Senior Care Academy
Senior Care Academy is a podcast dedicated to providing valuable information and expert advice on navigating the world of senior care for both senior care providers, and families with aging parents. Hosted by industry professionals, each episode covers a wide range of topics including healthcare options, legal considerations, financial planning, and emotional support for caregivers. If you are a healthcare provider, have aging parents, or are a senior adult, this podcast is for you! Tune in to gain valuable insights and resources to help you make informed decisions and provide the best care for your loved ones.
Senior Care Academy
Discovering a Purpose-Driven Path in Senior Care with Tanya Godwin
What happens when a career in public administration and elder law leads to a transformative calling in senior care? On this episode of the Senior Care Academy podcast, we have the pleasure of speaking with Tanya Goodwin, a passionate senior living advisor from Nebraska. Tanya takes us through her incredible journey from working in the state's legislature to discovering her true mission with Oasis Senior Advisors. Learn about the foundational values of Oasis and how empathy and genuine care drive Tanya in her day-to-day work, making a real difference for seniors and their families.
Ever wonder how senior care services connect with the "sandwich generation" through both traditional and digital means? Tanya delves into the importance of word-of-mouth referrals and utilizing modern communication strategies like webinars, podcasts, and social media. She sheds light on the adaptable nature of Oasis Senior Advisors, especially in a post-pandemic world, where flexibility and continuous education are crucial. This conversation is filled with insights on how Oasis stays ahead of the curve, fostering effective support for those balancing careers and caregiving responsibilities.
Leadership can make or break a senior living community, and Tanya discusses the profound impact of proactive relationship-building from executives and directors. If you’ve ever faced the difficult decision of moving a loved one into assisted living, you’ll appreciate Tanya’s advice on acting within the optimal window of opportunity. Hear her advocate for the necessity of knowledgeable support systems to navigate the complexities of senior care. As a heartfelt conclusion, Tanya shares her ultimate wish to one day eliminate the need for advisory services, highlighting her unwavering commitment to the well-being of seniors. This episode is a must-listen for anyone devoted to enhancing the lives of our elderly population.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Senior Care Academy podcast, a podcast focused on senior care education and innovation. I'm joined today with Tanya Goodwin. Tanya is a dedicated senior living advisor based in Nebraska, with a profound commitment to enhancing the lives of seniors and their families. She has a background in public administration, legal research and elder law. Tanya has a rich history of advocating for the elderly, ensuring that they receive the quality care and joyful living environments they deserve. Her work focuses on helping families navigate the complex landscape of senior care options, aligning her deep personal values with her professional endeavors. We're so excited to have Tanya on the show today. Tanya, welcome, thanks for being here. Thank you, I really appreciate it. Yeah, of course, outside of our little intro for you mind, kind of telling us a little bit about where you're from, maybe where you grew up and how you got started in senior care, just kind of like a little background.
Speaker 2:Yeah, be happy to. So I have been in Lincoln, nebraska, since five years old, so that by default makes me a native, so truly Midwest all the way. And it's interesting, it's very providential, how I ended up in senior care. I was headed in a completely different direction, spending 16 years in our state's legislature helping with the passage of laws and all of the things that were political and legal related, thinking that that was going to be my landing pad, and I had an opportunity to join a firm that specialized in estate planning and elder law and do client relations for that and it was a little scary to go back into private sector, but I gave it a shot.
Speaker 2:I stepped out of my comfort zone and fell in love with that demographic. Working with seniors and their families. I absolutely loved it and the big thing for me was being across the table from them and being able to develop that relationship with them and you're sitting across from living history you can ask them about how did they meet their spouse, where did they grow up, if they are a veteran, what their experience was. It is phenomenal and I fell madly in love with it and in that process.
Speaker 2:We had a beautiful human come into our office who was opening Oasis Senior Advisors in our area in Lincoln and introduced herself and she and I became very fast friends. We were obviously sharing clients together, collaborating on services, and it one thing led to another in that relationship development and I ended up coming on board with her when she was just a brand new baby business and we kind of made it what it is today and we have since transitioned into building a team of three with every intention of continuing to grow, and we help our Nebraska residents, not not just in the Lincoln Nebraska area but the entire state of Nebraska, and we have colleagues who are what we consider our teams, our family members, in multiple areas within the United States, with our closest one being our team in Omaha, nebraska. So we have no limit on who we can help and how we can help them. So it has been a beautiful ride and I've definitely have found my thing. This is it.
