Sunday, March 26, 2023 | Special Advertising Section 1 R 22 years of teaching at the college level and decades of ownership stakes in multiple restaurants. Living with dignity for as long as possible At the institute, Swanger is helping tackle one of the most complicated issues facing the planet —how to expand and improve limited options for seniors as they age. The problem is already immense and is projected to balloon in 10 years as the number of middle-aged individuals, the group that usually cares for seniors, shrinks in proportion to the number of seniors, Swanger said. “We’ve got to figure out how we care for this aging population and allow them to live purposeful, meaningful lives with dignity for as long as possible,” she said. The approach of the institute is multifaceted. It introduced a major that trains students to work in communities where seniors live independently, in assisted living and in settings for individuals with memory loss, but not nursing homes. Students complete the core requirements of the business program, including 1,000 hours of industry experience and classes specific to the major, as well as electives in other parts of WSU that focus on aging. Part of what they learn is the importance of varied recreation that nurtures friendships for residents that range from people in their late 50s who were tired of shoveling snow to those in their early 90s in wheelchairs. “Isolation will kill you quicker than cigarettes and drinking too much,” Swanger said. “Having strong relationships and a socially engaged life are the two big pieces for quality of life as we age.” Integrating that with profits is essential, Swanger said. “The standard phrase is ‘no margin, no mission,’” she said. “You have to know how the pieces fit together, and how to run the budgets [for food and beverage and housekeeping] and how to price your product accordingly.” Researching ways to curb expenses The institute also is pursuing a variety of research projects with By Elaine Williams Lewiston Tribune, Idaho Washington State University faculty member Nancy Swanger admits to being skeptical when an executive identified a connection between hospitality and senior living. “When I thought of senior living, what flashed into my mind was (a) nursing home, right?” said Swanger, an associate professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at the Carson College of Business. The reality, she learned, is much different. A number of senior communities have amenities like wood shops and art studios that are complemented with activities such as excursions to tourist destinations. Like hotels, they have departments responsible for housekeeping, as well as food and beverage. “The difference is the people move in and they live there,” Swanger said. “They’re not there for two to three days, they’re there for several years. That’s their home.” Swanger’s status as an expert on aging was confirmed last year by her inclusion on the United Nations’ Healthy Aging 50, a list of 50 worldwide leaders making the planet a better place to grow older. The honor recognized work that started more than 10 years ago with the initial collaboration with executives that eventually led to the creation of the Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living in 2020 at WSU in Pullman, where she is the founding director. Her involvement in the institute is the most recent course in a career that started at Happy Day Corp. in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1979 and has encompassed close to 30 GETTY IMAGES One key to a higher quality of life as we age is hospitality — creating spaces to not only age, but to continue to live a full and meaningful life. faculty partners, often seeking answers to questions raised by the private sector. One study is looking at if senior communities could be a growing market for bidets, especially if the added expense of installing the equipment used as an alternative to toilet paper could be justified. It is examining questions such as if residents of memory care units are willing to use them as well as if there are hidden longterm savings. Bidets could reduce cases of urinary tract infections, a frequent cause of falls because of how they change people’s gait, Swanger said. They also could minimize the need for staff to help residents in the bathroom, which could reduce expenses by improving retention, since it would eliminate an extremely unpleasant task, she said. Gen Z ‘wants their work tomatter’ Many hurdles lie ahead. Not surprisingly, getting 18- to 22-year-olds to consider devoting their careers to seniors can be challenging. So far, only 15 to 20 students have enrolled in the major since it was introduced in 2020. But more than 550 students have taken the introductory course to the major and may pursue it later in fields as diverse as accounting, marketing and architecture, Swanger said. Swanger believes the numbers will grow in the future. The institute’s online, ondemand certificate was chosen as the related technical instruction for apprentices in a senior living trade association program that recently won a Department of
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