My commitment to senior care began with my grandmother, Ruth. Her experience with Alzheimer’s raised questions that continue to guide my work: What helps someone feel like themselves? What opportunities do they have to make choices, express an opinion, or contribute? And how much does their environment make possible?
I joined Dana Weaver on the Next Level Leadership podcast to talk about that beginning, my work in senior care, and the relationship between creativity and leadership.
Our conversation explored a question that remains central to Resilia Life: How can we create more opportunities for people to use their abilities and keep growing?
While living in memory care, my grandmother left the community and was missing for approximately three days. She survived outdoors and was found alive.
For our family, it was frightening. It also challenged how I understood her abilities and the care environment around her. Her diagnosis was an important part of her situation, but it could not explain everything about the person she remained.
That experience continues to influence how I approach aging and care. Alongside understanding someone’s needs, we need to discover their interests, recognize their strengths, and give them opportunities to act on their own preferences.
A person may need assistance and still have ideas to offer, decisions to make, and something valuable to contribute.
Our Story of Resilience shares more about Gram and the experience behind Resilia Life.
At Resilia Life, strengthening resilience means creating opportunities to use abilities, respond to unfamiliar situations, express feelings, and continue participating through change.
The arts give us many ways to invite that participation.
Looking at an artwork can prompt someone to notice a detail, explain an interpretation, or reconsider an idea. Working with an unfamiliar material offers opportunities to experiment, solve a problem, and decide what to try next. Sharing creative work gives a person something of their own to bring to a conversation.
These experiences have substance. The participant has a role in shaping what happens.
That is what we mean when we say Put Art to Work. We create arts experiences with opportunities for thinking, expression, choice, and contribution. The Art Effect describes the dimensions we look for in those experiences.
In the podcast, Dana and I also discussed innovation, listening, and learning through experience.
Care organizations have real responsibilities: staffing, safety, schedules, budgets, and consistent service. Introducing something new has to work within those realities.
A leader can begin by looking closely at an ordinary experience. Who makes the decisions? Who contributes? Is the team learning something about the people they serve? Could a different invitation reveal an interest or ability that has gone unnoticed?
For example, an art-looking conversation can make room for several interpretations instead of requiring one correct answer. A shared project can give participants different roles based on their interests. A staff member can develop facilitation skills that allow them to lead in a new way.
Listening to participants and staff—and adjusting in response—is part of the work. So is giving a promising idea enough preparation and support to become a consistent practice.
Today, Resilia Life turns this perspective into resources families and organizations can use.
ArtLab Projects provide guided experiences for exploring art, telling personal stories, and creating original work. Brilliant Minds brings together interactive education, activity resources, and a licensed curriculum that organizations can deliver through trained facilitators.
Across these offerings, the intention remains consistent: give older adults opportunities to exercise their abilities, express individuality, and strengthen cognitive and emotional resilience.
For families, that can begin with something worth exploring together. For an organization, it can develop into a recurring program that expands staff capabilities and gives people a reason to attend.
Watch the conversation with Dana Weaver above to hear more about the experiences behind my work.
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