Tag Archive for: Sarah Thomas

Breakfast with Angels at the Longevity Venture Summit

Breakfast with Angels

Less than 1% of startups get funding from investors – what is magic in getting investors to believe in your innovative idea? This panel will discuss what they are investing in and the criteria they use to decide to fund longevity startups. Most entrepreneurs begin with angel investors who provide business development, sales, strategy, and their networks and experience. Increasingly, entrepreneurs are turning to social impact investors who view aging as a triple bottom line opportunity —financial, social, and personal—particularly meeting the needs of the large underserved and financially challenged population. The latest data and trends will be shared to inform the investment thesis of those planning to invest in the longevity market.

Moderator: Paul Stich, CEO, Countable

Presenters:

Sonia Arrison, Entrepreneur, Investor, and Best-Selling Author 

Trish Costello, CEO & Founder, Portfolia Funds 

Brian Lang, Principal, Woodlawn Health Ventures

Sarah Thomas, Venture Partner, AGETECH Capital

Register today at boomerventuresummit.com

AOTA-conference-2023-sarah-thomas-fireside

Embracing Entrepreneurship: AOTA Fireside Chat with Sarah Thomas

Discover how this in-demand global aging expert, Sarah Thomas, leveraged her experience as an occupational therapist to build a highly successful consulting practice, helping leading brands design age-inclusive products and spaces. Sarah will share what it takes to launch your own business and the unique opportunities available for occupational therapy professionals.

This special event is part of the 2023 AOTA Inspire Annual Conference & Expo held in Kansas City April 20-23. Available on-demand in May.

Visit AOTA (Amreican Occupational Therapy Association) for more info.

Age Tech Atlanta March 27-30, 2023, Atlanta, GA

Sarah Thomas Selected as a Judge for the Age Tech Challenge Innovation Showcase – Age Tech Atlanta 2023

Nexus Fellow Sarah Thomas has been selected as a judge for the inaugural Age Tech Challenge Innovation Showcase March 27.

Ten early-stage companies that are building innovative solutions geared toward seniors will be given the opportunity to present to A-list venture capitalists.

The Judges

Max Zamkow, Third Act Ventures; Sarah Thomas, Age Tech Capital; Austin Poole, Panoramic Ventures; Ray Jang, Primetime Partners

The Panelists

Jayne Morgan, M.D., Piedmont Healthcare (Moderator); Arash Harzand, M.D.,VA/Emory University; Amy Ford, Silvernest; Paige Wilson, Naborforce; Ali Ahmadi, TCARE

The Nominees

Gordon Rogers, Jane McCracken, Kelly Anne O’Neill, Ashish Narayan Thakur, Shila Nieves Burney, Ron Beleno, Jennifer DuBose, Eric Levitan Anita Ballaney, Brian Shulman, Greg Jungles, Maurice Rosenbaum, Edward Lai, MPH

Visit Age Tech Atlanta for more info.

NIC spring conference 2023 - Partnering for the Future

Nexus Insights Convene for the NIC Spring Conference

Nexus Insights will be joining senior housing and aging service leaders in San Diego on March 1st for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) Spring Conference. Conference sessions will discuss new opportunities that provide better outcomes of care for older adults through more effective integration of healthcare services and senior housing. Anyone in healthcare or senior housing looking to connect, develop long-range strategic partnerships, and innovate new models of care and housing on behalf of older adults should plan to attend.

“Integrating healthcare services with housing is mission critical for a new generation of senior living,” said Anne Tumlinson, founder and CEO of ATI Advisory, and a Nexus Fellow. “It means better care and quality of life for residents, and rewards operators and investors for addressing healthcare spending.”

Several Nexus Fellows are attending the conference including Bob Kramer, Anne Tumlinson, and Sarah Thomas. Nexus friend and alumna, Kelsey Mellard of Sitka, is speaking on one panel and interviewing Dr. Sachin Jain at the Friday morning keynote session.

Want to attend? Visit springconference.nic.org for more information. Already going and want to meet? Ping us or reach out directly to our Fellows.

