to Craft Narratives That Drive Action
Ben Bylsma, Lindsey Communities
Service Line: All
Track: Marketing & Sales
Objectives:

• Discuss the power and impact of telling great stories in your marketing.
• Describe the structure of a great story so you can craft more effective stories.

• Identify how to connect with customers unique problems that we solve more effectively with stories.

Andy Edeburn, Elder Dynamics
Service Line: All
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Outline major trends in the mid- and long-term for the aging services sector.
• Summarize seven leading priorities that organizations must consider in navigating future success.

• Adapt their current strategic posture to embrace or align near-term thinking with future priorities.

Value Unlocked: Driving Change, Delivering Results
Carolyn Roten, Strategic Health Care; Arlene Jaroscak, Strategic Health Care; Amber Jedlicka, The Meth-Wick Community
Service Line: All
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Describe how unlocking value begins with demonstrating organizational performance to Managed Care Organizations across key payer-defined metrics.
• Apply performance metrics aligned with value-based reimbursement models to drive measurable change and sustain improvement initiatives that effectively communicate value to payers and strategic partners.

• Analyze real-world case examples to illustrate how Meth-Wick has unlocked value and delivered measurable outcomes through innovation, integration with IASN, and evidence-based decision-making.

Aimee Delaney, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
Service Line: All
Track: Public Policy & Legal Issues
Objectives:

• Gain a basic understanding of employee rights in the area of unionization.
• Learn best practices for maintaining a union free workforce or if unionized to avoid unfair labor practices.

• Gain an understanding of bargaining and agency enforcement trends.

Service Line: SNF/CCRC
Track: Public Policy & Legal Issues

Molly Greenwald, Netsmart
Service Line: All
Track: Workforce & Leadership Development
Objectives:

• Learn strategies to improve processes and retain staff through values-driven leadership.
• Gain actionable insights on fostering employee well-being and creating a motivating work environment.

• Gain the confidence to inspire and develop future leaders in your organization.

Breakout Sessions

The Psychology of Stability: How Consistent Psychiatric Support Transforms Aging Services
Krushen Pillay, Bespoke Psychiatry
Service Lines: SNF/CCRC
Track: Care & Services
Objectives:

• Learn how consistent psychiatric support, proactive communication, and staff in-services reduce behaviors, improve morale, and increase a facility’s ability to manage higher-acuity residents.
• Apply practical mental health strategies — including structured huddles, behavior planning, GDR tracking, and diagnostic clarification — to strengthen staff confidence.
• Recognize how consistent psychiatric involvement empowers facilities to safely accept more complex residents, improve census stability, and strengthen organizational resilience.

MDS Accuracy: Updates, Compliance and Outcomes
Lisa Thomson, Pathway Health Services, Inc.; Colleen Toebe, Pathway Health
Service Lines: SNF/CCRC
Track: Care & Services
Objectives:

From Impact to Invitation: Using Storytelling to Drive Modern Philanthropy
Lisa Ryan, Communications Lead, WesleyLife; Sophia Ahmad, Vice President of Philanthropy, WesleyLife
Service Lines: All
Track: Marketing & Sales
Objectives:

• Describe why storytelling is a primary driver of donor engagement and giving behavior in today’s philanthropic landscape.
• Identify the components of an effective storytelling system that supports both development and communications goals.
• Explain how to connect storytelling to measurable philanthropic outcomes.

Cyber Claims & Resilience: Strengthening Aging Services Through Insurance
Jim Staed, EPIC Senior Living
Service Lines: All
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Understand Cyber Claims Trends in Aging Services.
• Understand the Lifecycle of a Cyber Claim.
• Build Cyber Resilience Beyond the Policy.

Update AL/ADS  - DIAL Part 1

Service Lines: AL/CCRC
Track: Public Policy & Legal Issues

Timely Topic from Courtney Clark

Service Lines:
Track: Workforce & Leadership Development

Breakout Sessions

• Understand the hybrid measures for falls and psychotropic medications.
• Understand how the April 2025 guidance changes are reflective in the changes in the quality measures.
• Understand the importance of the interdisciplinary team documentation in compliance with these measures.

Transitional Concierge: Supporting Wellness in Our Communities

Service Lines: All
Track: Care & Services
Objectives:

• Review transitions, transfer trauma, and continuum of care, as well as identify the challenges in care navigation.
• Highlight the benefit of providing a smooth transition across all services.
• Establish the key components of a successful transition concierge program and review implementation strategies.

How to Engage Every Team Member as a Sales and Marketing Expert
Brit Vipham, The Admiral at the Lake; R.J. Zielinski, The Admiral at the Lake; Katie O'Brien, The Admiral at the Lake
Service Lines: All
Track: Marketing & Sales
Objectives:

• Create stronger cross-departmental clarity and collaboration to support a seamless sales experience.
• Identify tools that improve efficiency, visibility, and consistency throughout the sales process.
• Expand the sales cycle to intentionally involve key team members, improving handoffs and outcomes.

