Proactive risk management for operators can redefine care and enhance the lives of residents and caregivers. Rebecca Adelman, Esq., entrepreneur and Founder, Adelman Firm, PLLC, Guide Path, LLC and 2024 BTG Ambassador, shares her heart and infectious excitement for the industry as she reflects on her past experiences and hope for the future of senior living. 

Rebecca is a lawyer, entrepreneur, influencer and thought leader in healthcare, senior living and risk management.

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Produced by Solinity Marketing

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Welcome to season seven of Bridge The Gap, a podcast dedicated to informing, educating, and influencing the future of housing and services for seniors. Powered by sponsors Accushield, Aline, NIC MAP Vision, Procare HR, Sage, Hamilton CapTel, Service Master, The Bridge Group Construction and Solinity. Produced by Solinity Marketing.

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Lucas McCurdy

Welcome to Bridge the Gap podcast, the senior Living podcast with Josh and Lucas. A great show today with a great friend. We want to welcome Rebecca Adelman, the founder and entrepreneur and attorney of Adelman Firm and also of Guide Path. Welcome to the show.

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00:56 - 01:01

Rebecca Adelman

It's great to be here, you guys. I'm just glad to see everybody. Thanks for having me.

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01:01 - 02:01

Lucas McCurdy

It's great to see you too. And the list is very long. Of all the things that you are a part of. You're also a BTG ambassador. For those that are listening, you need to follow Rebecca because she does some of the best, kind of summaries of the content that Bridge the Gap puts out. So if you have traveled and maybe you're not totally caught up on our programs, follow Rebecca because she'll summarize it in a LinkedIn post and give some links. And then you can kind of cherry pick what's most of interest to you, and puts out a lot of great content for the industry. You know, Rebecca, you've been in the industry for a long time and you've seen so many different things and helped so many different operators and companies and seniors housing. Guide Path. We want to dive into that today. It seems like you have taken all of this industry knowledge around risk assessment and certification programs, and you have put it into this program called Guide Path. Tell us more about it.

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02:01 - 03:51

Rebecca Adelman

I appreciate it. And I do want to just tell you that for 2024, being a Bridge the Gap ambassador has been a super highlight. So I want to thank you for that opportunity. I have learned so much, and working with you guys has really just really elevated my knowledge and my influence on things. So I really appreciate that.

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It probably helps to give you just a thumbnail sketch of my history. So I started in practice representing senior living and in the ecosystem back in the 90s. So I've seen a lot of change, evolution, transformation in the past 30 plus years. And one thing that was very clear to me as I was, defending these amazing operators and their nurses and their CNAs and their C-suite and their owners and operators and investors, was that there was this, claim driver, what was driving losses, what was driving risk. And as it turns out, what I uncovered, which is proven true over the past 30 years, is that what really drives claims and what drives losses and where we can really focus our solutions, is really the expectations that most residents, their families have about transitions in care.

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So over the course of the years, it created a lot of risk management programs, a lot of in-service training. And then ultimately, created Guide Path, which is, at its heart, a national certification program and accredited certification program that certifies communities, and promotes risk management and resident directed, care and family engaged care. And really I think it solves those issues that keep our operators, our owners, investors up at night. So that's what it is. It's been a great year for us.

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03:51 - 05:12

Josh Crisp

Rebecca, one of the things that Lucas and I have for, I guess as long as we've, had Bridge the Gap. And probably one of the reasons why we started Bridge the Gap was this idea of public perception around senior living and how, for a lot of folks, those consumers out there that have never experienced senior living, they have a already formed, preconceived perception of senior housing, and a lot of times that's not positive.

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And so even when they come to us, when they find themselves in need and they're searching, a lot of times we have to overcome those negative perceptions through education and information before they even get to us. But then there's so much, through the experience of vetting, and touring and talking, getting educated through the move-in process that shapes the experience they're going to have in the interaction. You know, it seems that part of or maybe even a big part of what you do is helping, operators, owners, those involved in managing senior living to help shape that perception and that experience. Can you kind of speak to that a little bit more?

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05:12 - 08:14

Rebecca Adelman

Really the bigger conversation is what kind of education do people need. At any given point in a transition in care when they're coming to us, most times, most often, families, and the people that they love are either in a crisis or there has been a crisis. Or there is some significant change in their dynamic in their social and family dynamic and so when they come to us their role, and this is something I talk about a lot, is a care partner with us. Their role, when their loved one comes to our community, is really hasn't been defined. And I think that's where a lot of the confusion lies. You've got this life you were living with your loved one, whether you were caring for them, even if you were a remote care. But there's a family system and there's a whole dynamic there. And, all of a sudden, your role in the family has changed. Your loved one is moving to a new place to live and thrive. And there's a lot of underlying concerns. And sometimes it's guilt and it's anger and you name the emotion. But those emotions are really, oftentimes not expressed.