Nexus Picks

Sessions you won’t want to miss at the 2023 NIC Spring Conference:

Emerging Value Based Care Opportunities for Seniors Housing & LTC Operators
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 | 4:30pm
Speakers:
Anne Tumlinson, Founder & CEO, ATI Advisory
Grant Severson, Vice President, Optum Senior Community Care
James Lydiard, Chief Strategy Officer, HarmonyCares
Brian Cloch, CEO, Cloch Management
Chris Dawe, Acting President, Curana Health Medical Group
Laurie Schultz, Principal & Co-Founder, Avenue

Taking Your Show on The Road: Bridging Care Gaps by Extending Services Into the Community
Thursday, March 2, 2023 | 1:00pm
Speakers:
Kelsey Mellard, CEO, Sitka
Michael Kurliand, Clinical Quality and Integration, MedWand
Peter Longo, Principal & Managing Partner, Cantex

The Trends and Opportunities in Medicare all Types of Operators Should Be Tracking
Friday, March 2, 2023 | 8:30am
Speakers:
Kurt Read, Partner, RSF Partners
Kelsey Mellard, CEO, Sitka
Dr. Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA, FACP, President & CEO, SCAN Group and Health Plan

 

Related:

 

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SLIF spring 2023

Spring 2023 Senior Living Innovation Forum

Now more than ever, senior housing leaders must be willing to challenge their assumptions. SLIF is the place where the industry’s boldest thinkers can have unfiltered conversations and challenge the status quo.

Nexus Fellows speaking at the forum include Ryan Frederick, CEO of Here; Sarah Thomas, CEO of MezTal.

More info at SLIF.

Partnering for the Future - NIC Spring Conference 2023

2023 NIC Spring Conference

Senior housing and care leaders are convening in San Diego to discuss new opportunities that provide better outcomes of care for older adults through more effective integration of healthcare services and senior housing. The NIC Spring Conference is designed for anyone in healthcare or senior housing looking to connect, develop long-range strategic partnerships, and innovate new models of care and housing on behalf of older adults.

Nexus Fellows in attendance include Bob Kramer, Anne Tumlinson, and Sarah Thomas.

Anne Tumlinson will be presenting:

Pathways to Value-Based Healthcare Partnerships

Expert highlights senior housing-healthcare collaborations 

Healthcare is rapidly moving from brick-and-mortar facilities into the home. The
pandemic accelerated this trend, demonstrating that hospital-level care can be
delivered safely and conveniently where people live.

Momentum is growing for innovative partnerships between healthcare providers
and senior living properties—with potential for better clinical outcomes and reduced
healthcare costs.

Learn why integrating senior housing and healthcare matters to operators and
investors and learn about pathways to partnerships.

To register visit, NIC.

ASHA

Bob Kramer Moderates Tech Panel at 2023 ASHA Annual Meeting

ASHA’s Annual Meeting, which will take place at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ, is open to the Executive Board, Advisory Committee and Associate level members. Only ASHA members may participate in our conferences.

Fellows in attendance include Bob Kramer, Sarah Thomas & Jill Vitale-Aussem.

The Next Frontier: Integrated Technology That Drives Insights. – Moderated by Bob Kramer, Jan. 24 at 2:30pm.

For more info please visit the American Seniors Housing Association.

Long-Term Care & Post-Acute Care

Navigating the Maze of Long-Term & Post-Acute Care: A Report by Nexus Insights

When an older adult experiences a crisis that requires post-acute or long-term care services and supports, they and their caregivers must make critical decisions, fast. What awaits them, however, is a maze of dead ends and poor information that stand in the way of getting the help they need.

“Older adults and their families enter a maze of twists and turns, dead ends, and wrong way streets when a life crisis forces them to consider their care options. Critical decisions about long-term care must be made quickly, with scarce information or resources, let alone supportive guidance to assist them in their time of crisis.” – Bob Kramer, founder of Nexus Insights

In February 2022, Nexus Insights hosted their inaugural ‘Nexus Voices’ session with 18 leading experts in the fields of aging policy, long-term care, senior housing and caregiver advocacy to talk through and tackle this issue.