Speaker 1:That's so cool to be able to say that. I mean. Moving to the private sector, I'm sure you were super out of your comfort zone for a while. I super relate to being able to sit across from a senior and provide them help. I was a caregiver. My experience pales in comparison to most, but being able to just be there with them, hold their hand, experience their company like what you said, living history really resonated with me. I love how you started at Oasis like a little startup. That's exciting. Can you tell us a little bit about the early days, what your guys' the early days, what your guys' mission was? Tell us about its origin?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Oasis itself got its start in 2014. And my mentor, my hero, Beth Friesen, in this area, she started the Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska chapter, if you will, in 2016. And I was on board again. Like I said, it was a baby company. I came on board in 2017 and our mission, our motto, our calling was just do the right thing. Just do the right thing when someone has a need and they are at that table with you, you do for them and to them, as you would expect for yourself. And the rule is always if this were my person, whether it was grandparent, aunt, uncle, mom, dad, what would I want for them, what would I consider for them? And promising that family that we would never ask you to consider a type of care or a service or a resource that we would not for our own loved one. And that was the golden rule, and it continues to be the golden rule.
Speaker 2:And as we continue to develop our team. That is my number. One thing in an interviewing process is I can't train you to be empathetic. I can't train your heart to be a good heart. I just I need you to just listen to that family, that senior, and always, always, always do the right thing by them, no matter what it is.
Speaker 1:Do the right thing by them, no matter what it is. Yeah, I love that. I really love that. That's a pretty profound story and profound mission. Let's dive a little deeper into Oasis. Tell us what Oasis is, what you guys function, how you guys function, a little bit of what you do to serve the seniors.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as I had mentioned early on.
Speaker 2:I always describe us as like a 35,000 foot view right, because in the senior care the word that uses industry I don't love that word.
Speaker 2:But in the senior care industry, you as the individual needing care and you as the family needing care and you as the family, you have tens of thousands of options, whether that's assisted living, whether that's in-home care, whatever that is.
Speaker 2:You can imagine how incredibly overwhelming that is when you are either facing a chronic illness you have something sudden that has happened in your life that has changed its trajectory entirely and either you as that senior, that spouse, that family, all of a sudden you now have to navigate these thousands of options and you can imagine human nature being what it is, that most people would just shut down With Oasis Senior Advisors. What we do is we take those tens of thousands of options and we narrow that down, we condense that into maybe 13 options, 12, 10, whatever that might be, and it's all based upon that initial conversation with that family or that senior. We get to know them, we develop that relationship and we, when we say we come along the entire step of the way and hold your hand, we literally do so. We're not just with that family from day one to the day that they get connected with the care they need.
Speaker 2:We're with them after there as well, so we have developed relationships with these people that it's been beautiful, it's gone on for years. The best thing is we are, and always will be, a free service to that family, to that senior.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And that's a barrier. If there's a cost, that's going to be a barrier right, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:How do you guys work around that barrier? What do you guys do you guys partner with other senior care agencies? How do you guys work around?
Speaker 2:offering a free service.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's. The other beautiful thing is we partner with all of our communities, so that means we don't have favorites. We are always impartial, always, and partner with all of them. So the best way I've ever described it to our clients, our families, is it's kind of like a real estate agent, right? So you find that perfect home, you move into that perfect home. That whole transaction takes place. That real estate agent has a percentage because they put a lot of love and effort and time into that transaction for you.
Speaker 2:Because we are advocates and we serve as that resource, we are able to do everything on the back end in working with the community. The other piece that's beautiful about this is with our home healthcare agencies, with our estate planning attorneys, with our financial advisors, whoever that might be. That is an additional resource that we can bring on to team senior. There's no fee, there's nothing like that. It's just a group of people that are all here for the same mission. We don't get paid for working with a home healthcare company or a hospice company or referring to that estate planning attorney. It goes back to just do the right thing, connect people with the services they need. And because we receive that referral fee from our communities when someone does move in to, let's say, assisted living. That's how we're able to continue to offer our services for free living.
