Environments for Aging - Winter 2023 - 7

letter from the editor
Change agents
The right environment can help seniors thrive,
and we're here to help you achieve it
EDITORIAL
ADVISORY BOARD
CC Andrews
Quantum Age Collaborative
David Banta
BKV Group
Laura Busalacchi
Brookdale Senior Living
Vassar Byrd
Rose Villa Senior Living
Margaret Calkins
Ideas Institute
Andy Coelho
Sunrise Senior Living
Mitch Elliott
RDG Planning & Design
Lorraine Hiatt
ImprovAging
Steve Lindsey
Garden Spot Communities
Dean Maddalena
StudioSix5
Eric McRoberts
RLPS Architects
Alicia Nicolay
Spellman Brady & Company
Jane Rohde
JSR Associates Inc.
Philippe Saad
DiMella Shaffer
Jill Schroeder
Pope Architects
Cynthia Shonaiya
Hord Coplan Macht
Rob Simonetti
LaBella Associates
Isaac Wallace
Erdman
Grant Warner
HKS
Lisa Warnock
Glow Interior Designs
O
NE THING THAT'S always been special to me about covering the senior living
design industry is the personal stories many of you have shared with us at
Environments for Aging. So often, there's an underlying experience that's driven
you to this field-frequently, a loved one who was a resident in a senior living
community that lacked the type of comfortable, supportive, resident-centered
environments you all work so hard to establish today.
It reminds me of my own time spent at the bedside of grandparents in institutional
nursing homes. Like you, I still remember the sound and smell and so many other
things that I wish could have been very different.
So, it's been such an honor to be a part of what you do-our mission at EFA is to provide
you with the insight, information, and inspiration you need to continue to push
senior living design forward. Each project that crosses my desk demonstrates the strides
that have been made over these years, the fruit of all your labor.
And just one recent report demonstrates the difference. Research conducted by
NORC at the University of Chicago and funded through a grant from the National Investment
Center for Seniors Housing & Care shows that adults experience a decline in
vulnerability after moving into a senior living community. Data exhibits that residents
experienced a 10 percent decline in relative frailty levels one year after moving in.
Plus, the patterns were consistent across all levels of care and community types.
That's meaningful change, the type of result that the communities of decades ago
would have been hard-pressed to achieve.
It's thanks to your efforts and the efforts of many others that have allowed senior
living to evolve and become a place of choice and not last resort. In this issue, you'll find
the stories of our 2023 Design Champions, individuals who we celebrate for outstanding
efforts to keep that evolution going (see page 17).
Meanwhile, we here at EFA will continue to support you on that journey-and for
me, I'll be doing that in a different way. After publication of this issue, I'll step into a
new role as Brand Director, where I'll lead EFA holistically across media and events.
I'm excited to share that Anne DiNardo will become your new editor-in-chief. Anne
has been with our team for 11 years and brings immense talent and experience to guide
where this magazine goes next. Join me in congratulating her, and I look forward to
what lies ahead.
JENNIFER KOVACS SILVIS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JENNIFER.SILVIS@
EMERALDX.COM
winter 2023 | 7

Environments for Aging - Winter 2023

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