The Outcome: A Nexus Voices Report

The result is the recently published report, “Where Am I, Where Do I Go: The Missing Entry Point to Long-Term Care Solutions for Older Adults and Their Caregivers”. This comprehensive and actionable report highlights the lack of infrastructure to help guide older adults and their families to long-term care services. The report proposes “Navigation Hubs” to help families understand their long-term care needs and select the best options for them. These hubs would serve as central doorways to existing supports and services—whether it’s home-based care, transportation or meal services, senior housing or nursing home care. The hubs would have a national presence but a hyper localized focus with counselors, or navigators, who understand the resources available in their communities and how to help older adults and their families access them.

“The factors that shape care decisions vary from family to family, but all families need an easy-to-use, accessible hub of information that clearly communicates the options that are available to them in their community,” said Anne Tumlinson, CEO of ATI Advisory and a contributor to the report. “With a growing number of older adults needing care, we have to act now to build the care infrastructure families need.”

Discussion participants outlined four primary responsibilities of the Navigation Hubs. They are:

  • Discover & Assess the long-term care needs of older adults, their families, and caregivers.
  • Educate older adults, their families and caregivers on the housing and caregiving support available to them as well as funding sources.
  • Select & Connect older adults with the best long-term care setting, supports, and services that meet their needs.
  • Reevaluate the needs of older adults as their health and financial statuses change.

“You can’t solve a problem until you’ve identified it and defined it,” said Kramer.

“Then you’ve got to define what are the key components of any solution. And we’ve laid that out with the navigation hubs and their four functions. And then we asked what we could learn from the failures and the successes of programs to date, to create our criteria. Finally, the path forward must be a joint effort involving both the public and private sectors. We demonstrated that there are aspects of differing programs from government-funded resource centers to tech-enabled employer options to private-pay models that could be incorporated into this solution.”

An Urgent Problem

In its conclusions, the report urges quick and decisive action to build navigation services for older adults that put families in the center. The family in crisis needs help now and cannot wait for lawmakers and government agencies to overhaul the long-term care infrastructure. This requires a national commitment to increased funding and an openness to reimagine existing solutions. Existing public, private-pay and employer-based programs could work together to make these hubs a reality by combining their infrastructure, experience and delivery models.

The Nexus Voices Participants

Nexus Insights Host Committee

  • David Grabowski, PhD, professor, Harvard Medical School, fellow, Nexus Insights
  • Bob Kramer, founder & fellow, Nexus Insights, co-founder, former CEO & strategic advisor, National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC)
  • Caroline Pearson, senior vice president, health care strategy, NORC at the University of Chicago, fellow, Nexus Insights
  • Sarah Thomas, CEO, Delight by Design/MezTal, fellow, Nexus Insights
  • Anne Tumlinson, CEO, ATI Advisory, fellow, Nexus Insights

Discussion Participants

  • Gretchen E. Alkema, PhD, former vice president, policy and communications, The SCAN Foundation
  • Alice Bonner, PhD, senior advisor for aging, IHI, and adjunct faculty, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
  • Ryan Frederick, founder & CEO, Smart Living 360, fellow, Nexus Insights (facilitator)
  • Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO, Wellthy
  • Ruth Katz, senior vice president for policy, LeadingAge
  • Sean Kelly, president & CEO, The Kendal Corporation
  • Suzanne Kunkel, PhD, executive director, Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University
  • Katy Lanz, chief strategy officer, Personal Care Medical Associates
  • Brian Petranick, group president, Neighborly
  • Cheryl L. Phillips, M.D., president and CEO, Special Needs Plan Alliance
  • Paul Saucier, director, Office of Aging & Disability Services, Maine Department of Health and Human Services
  • John Schall, CEO, Caregiver Action Network
  • Bill Thomas, chief independence officer, Lifespark, fellow, Nexus Insights

Read the Long-Term Care Access Report

Read the full report
Read the executive summary
Read the press release

About Nexus Insights

Nexus Insights is a think tank advancing the well-being of older adults through innovative models of housing, community and healthcare. We are a diverse group of thought leaders and stakeholders in aging and healthcare. Our goal is to spark change by sharing innovation across traditional silos, convening leaders from differing perspectives and bringing positive, life-affirming ideas into the public domain.