Speaker 1:That's how we're able to continue to offer our services for free. Okay, that's pretty awesome. So talk me through the process of Oasis. I'd like to learn a little bit more, because to me right now, as far as I'm understanding it, you guys get to meet with the families and then you counsel with the families and then the families then make a decision on where they go or what the services they choose to utilize. I'd love to know a little bit more about that process. Like what does the senior receive? Maybe you could share like a story. But that seems interesting to me to be able to condense so many different options into like 10 to 15, just for one individual, like you had mentioned. What does that look like? How, what does you know? Like if someone tells you I've got XYZ issue, how do you guys do that? How do you guys cultivate such a condensed list?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's a beautiful system and it's basically a five-step approach, right? So with Oasis, again, it's always going to be a free service. So we've already done all of that research, all of that background work. We're in these communities all day, every day, and we're in tight relationships with all of these other service providers.
Speaker 2:So when I am sitting or my team is sitting at the table with that family, we're asking very specific questions to get an idea of who this person is. What did they used to do? What do they enjoy? What are their hot buttons? We want to bring them that purpose back in their life. We're talking about things like geographical, like where in this area would be preferred. Maybe it's more convenient for family to be able to get together.
Speaker 2:If they're all closer together, it makes sense we have to talk about care needs. What kind of care needs do we have? Is it a pretty light level of care? You're pretty independent. Maybe you need a little help with a couple of things throughout the day, or we have something more on board and we have a higher level of care, whether that is durable medical equipment, or we need more than one person to help us with transfer. These are all things we've got to talk about, because to get them connected with the right care, we've got to know what it is that they need, from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night. Another thing that is uncomfortable to talk about but necessary to talk about is the money. Right, the finances. It is no secret that the cost of care senior care is pretty high up there.
Speaker 2:So we do have to have that discussion with that family and we don't ask to know what's in their bank account. We don't overstep those boundaries, but what we do is we navigate. What kind of resources are we working with? There are things that most families would not have considered. If you have a life insurance policy, what's the cash value of that policy?
Speaker 1:Let's talk about it If you do have savings and checking great.
Speaker 2:Maybe you have a life insurance policy. What's the cash value of that policy? Let's talk about it. If you do have savings and checking great, Maybe you have a fantastic pension retirement plan. Whatever that might be, You're very comfortable. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:That's not always the case, and so we have to talk about other things like veterans options. A lot of folks we work with have no idea that there are options out there for VA benefits that they would have access to, even as a surviving spouse of a veteran Interesting. And if we don't talk about that and that family doesn't know about that, that's basically like having a bank account sitting out there with a name on it that never gets accessed. Another key piece is talking about things like bridge loans, personal loans, things where, let's say, we have a home that we've lived in for 50 years and we don't have an excessive mortgage on it, but we're limited on resources, so none of that family is going to be able to put that house. They need time. So we have in our family our Oasis family. We have those resources that can get that family connected with something like a bridge loan, and it can happen fast because a lot of times they're dealing with an emergency.
Speaker 2:So Medicaid, that's another big conversation, and there's a lack of education there.
Speaker 2:So we talk about it. Do we need it? Do we think we're going to need it tomorrow, next year, three years from now? And we help that family navigate that Medicaid piece as far as getting them connected with the right resources. So, in answer to your question, it is, it's a multi-step approach. It is, it's a multi-step approach and within that approach, it is key that you are being empathetic, that you are listening and that you are connecting with those folks and developing that relationship, because this is some sensitive stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. Did it take you a while to get kind of used to the degree of information that you know about someone, or was that pretty easy to adjust to?
Speaker 2:I think I had the best trainer in the world and so, of course, those first couple of conversations when I was, you know, brand new to this.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there were times where maybe I didn't ask something I should have asked, but she was always right there at the table to fill in those gaps, was always right there at the table to fill in those gaps. I think that's the key about being such a tight knit team, which we are in, that we can always have one of the other, one of us, at the table or available. So if, for some reason, there's a question that maybe didn't get asked or something that maybe we needed to do a deeper dive into, we're able to pick up that piece and make sure that that initial conversation with that family is very comprehensive. So that, as we're able to pick up that piece and make sure that that initial conversation with that family is very comprehensive, so that, as we're putting that list of resources together, we know that these are good referral sources for them, that they're going to be a good fit for whatever it is that they're needing at that time.
