Made our way to Baltimore today on AMTRAK. I had some trouble communicating with the locals about the fact that we didn’t understand how the system worked. It was later explained to me that New Yorkers are too busy with their own busy lives to explain to the ignorant how things work. I felt better once I understood that.
We had a fantastic day today hosted by John Erickson, the founder of Erickson Retirement Communities. Where to start? Well, John is a self-made man. He was one of fourteen kids in a poor family and they were in the Guinness Book of Records for the most graduates out of one family. 14 out of 14! I won’t even begin to try to explain the trials and tribulations he went through to get his first project started. He now has 30 of them providing accommodation and care to tens of thousands of older people.
As we’ve stated on the blog before, it’s essential to try to understand the culture of the country and its communities before you can start to talk about and evaluate their various projects. I think the interesting thing here is that John has a very clear and firm view about what is good living for people 75 plus and that is to live in a supportive community with excellent health care, social and developmental opportunities and support. In this context, views about the design of his communities and their degree of institutionalisation become almost irrelevant. Erickson communities are unashamedly institutionalised in our terms, but they believe it is the right way.
Today we visited Riderwood just outside Baltimore. It is a community on a huge site of – wait for it – three thousand people. It is designed as a retirement community for middle America and consists of retirement living, our equivalent of hostels and dementia-specific units, 7 community centres, 7 restaurants, shops, major rehab and restoration centre, pharmacies etc and….a TV station providing internal programming staffed by a co-ordinator and volunteers who have had some background in the media and... the best thing of all…a primary health care facility.
The choice of independent living apartments is impressive. Nothing out of the usual for us but brought to market at half the price. The lease for life arrangements are broadly comparable. The care facilities are also broadly comparable with what we provide.
But there are some amazing things in this community:
· The sheer scale of it that allows so much to be provided on site
· The employment opportunities provided to African Americans, some of whom have risen to the very top echelons of the staff group
· The scholarship scheme offered to young people (almost exclusively African Americans) that provides incentives to young people to continue to work at Erickson Communities in the form of cash support to complete their education. This program , originally supported by the company, has been augmented by support from the residents who also wanted to help these young people.
· The health care program that provides access to onsite GPs supported by a same day policy for appointments to see a Doctor. This community has 7 GPs employed by the company! We met the Head of this service and he was incredibly passionate about his work there. He was previously very disillusioned about working in the general health system and is quoted as describing that experience as being “I used to be a Doctor”. Once he spent 11 minutes with patients, now he spends up to 25 minutes. John Erickson believes that excellent primary health care is the key to good ageing. They provide very compelling statistics to justify their base proposition that ready access to primary health care substantially improves the health status of the older old,
The very notion of a three thousand strong community of people 75 plus is unacceptable to us in so many ways. I asked John what he thought about creating such a huge ghetto for older people when it would be possible to weave younger people into a mixed community. He argued that we all had a good time when we went to College and that was all people of the same age group! the sites are called "campuses" and that is to designed to convey the feel of the experience. I think the refreshing thing about John is that he doesn’t apologise for what he is doing. He is 100% convinced that what Erickson Communities provide for people is what they want and is the best thing for them.
In a funny sort of way, we reflected on the fact that John Erickson and Hans Becker from Humanitas in Rotterdam could not be more different people but they have very similar leadership qualities in common. They both have an absolute conviction about what is good living for older people and are prepared to buck the system to deliver on their beliefs.
Culturally, we remain sceptical, but I’ll tell you this. Walking round this community with John, you’d think he’d set it all up. So many residents and staff came up to John and thanked him sincerely for what he was doing. He is held in great reverence by people. He is incredibly wealthy and successful now but maintains a common touch. You can’t learn this or fake it. You either have it or you don’t.
This was a great experience today. Despite yourself, you can't help but admire what John is doing.
Ray
Two things come to mind after reading this very meaty post.
ReplyDelete1) Whether we like it or not, the Baby Boomers are about to break the current aged care model. The industry has no choice but to consider how we will accommodate a large influx of people.
Economically, it makes sense for aged care providers to run population dense operations. We should also consider it from the practical reality of volume, as well.
2) I loved the analogy to university campus life as it pertains to large aged care facilities. What immediately comes to mind is that maybe our resistance to big institutions (a word carrying dodgy connotation) is more about how we want to be in the world than about aged care residents. The fact that the residents of the Erikson seemed genuinely happy and content warrants careful consideration. It's about THEM, not us. I can't help but wonder that what I want now and throughout middle age may change once I become frail and have less personal freedoms due to the natural process of ageing.
Excellent post, Ray. Thanks for keeping us updated.