Contact
DVSGA, Jeanne Coburn215 845 9900 x21
info@delawarevalleysmartgrowth.org
DVSGA Fall Event
The Evolving Nature of Senior Living:
what if everything you were told
about aging was wrong?
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bill Thomas
Followed by a board of Expert Panelists
What if everything you were told about aging was wrong? Our keynote speaker, Dr. Bill Thomas, is challenging how Americans think of aging, the models we have for senior housing, and how connectedness can overcome the lonliness that often plagues the lives of the elderly. Provider Magazine has called Dr. Thomas' Green House Project the "pinnacle" of the culture change movement in senior housing and the Wall Street Journal has called him one of the nation's "top ten innovators" changing the future of retirement.
He will be followed by a panel of experts:
- Susan Brecht, Principal, Brecht Associates, discussing the changing market for senior housing;
- Rita Landgraf, Director, University of Delaware Partnership for Healthy Communities and Delaware Health Secretary discussing an inter-generational housing model;
- Jonathan Grant, Senior Vice President, Community Operations, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, adding his perspective as the largest nonprofit owner, operator and developer of continuing care retirement communities in the US;
- Rodney Harrell, PhD., Director of Livability Thought Leadership for AARP, discussing how livable communities foster residents' engagement in the community's civic, economic, and social life
Dr. Bill Thomas
Physician, author, health care system innovator, and entrepreneur
Dr. Thomas' wide-ranging work explores the terrain of human aging and the improvement of care provided to older people. He is best known for his health care system innovations, and is the founder of the global non-profit The Eden Alternative and The Green House®. Dr. Thomas also developed the Senior ER model of care and is now working to transform the acute care services provided to elders.