Speaker 1:One of my last questions on Oasis would be like do you guys have like a website people go on and book appointments, or like see your resources, or is it all like over the phone type of things or in person? What?
Speaker 2:I respect it, I love it, but you know what works Word of mouth In our area. That is our winner. That is the thing. It's a family who worked with us who tells a neighbor, who tells someone from church, who tells another relative that we were able to come and help them, especially in a time of crisis. That has been our biggest, biggest thing as far as providing services to as many people as possible, so I'd say that has definitely been our go-to as far as that word goes.
Speaker 2:You asked how to get ahold of us, like how to find us. We do have a website. I always keep it simple. I'm like just Google it, just go to OASIS Senior Advisors Lincoln. The other thing is, maybe you aren't in Nebraska, maybe you aren't even in the Lincoln area, but you are in Wisconsin and you know that you have a need. You could really benefit from this service. Well, guess what? We have a team in Wisconsin, illinois, pennsylvania, florida, you name it. So even we've had folks who contact my team here in little Lincoln, nebraska, and we're able to get that family in Illinois or that family in Missouri or wherever they may be, connected with our colleagues so that they can get the, the, the, the support that they need.
Speaker 1:Have you guys ever done like a webinar or maybe like a, like a free PDF or some type of like tool to get to maybe a different type of population or people, or maybe to your ideal client, as you guys putting on like any events in your local?
Speaker 2:area like what is? What else have you done outside of word of mouth? That's my new mission, so which kind of goes back to how we got this conversation even started is because we do have that lack of literacy. It's no one's fault, it's just the reality of where we are in the world right now, and so things like what you're talking about podcasts, online videos, things through social media gone are the days where we can have a coffee cookie social at six o'clock at night and everybody's going to cut, and they're not, because we're working primarily with a sandwich generation and they still have kids in school. They're working full time. They're not going to be physically present, so we've got to figure out how to communicate and educate them on how to best help their parents. So we're changing things up a bit and accessing those resources that are maybe unconventional as to the way we used to do things.
Speaker 2:Another thing that we do is we stay in touch with our partners. We offer, like CEUs, for example, free CEUs, so that our social workers, our discharge planners, our home health care providers whoever that might be it's something at some point that can help them. But we also have things that are support for the caregiver right. If you're the daughter, the son, the spouse, we have those resources that we've put together to help you so that you can access those, get the additional support that you need.
Speaker 1:I'd love to kind of talk about education. You've mentioned literacy a few times and you've mentioned the importance of like letting people know what is available to them. That's the foundation of Oasis is informing, helping, connecting. When you started learning more about the senior care space, what was that experience like? What do you do now to teach others or stay informed?
Speaker 2:It's interesting. I think it's important that we be flexible and that we bob and weave. When I came on board in 2017, that landscape looked entirely different. We were working primarily with the greatest generation right. So we had our World War II veterans, we had our Korean veterans. We had those folks and we had to understand their world. They did things very differently. It was very important to them to leave an inheritance for their children. It was very important to them to leave belongings. They did not want to spend money, even if they had to or needed to, and it was just a different world. So we had to meet them where they were.
Speaker 2:Then we had this wrench in 2020 that got thrown in the pandemic. That changed everything, absolutely everything, and that's no secret to everybody listening. But we had to re-evaluate and reinvent who we are and what we do, in the sense that for that long period of time, our world just didn't know what it didn't know. So, whether that was masking, whether that was isolation, all of those things, we had to figure out how to navigate that and that pandemic. That period that was rough because you had folks that either needed to go into an assisted living, and that world looked entirely different because of all the precautions that had to be taken.