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Sarah Thomas new lifestyle membership model

A New Lifestyle Membership Model Development by Sarah Thomas

Early in 2019, before the pandemic, Sarah Thomas led the development of a unique wellness membership offering with partners Transforming Age and Seismic. Thomas, CEO of Delight by Design and a Fellow with Nexus Insights, is an accomplished leader of innovation, with over 20 years dedicated to transforming the aging experience. Seismic designs and produces Seismic Powered Clothing, an innovative fusion of apparel and robotics, designed to reduce muscle strain and fatigue by providing the person’s core with extra power and stability.

In Jan 2019, after taking the stage at CES, the largest consumer electronics show in the world, Thomas announced, “Well ahead in recognizing that wellness is already a dominant American lifestyle value, Transforming Age, a wellness and lifestyle network that serves older adults, is the first industry company to partner with Seismic, in an early-stage membership program designed to offer advanced access of Powered Clothing to people living across the lifestyle brand’s modern retirement communities.”

The VIP membership offered members access to community events, early-access to transformative technologies, expert trainings, and educational programming customized for each member, with a focus on wellness. The program was delivered via an upscale studio, where Thomas and her team created a premium experience-design for each guest in Transforming Age’s Seattle-based brick and mortar studio.

At the beginning of the pandemic, senior living veteran and visionary Lynne Katzmann, founder and CEO of Juniper Communities, demonstrated for the industry the importance of the membership model for committing to a lifestyle of personalized well-being. Thomas and her team at Delight by Design were brought in to do what they do best— design experiences, brands and spaces that delight the consumer at every age. Two years of productive partnership helped launch Catalyst, an exciting new “wellspan” lifestyle program, which was recently featured in McKnights Senior Living.

Other senior living providers are also forging new paths towards promoting a healthier lifestyle, building programs to meet the unique wellness needs of their current and future residents. Essex Communities, for example, is working with Thomas and the Delight by Design team to create an exciting new wellness lifestyle brand. It will be exciting to see more as they enter the market with their new wellness offering.

At Nexus Insights, our Fellows develop new ideas and models for the future of aging services. Sarah is a great example of the thought leadership these Fellows bring to re-think aging from every angle.

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Biases in product design for aging populations

Biases in Product Design for the Aging Population

This week we highlight Nexus Fellow, Sarah Thomas who is the CEO of Delight by Design. In her feature video, she shares why she is passionate about her work and expertise in aging services.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in this industry is our own inherent biases around the aging experience, and how we build products, services and spaces. It even affects how we attract our workforce, how we bring new talent into our workforce, and how we create space.”

“If I’m a senior living operator, I don’t just want functional design that’s accessible for a wheelchair or a walker, I want it to be beautiful and delightful, and to have a human-centered approach for how we experience our lifestyle at every age. I want standards to be improved across the agespan and across the lifespan. And when we approach product design, whether I’m using a new technology or I’m using a new product to make my life easier, I want it to be exciting and beautiful… We need to look at things through a different lens.”

Sarah Thomas is an accomplished leader of innovation, with nearly 20 years dedicated to transforming the aging experience. She serves as a global aging expert, advising startups, large corporations and investors. Learn more about Sarah Thomas at Nexus Insights.

 

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Tag Archive for: Sarah Thomas

Breakfast with Angels at the Longevity Venture Summit

Breakfast with Angels

Less than 1% of startups get funding from investors – what is magic in getting investors to believe in your innovative idea? This panel will discuss what they are investing in and the criteria they use to decide to fund longevity startups. Most entrepreneurs begin with angel investors who provide business development, sales, strategy, and their networks and experience. Increasingly, entrepreneurs are turning to social impact investors who view aging as a triple bottom line opportunity —financial, social, and personal—particularly meeting the needs of the large underserved and financially challenged population. The latest data and trends will be shared to inform the investment thesis of those planning to invest in the longevity market.

Moderator: Paul Stich, CEO, Countable

Presenters:

Sonia Arrison, Entrepreneur, Investor, and Best-Selling Author 

Trish Costello, CEO & Founder, Portfolia Funds 

Brian Lang, Principal, Woodlawn Health Ventures

Sarah Thomas, Venture Partner, AGETECH Capital

Register today at boomerventuresummit.com