Constituency Education: Assisted Living
(10th Annual NCAL Day)
Sunday, October 16
This is a separate ticketed event and must be purchased in addition to any convention registration package.
For a decade, NCAL has offered assisted living providers a day of cutting edge education just for them. Join the tradition at this milestone event – the 10th Annual NCAL Day!

Dr. Manny Alvarez

Jim Carroll
Opening keynote speaker Dr. Manny Alvarez, Senior Managing Health Editor for Fox News, will offer valuable health-related information, insider insight into medical research, and inspiring stories of how he triumphed over adverse conditions to achieve the American dream. Closing keynote speaker Jim Carroll will help attendees peer into the crystal ball with his expertise as a global futurist and his unique insights on trends and innovation.
Education sessions for the day include:
NCAL-2 - Emerging Regulatory & Policy Trends in Assisted Living
Speaker: Paula Carder, PhD, Associate Professor, Portland State University Institute on Aging, Portland, Oregon
Session Description: This session will include an overview of the ASPE Compendium, which is a comprehensive review of assisted living regulations in each state including trends and changes. An overview of emerging trends including new payment models, the importance of data in working with other providers, and other changes in the industry.
NCAL-3 - Innovations in Benchmarking
Speakers: Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD; Distinguished Professor and Co-Director, Program on Aging, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Pat Giorgio, MPS, President /CEO, Evergreen Estates, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Lindsay Schwartz, PhD, Senior Director, Workforce & Quality Improvement, National Center for Assisted Living, Washington, District of Columbia
Session Description: National efforts have been underway to measure and improve care in nursing homes and other long term care and health settings, including development of the Artifacts of Culture Change tool and promotion of person-centered practices by the Pioneer Network measurement and promotion of consistent staff assignment by the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Home Campaign, and quality measures promoted by NCAL to reduce hospital readmissions, among others. Measurement and quality improvement has lagged in assisted living. To address this shortcoming, an environmental scan was conducted to identify and evaluate evidence-based tools (measures and instruments) for quality improvement in assisted living and other health and long term care settings, with a priority focus on five domains: person-centered care, medication management, resident/patient quality outcomes, care coordination/transitions, and workforce. A compilation of all tools included their description and evaluated their measurement qualities and utility.
NCAL-4 - The Future of Technology in Assisted Living
Speakers: Jim Walker, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, Inworks Servicing, LLC, Portland, Oregon; Steve Schwartz, CEO, Wave Sensor, Inc., Portland, Oregon; Amy Johnson, Co-Founder, LifeLoop, Omaha, Nebraska; Jim Bridges, MHA, CEO, PayRight Health Solutions, LLC, Landenberg, Pennsylvania
Session Description: As assisted living and senior care continue to change and evolve so do the needs surrounding technology both for providers and residents. During this session, attendees will hear from three leading companies in the technology space on what innovations and changes are on the horizon for assisted living and how providers can ensure their operations keep up with the demand and need to be cutting edge.
NCAL-5 - Affordability in Assisted Living
Speakers: Rod Burkett, CEO, Gardant Management Solutions, Inc, Eastern Illinois Unversity, Bradley, Illinois; Wayne Smallwood, Executive Director, Affordable Assisted Living Coalition, Southern Illinois University, Springfield, Illinois
Session Description: There is a growing need to make more assisted living available as the country braces for the unprecedented number of seniors that will require housing with services in the next 15 years. This session will provide a blueprint for how develop and operate assisted living for all income levels, but especially those seniors with low to moderate incomes. The information presented will include the factors that need to be considered when exploring whether to pursue affordable assisted living. This presentation will feature a provider who will discuss how their organization has been able to make affordable assisted living successful.
Awards Ceremony

Help us celebrate those who go above and beyond the call of duty by honoring the 2016 recipients of the Jan Thayer Pioneer Award and the NCAL Awards Program, which recognizes:
- NCAL Administrator of the Year
- NCAL Nurse of the Year
- NCAL Noble Caregiver of the Year
- NCAL National Assisted Living Week® Programming Award