Speaker 2:That was difficult, that was difficult for everybody, but we had to figure out a way to make that work, and coming out of the pandemic it is a whole different world. I've always likened it to going to another country where maybe you don't speak the language that well, maybe you don't know the culture that well, and so you're having to kind of figure out how you're going to make this work. Post pandemic has changed that landscape significantly. So everything from hospitalizations, hospital discharges, our rehab, our I mean we're still seeing the fallout in our senior population from, and so that is where we have to be very alert and we have to be very flexible.
Speaker 2:Every case is different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember during the pandemic. I lived in Portland during the pandemic and we would go visit seniors occasionally and I remember wearing a mask, walking in, being six feet apart from everybody. You weren't allowed in their rooms for a long time and visiting was predetermined and scheduled. So, like on my end, where I wasn't necessarily needing the help, it was extremely difficult just to go to these places, these homes, and I can't imagine what it was like for the seniors. I've heard many stories of hospitals being booked up or homes being booked up or nurses, therapists unable to help their clientele, which is extremely difficult. Coming to the present, you grew since COVID. You learned how to market and how to reach people in a new way, how to provide care in a new way, market and how to reach people in a new way, how to provide care in a new way. What do you guys do to evaluate, like, the effectiveness of the programs offered by senior living facilities?
Speaker 2:That is, developing the relationships with the teams at those communities. That's first and foremost right. I feel like that. That's my responsibility when I look at it, as my seniors and their families are our clients. Our communities are more like our customers, if you will for lack of a better word we are connecting a senior in their family with community A. It needs to be a qualified referral. I mean, why connect that senior in their family with something that's out of reach? And so I always promise and assure our communities, by continuing to nurture that relationship, that anytime we connect them with a senior in their family, we've already done the homework, we've already done the footwork. We're bringing them in because we know and we believe in our heart that they're going to be a great fit.
Speaker 2:Because of that development, of that relationship with every team member, if you will, in our communities I mean, it's almost like friendships we know that we can call on each other any day, any time. We know that we can stop by any time. And once that senior and their family move into, let's say, community A, we still have eyes on them because we're still in that community. We're there because we're co-hosting something, whether we're there because they are hosting an event or whether we're there with another family that has expressed an interest or that this would be a good fit for them. We're still revisiting those other families that we've already worked with and asking how's it going, how are you doing, how's your person? And that feedback is important and our communities truly appreciate that feedback when we're able to go back and say senior A is the happiest they've ever been and the family is so unbelievably thankful and their world is just night and day right.
Speaker 1:That's huge. What kind of excites you when you see like a new place, a new care facility, any type of new partner I guess new partnership that you develop that takes care of seniors? What qualities do you look for in that business that excite you?
Speaker 2:That goes back to, you can't train it, right? So if those team members let's say we have a new community that has opened up yesterday, let's say, and so we've got team members on board where people are moving in, they have some care needs. Whatever it is that they're seeking that they're coming in for, right? Is that team, from the executive director down to the director of nursing, even our marketing director? Do they know those residents by name? Are they interacting with them as they walk through the community? Are they interacting with each other as a team or as staff? Do they know each?
Speaker 1:other by name.
Speaker 2:Are they smiling? Is everybody out? Is everybody about? So it's not, as I mean. The structure of the community is huge. It needs to be clean, it needs to be well lit, it needs to smell good, the food needs to be amazing, but it this comes from leadership down and it means a huge deal to to us and the families we work with when we have a good leadership team at a community.
Speaker 2:And they're not just meeting with that marketing director, but that executive director is coming in the room and introducing himself or herself and spending time with that family. And then that director of nursing is coming in the room and spending time with that senior and their family and all of a sudden they're like okay, you actually really care about meeting our needs if we were to come here. So it's back to my thing about the relationship development. I think that that's a deal breaker, deal maker every single time.
Speaker 1:What is the most common advice you find yourself giving to families that you service?
Speaker 2:One of my team members says this and it's it's the best thing that that I've heard. She says it's better to be a day early than to be a day late. Everyone works within a window of opportunity. No one gets up in the morning and says you know what I want to do today? I want to move into assisted living. I think that sounds amazing. Okay, Nobody, nobody does that. Something has happened in life that has brought us here, so we have to be sensitive to that. That window of opportunity is huge.
