Field Notes: Long Term Care Administration Programs

With Rajean Moone

Transcript

I'm Rajean Moone, CCAPS Faculty Director for Long Term Care Administration and the Associate Director for Policy in the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation.

What is long-term care?

As we age, we may experience challenges and need some services and supports in our life. Long-term care is a whole collection of services, sometimes located in a nursing home, that includes short-term rehabilitation. It may include long-term stay, may include it in assisted living, or even home care. So long-term care does offer a little bit for everyone.

What's one common misconception people have about long-term care?

People often think that long-term care is a place where you go to die. Long-term care communities are vibrant, they're intergenerational, and they provide opportunities for residents, families, staff, volunteers, and the community to engage intergenerationally so that we all live the highest quality life possible.

What are some of the current job opportunities in long-term care?

We're part of an amazing demographic shift. We're living longer, healthier lives. More of us are growing into old age. This presents a boon of job opportunities for long-term care, whether you're an administrator or a nurse, or even working in the business office. We're very proud of our students who are some of the best leaders in the long-term care field. They're leading complex healthcare organizations across the state. They're working in consulting positions. They're working for government and nonprofits, making sure that Minnesota is a great place for all of us to live and age well.

How is AI reshaping the daily work and strategic decisions of those in long-term care?

Artificial intelligence is cutting-edge technology that allows us to really think innovatively about long-term care, to approach challenges and problems from new perspectives and to come up with new solutions. More broadly than just artificial intelligence, technology is changing the way that long-term care is provided. We're able to use robots. We're able to use automatic cleaning machines. We're able to use technology that allows staff to do their jobs longer and more effectively and efficiently.

What qualities enable long-term care leaders to balance financial management with ethical, person-centered care?

Long-term care leaders need to practice servant leadership and develop dynamic teams made up of nurses, social workers, registered dieticians, and others that can really provide comprehensive services to increase the quality of life as we age in nursing homes. It's really important to be able to listen to your team members, to be a mentor to them, but also be a peer and learn from them in order to create vibrant, long-term care communities.

What factors beyond academics contribute to a student's success as a long-term care leader?

There are two key factors that are important to all long-term care leaders. The first is a passion to working with older adults and their families to ensure that they have high quality of life in long-term care communities. The second is a drive, a drive for excellence to ensure that your complex healthcare community thrives serving people to the best of your ability.

Do you have advice that you regularly share with your students?

For me, my career has been all about connections and the people that I've met along the way, and I encourage all students to always reach out, ask questions, find mentors all across the system, whether it's in long-term care in academia, nonprofits, or government. It never hurts to make more connections and meet more people.