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And it's our responsibility, I think, to help to sort of unveil those underlying feelings and I and the resources we have a Guide Path to do that. We've got all sorts of tools that allow us to have those kinds of conversations so that the role of everyone, as they're changing and transitioning care, becomes better defined, and everyone can sort of collaborate and can, we call it care partnerships. So when they come to our community, they have a new role in our community. They're not just a spectator or they're not just a supervisor of their loved ones care. They're really, like, involved in the care and they're engaged. And I think that that is has been the most important paradigm shift for us.

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And then, to encourage them to communicate, to encourage them to share their family histories, what their journey has been up until that point. And that's what really makes that transition to our senior living communities, positive, really positive, developing trust early, developing confidence in caregivers, developing  a feeling that your loved one's not going to be living with us. Your whole family is going to be living with us. Everyone and extended families and everyone's is very different. So learning about that is so critically important. So having these tools and resources and educating our staff, our team and empowering our leaders in the our operating leaders, our manager leaders to really know how to communicate that is very, very important.

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And then to have real physical resources that operators and managers can invest in and can harness those resources to help families. I think that's critically important.

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08:14 - 08:57

Josh Crisp

I love the fact that you are an attorney, but you're talking so much about culture. I think there's preconceived ideas even about attorneys. We're like, oh, you know, we don't call the attorney until we actually are in trouble. Typically. But you take such a approach to where it really starts from the beginning and with the culture change initiative. And then you've even got some certification programs to where, as I understand, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but I think where communities can set themselves apart through education and certification and really communicate that as a value proposition and as a culture initiative to the families before they even arrive at your front door. Is that correct?

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08:57 - 12:12

Rebecca Adelman

just to touch on the point of like my role as a lawyer in this whole system. So when I was a younger lawyerI learned about senior living when risk was already like eight and nine and ten. It was coming to me when it was like, explosive. And there were already losses. And everyone was very concrete in their positions. There's a plaintiff's attorney, there's an angry family, there's an injury of some sort. Then over the years, what I have learned is that if I can come down that risk spectrum and get down to where, like the entry points of proactivity, I think you mentioned preemptive really proactive problem solving, that is really where,

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I mean I enjoy being and I'm skilled along the whole risk spectrum. But if we're really trying to make a difference, if we really want to have a person and family engaged in senior living, you really have to go where risk is zero. That is really where the great entry point is. It's been really amazing. We've certified seven communities across the United States, and we've certified now for ambassadors, and we have our risk survey in over 300 communities, providing resident and family education, very proactive education and expectations of education.

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And what we have found is by having a sort of the Guide Path certification badge on your door, right? It demonstrates that your organization is really committed to excellence. It's committed to empower your staff. And a lot of times you'll hear about certification programs, but our certification program is focused on culture change in senior living, compassionate communication, empathic leadership in senior living, palliative care, goals of care, quality of life. And a very important component of the education and training is risk management. And also the spiritual and emotional health of the residents. And I think that's very important because, you know, people come to us with a whole array of experiences and training our staff to be able to identify and communicate about those experiences is really key.

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So what we found with our certified communities is their census is better, and also it does differentiate them. What does Guide Path even mean? Well, it means that we have taken the time to educate ourselves and our team and nine really key culture change modules, and implementation programs and like, then, spreading that learning and weaving all that learning out into the larger community. So it has been a great differentiator for our communities.

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It's just been a really exciting time to sort of see the communities that are going to have communities thriving and, from a really important standpoint is, in terms of a recruitment and retention for staff it has been an excellent resource for them to be Guide Path certified because it really does also express to staff, like we care about really giving you quality education to make the whole environment a very holistic, and positive experience. So that's been great.

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12:12 - 13:33

Josh Crisp

Lucas alluded to earlier when he was encouraging our listeners and followers to make sure, if they're not already, to follow you because you're an expert in the industry, but one of the things I love about following you, you really stay on the cutting edge. Not only you're already an expert, but you're constantly consuming information and, Lucas and I get the opportunity, obviously, to have conversations before we hit record. And you were, alluding to, what is positive information. You know, you're just coming off of some really great events, you're traveling the country, talking to other thought leaders and looking at trends, and what's happening in the healthcare continuum, really, and how that impacts all of our communities and our teams and our leaders and the consumers.

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So if you could, give some of what you see is the bright side of risk mitigation and for our industry and what you're hearing, what you're seeing is patterns, because I think for a lot of operators out there that are listening or owners, you know, it gets heavy, there's so many things happening in the world around us.