Speaker 2:And that window does close at some point and it is too late. So my big piece of advice that I just say over and over and over is right now you're within that window of opportunity. Right now you're in the driver's seat, you can say where you want to go, you can say what kind of services you want available. You call the shots If you wait until it's too late. This is how this works.
Speaker 2:You're in a hospital setting or you're in a rehab setting, setting that discharge planner, who is an amazing individual, who's well-trained and highly professional. They're doing their job. They have to. They're going to be calling every facility and community in this area. Whoever picks up the phone first and says we have a bed available. That is where you're going In that window of opportunity. That may not have been a community or a facility you would have chosen, but you're going to go there now because you have that entire medical team, you have that discharge planner and you have whoever has the availability making that decision for you, making that decision for you. So now, while you can make that decision, grab it. Grab it by the by the horns.
Speaker 2:That's hard, that's really really hard for families to do, but it's key because we have seen the tragic results of not working within that window of opportunity. So that is my biggest piece of advice.
Speaker 1:Wrapping up here. What would you say is the most important thing for people to learn? Education is a huge topic and it's very broad. I've noticed that it's very broad. It covers a lot of topics. It covers a lot of details. I mean, you can go down a rabbit hole, for example, and learn about elder law and everything that a facility has to provide in order for it to be a lawful and fully functioning place. What would you advise people to learn about first?
Speaker 2:I would say that's where you need to have your advocate. You've got to have somebody in your corner, somebody who knows all the behind the scenes, all the background stuff. You can go online and and thank, thank goodness for for the internet, thank goodness it's, it's a, it's a blessing and a curse, so you can go online and you can access absolutely anything. You're going to find all of that information and it's all going to tell you that this is amazing and this is the perfect fit.
Speaker 1:It has to right.
Speaker 2:Nobody's going to go online and say my community is not awesome, my service is not up to par. It is best if you have someone like us, like Oasis Senior Advisors, because what we can do is be that advocate for you. We will educate you, we will tell you that this particular option that you're looking at, that is beautiful and it's bright and it's shiny. They don't have any leadership in place right now, or they just switched ownership, or their staff retention is been a real struggle. It's not the community's fault, it's just that's how this works. So we're keeping an eye on all of these things. So, as far as education, you've got to have somebody driving the car for you and advocating for your family member is huge. Car for you and advocating for your family member is huge.
Speaker 2:Having someone alongside you, that knows this world and how to navigate this with you. Not for you, but with you, that is. That's the answer to, to, to all of your problems.
Speaker 1:Um.
Speaker 2:I, I've never, ever, ever. My team has never helped a family that at the end of it all, says well, I really regret that we did this every single time, every time, and this is why we do it. They are coming back and saying you were such a blessing. I don't know how we could have done this without you. Thank you for just existing, because we are in a place that we never could have imagined would be as amazing as it is right now. When something happens and you have to make these difficult decisions, have someone on your team, on your side, that knows their stuff and can walk you through it. That's key.
Speaker 1:That's the first time I've heard someone say that. Usually it's maybe like a specific topic or an area of expertise, but that's amazing that you say like find a partner, find a guide, find a resource, and that resource will help you dive deeper. I guess one of my last questions here. I always ask this to my guests If you had a magic wand and you could wave away a problem, whether that be in the senior space in the world, what would you wave away?
Speaker 2:I've said this before, so I know the answer I would gladly be out of a job.
Speaker 2:I would gladly be out of a job if I had the guarantee that our seniors would never have to suffer from isolation would never have to suffer from chronic illness, life-altering injury, something catastrophic, If they could just do what we all dream of doing, and that's retire right off into the sunset, whether you're going to do the RV or you're going to go travel the world. I wish we could have that for everyone and we never hear the stories of the folks who made all of these plans and something happens and those plans never get to come to fruition. I would I would gladly be out of a job If I had that magic wand. Everyone would get to do what they had always dreamt of doing with no roadblocks. It would be amazing.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'd wave that wand with you, that'd be, great, that'd be amazing. Yes, thank you so much for being on the show, tanya. Everybody, this is Tanya from Oasis, senior Advising. Please look her up and utilize her services. Tanya, you've been an amazing guest today. We're so grateful to have had you. Thank you so much, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much.