Wednesday at the 2024 Together We Care Conference co-hosted by ORCA and the OLTCA

Wednesday at Together We Care

The day started with an address from the Minister of Seniors & Accessibility, Raymond Cho. I think he said he's 87-years old, but you wouldn't guess it with his energy. He speech was similar to what I heard at the AgeWell conference last October, but it's good to see him at the conference.

Morning Session

During the morning session I attended Unlocking the Potential of Social Media and Storytelling in Senior Living to Attract Talent by Nathan Jones of Dash Media. I was interested in hearing what tactics and strategies Nathan shared. His big message was that there's a lot of value in your resident's stories. Nathan shared a number of examples of viral clips his company produced of seniors sharing a story.

Together We Care Trade Show

Lunch was again set up buffet style, with a number of stations scattered around the trade show. I found this to be one of the best times to network - sit down at a table where people are already eating and strike up a conversation.

After lunch I made it a point to walk the rest of the trade show floor.

FIRST ONSITE

At lunch I met Kristin Mccutcheon from FIRST ONSITE - they offer emergency mitigation, restoration, and reconstruction services. In 2014 there was a major fire at Fairview Lodge, a long-term care home where I volunteer, so I was interested in learning more about what FIRST ONSITE does.

Corporate Canine Therapy

Dogs at your booth on the trade show floor is a surefire way to draw a crowd at your booth. I spoke to Jessica from Corporate Canine Therapy about their senior programs.

Global DWS

If dogs are a great way to draw a crowd, free (great) coffee and tea, as well as robots are a great way keep that crowd coming back. Lee from Global DWS showed off Charlie, a greeter robot - 1 of 3 robots on display.

ConsidraCare

I met Tauseef, COO of ConsidraCare, at an elder care event in 2023. Tauseef has been really generous to me with his time and advice, and it's always great to see familiar faces at a conference. ConsidraCare offers home care, and at the conference they were talking to nurses and PSW's about how their platform can help them be their own boss and own a franchise.

Afternoon Session

I took part in a really informative session by Denise Bedard and Azar Varahra, Implementing Small HOME Model in Long-Term Care Homes: Bringing Residents Closer Together.. The session presented a model of long-term care that empowers residents to be more involved in decisions and activities related to their day-to-day left. The Small Home Model is homes for up to 12 residents who live in a home that functions more similarly to homes we live it. Residents are empowered to take more control over day-to-day tasks. There was a lot of interested discussion during the session and afterwards. We are a long way from adopting a model like this on a large scale, but it represents innovation we can work towards that can help imporve quality of life for long-term care residents.

Closing Remarks

The tone around the closing of Together We Care was optimistic. There were a lot of great workshops, informative discussions, and interesting innovation on the trade show floor.

Just after the close of the conference I got a minute with Cathy Hecimovich, ORCA CEO, where I asked her what her takeaway is from the 2024 Together We Care Conference.

Conclusion

I feel good about what I was able to accomplish at Together We Care. Admittidly, my expectations for the conference were likely a little too high. The AgeWell Age Tech conference I was at in October 2023 provided so many opportunities for connecting with key stakeholders in elder care. Together We Care is a much larger conference than the AgeWell Age Tech conference, but most participants didn't seem use the conference app to connect or schedule a 1-on-1.

I got to speak to A LOT of people about Elderado. I'm glad I wore a tshirt that encourage everyone to ask me about Edlerado, and documenting my time gave me a good reason to introduce myself, as well as extend my reach.

One thing I could have done better is add more people I connected with to LinkedIn. I'm usually on top of this, but not this time.

I'm glad I attended this years conference and I'll certainly keep the 2025 Together We Care conference on my radar.

Thanks for following along!

Daniel