By Amanda Davidson, Grant Manager, LeadingAge California
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in aging are at the forefront of LeadingAge California’s advocacy for older adults. The LeadingAge California iNSPIRE Project, a CMP grant-funded project that brings engagement technology from It’s Never Too Late (iN2L) to 60 skilled nursing facilities, also seeks opportunities to support these important initiatives in its work.
The residents of California’s skilled nursing facilities represent the diverse makeup of the state. Diversity in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, language, (dis)ability, and age offers skilled nursing facilities the unique opportunity to create or enhance programming that improves residents’ quality of life. iN2L’s person-centered engagement technology provides thousands of pieces of virtual content to support this individualized level of care. Spiritual content representing numerous faith groups is one example of how iN2L makes it easy for staff members to tailor an experience specific to a resident’s individual spiritual needs. “Before the pandemic, we had several types of worship services and devotions that would come into our community,” said Julie Sagastume, life enrichment director with Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven in Sacramento.
“We have not had that since,” she continued. “With the generation that we work with, their spiritual care is very important to them. By using iN2L we were able to create a virtual spiritual program that spoke to all denominations.”
Through the iNSPIRE Project, iN2L’s person-centered technology provides Sagastume and her team with tools and resources to meet residents’ diverse spiritual needs. Not only did Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven create a spiritual program that was accessible to all residents, but staff members were also included and empowered. “My team did a fantastic job with subject matter that they were not familiar with,” she said. “When we were done, we said, ‘We did it!’ And we are very proud of ourselves.”
For questions about the iNSPIRE Project, contact Amanda Davidson at adavidson@leadingageca.org.