Property Insurance 360º - Predictions and Solutions for the Future
Jim Staed, EPIC Senior Living
Service Lines: All
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Clear picture of the current state of the property market + future predictions.
• General understanding of rate production and development.
• An understanding of available strategies and solutions to combat rising costs.

Resident Panel-Wesley Life

Service Lines: All
Track: Strategy & Operations

Timely Topic from CliftonLarsonAllen

Service Lines: All
Track: Strategy & Operations

Update AL/ADS- DIAL Part 2

Service Lines: AL/CCRC
Track: Public Policy & Legal Issues

Workforce Wake-Up Call: It's Time to Recalibrate Our Work World
Holly Hartman, Retention Strategist, Magnet Culture
Service Lines: All
Track: Workforce & Leadership Development
Objectives:

• Explore the unique perspective of today's new hires to avoid the growing disconnect between senior leaders and staff.
• Reconsider existing organizational priorities, budgets, and workloads to create greater sustainability. 
• Equip leaders to become culture-building strategic partners with executive backing to accelerate results.

Breakout Sessions

Minde Knudson, Sunrise Retirement; Chris Schenkelberg, Sunrise Retirement Community
Service Lines: SNF/CCRC
Track: Care & Services
Objectives:

• Identify key leadership and organizational drivers required to successfully implement a sustainable falls-prevention bundle in long-term care settings.
• Explain how evidence-based falls-prevention interventions can be operationalized into daily workflows and embedded into long-term care systems.
• Assess falls-prevention outcomes using data-driven strategies to support continuous improvement, regulatory compliance, and long-term sustainability.

From Tasks to Transformations: How Philanthropy Helped Build a Center of Excellence in Senior Living
Paddy Homan, Plymouth Place
Service Lines: All
Track: Marketing & Sales
Objectives:

• Identify key philanthropic investments that support culture transformation and operational excellence.
• Apply practical strategies for shifting staff mindsets toward hospitality, service, and person-centered care.
• Design a roadmap for creating a Center of Excellence through culture, philanthropy, and staff engagement.

The Long-Term Care Rollercoaster: How to Survive the Ride
Gina Anderson, Cattail Nurse Consulting; Jay Jenison, Cattail Nurse Consulting
Service Lines: SNF/CCRC
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Describe appropriate and effective responses to severe situations that may occur within the facility.
• Explain the process for moving forward after severe events or high-level deficiencies—such as Immediate Jeopardy (IJ).
• Identify proactive steps and best practices that can help reduce the likelihood of severe situations occurring within the facility.

Beyond the Walls: Launching a Continuing Care at Home Program That Redefines Aging in Place
Amy Hutchins, CMO,  WesleyLife; Aaron Wheeler, Vice President of Home and Community-Based Services, WesleyLife
Service Lines: IL/HCBS/CCRC
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Describe the core consumer needs driving demand for continuing care at home programs.
• Explain how a continuing care at home model works and how it differs from long-term care insurance.
• Identify the organizational components required to successfully launch and sustain a continuing care at home program.

Empowering Seniors Through Safe, Dignified Housing Transitions
El Cameron, The Cameron Circle Group
Service Lines: IL/HCBS/CCRC/Affordable Housing
Track: Strategy & Operations
Objectives:

• Identify trauma-informed strategies for housing transitions.
• Apply restorative justice principles to housing services.
• Design actionable frameworks for senior housing support.

Life Safety Code for NF & AL
Amy Fratzke, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing

Track: Public Policy & Legal Issues
Objectives:

• Provides an update on life safety code survey trends and regulations in nursing homes and assisted living programs.
• Describe deficiency trends cited during life safety code surveys.
• Outline regulatory requirements for commonly cited deficiencies to assist with compliance.

The Creative Caretaker: Building Resilience and Compassion in High-Pressure Service
Caroline Brookfield, Artful Science
Service Lines: All
Track: Workforce & Leadership Development
Objectives:

• Identify how professional and organizational ambiguity affects decision quality and apply the DANCE technique to reduce emotional noise and support change.
• Use divergent thinking practices from the DANCE framework to generate high-value ideas that address quality and operational challenges.
• Incorporate a low-effort creative resilience practice into daily routines to proactively prevent burnout and sustain professional longevity.

Acclimate & Cultivate: How Great Leaders Keep Their People Longer
Holly Hartman, Rention Strategist, Magnet Culture
Service Lines: All
Track: Workforce & Leadership Development
Objectives:

• Explore the workforce evolution and managers’ critical impact on their new teams.
• Audit your current leadership approach to determine whether it is thriving, surviving, or wilting.
• Discover ways to better acclimate and cultivate staff in individualized ways.