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And you're in the weeds trying to do your best at providing quality care and building that great culture and that risk mitigation program. But sometimes it just feels heavy. So what's some of the bright side of things that you see ahead for our industry?

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13:33 - 16:25

Rebecca Adelman

What I see as the bright side is a sort of this renewed spirit around connectivity, around our choices, around a more educated consumer that gives us an opportunity to get more innovative in our industry. And this is what I'm experiencing. Like Guide Path. You know, this is innovative. There isn't anything like it out there. Dealing with heavy duty problems, a lot of losses, a lot of risk, staffing crisis, all those things has created this sort of new, renewed, I think, or new even, sense of how can we solve this and really elevate and differentiate?

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I mean, aside from technology, like technology, we talk about that a lot. And I'm not really an expert in technology. I'm really a human person. Right? I'm like, touch human, touch human emotions. And I feel like what we're seeing is that that idea of really developing sustained culture change. This imperative to have our residents and our families and our staff at the center of this quality of care is what I think is going to drive what's next for us.

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I'm also, just from a business standpoint I represent a lot of operators. And I just on the lawyer side of it, I represent a lot of operators that represent a lot of investors. I'm seeing a lot of really great collaboration, and I'm seeing organizations that are investing in their self, in their own organizations and, making really tremendous C-suite hires with real innovative thinking, forward thinking, resident directed care thinking, family thinking this bringing the whole ecosystem together and knocking down these silos of like we are the investors and we're the managers and we're the operator and there's the staff, and the staff has all these different levels and really kind of breaking all that down to just, understanding what matters most in senior living. I think that is the greatest opportunity right now is we've got these more sophisticated consumers. And I will say this what our organization is actually a part of in a global framework is that there are a lot of opportunities for us to reach out into areas that are underserved.

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And I see that as great opportunity and organizations that are going in these sort of underserved areas and more rural areas to provide services for the people who need it and Guide Path. In fact, we're partnering with an organization in Nigeria, which is really exciting to offer our resources over there. So there are just a lot of opportunities just focusing on, like all the ways that we can be servant leaders. That's what I see.

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16:25 - 16:52

Josh Crisp

Lucas, it should be no surprise to our listeners why we get so excited to spend time with our thought leaders, but especially our ambassador team. What an amazing group. Rebecca, you represent our ambassador team and our network so well. That was a handful of things that wasn't just one thing. So I love your excitement for the industry, Lucas. Are we lucky or what?

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16:52 - 17:12

Lucas McCurdy

We are. We so are. As we round out the program, Rebecca, I'd love to get your thoughts. For anyone that's listening, We get a lot of questions about our ambassador program and why they should be interested in it or how they should get involved. What has been your experience with the ambassador program, and what would you say to those that are considering it?

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17:12 - 18:39

Rebecca Adelman

You know, I've been around for a long time, and what I think is so cool about the ambassador program is the diversity of the program. So what I'm really super excited about is like young people who are just getting into the industry. And I consider you guys young, and there's a whole diverse group. And just seeing that there's just so much energy around it. And this ambassador group, this particular group that I'm a part of, boy oh boy. They are energetic. They are out there making a difference. They're just really creative entrepreneurs. And just the connectivity and the fun. Like the connection.

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This is so important. You know, again I don't talk about Covid much. But there was such a separate person during those years. And now we're sort of finding our way back in this industry to really what matters most, which is being together. And that ambassadorship program is just about that. It's just about being together like we are here. But also, wherever we are, we're always looking for each other and ways to promote Bridge the Gap. And I don't know what inspired you guys, but I kind of do because I know your story. But, you know, you really have just allowed so many people to have access to such important information and to important people. And I'm so ever grateful for that.

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18:39 - 19:35

Lucas McCurdy

We love producing this content. And, you know, gosh, Josh seven, eight years, almost doing this has been a real joy for me. And I know I speak for the entire BTG team, so I appreciate those comments and kindness to us. We love doing this work. It's been a passion project and we will keep putting it out and especially, with people like you alongside us to help bring this content.

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And so for those that are listening that are interested in connecting with Rebecca and also BTG and the ambassadors, you can go to btgvoice.com. Connect with this content and so much more. you can look at our ambassador program and see if it's something that you'd like to apply for. Rebecca, thank you so much for your time today.

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19:22  - 19:26

Rebecca Adelman

It's been great. Thanks for having me. It means a lot to me and my team.

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19:26-19:30 

Lucas McCurdy

Also hit us up on LinkedIn. Be a part of the conversation like and comment on this content and all of BTG voice. Thanks for listening to another great episode of Bridge the Gap.

Outro

Thanks for listening to Bridge the Gap podcast with Josh and Lucas. Connect with the BTG network team and use your voice to influence the industry by connecting with us at BTG voice.com. 

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