The Workshop
As individuals age, physical, mental, and societal challenges become more prevalent. This intensive, one-day virtual workshop explores those challenges and discusses programming and design interventions that can assist people (and care givers). Expert faculty will present case studies and examples that integrate architecture, design and technology into living environments that are not only safe, but foster wellness and longevity.
Together, faculty thought leaders and attendees will explore gaps in the current system and consider the latest in design thinking for healthy aging in various settings across the continuum of care. Presenters will identify state-of-the-art best practices and possible new solutions that enhance access to nature, engagement with technology, resilience, and meaning and purpose. Through presentations, case studies and panel discussions, attendees will gain new insights, have opportunities to pose questions to workshop faculty, and interact with fellow attendees in fun and innovative ways.
Agenda
Welcome Opening Remarks & Introductions
Addie Abushousheh, PhD, Assoc. AIA, EDAC, Research Associate, The Center for Health Design
Opening Keynote Presentation
Melody Karick, Director, Meadow View Memory Care Garden Spot Village
The Hundred Year Life is Here: Are We Ready
Tama Duffy Day, FACHE, FASID, FIIDA, LEED® BD+C, Senior Living Leader, Principal, Gensler
Lighting – Research and Design Strategies to Mitigate the Challenges of the Aging Eye and Cognition
Eunice Noell-Waggoner, IES, President of Center for Design for an Aging Society; Interior Architect, Lighting Designer, and Advocate for Better Lighting for Seniors
Naomi J. Miller, FIES, FIALD, LC, Senior Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Lighting Designer and Researcher Passionate about Promoting Quality Lighting using science as evidence
2026 Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities: A Sneak Peek of Changes Afoot
John Shoesmith, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Shoemith Cox Architects
Gaius G. Nelson, Founding Principal, The Nelson-Tremain Partnership
Panel #1: Evidence-based Design for Person Centered Care
Margaret Calkins, M.Arch, PhD, EDAC, FGSA, Board Chair, IDEAS Institute
Jane Rohde, AIA, FIIDA, ASID, ACHA, CHID, LEED AP BD+C; GGA-EB, GGF, Principal, JSR Associates, Inc.
Robert Wrublowsky, MAA, AAA, OAA, SAA, MRAIC, LEED AP, EDAC, Principal Architect, MMP Architects Inc.
Migette L. Kaup, PhD, FIDEC, ASID, IIDA, NCIDQ, EDAC, Professor/ID Program Coordinator, Dept. of IDFS / Gerontology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Kansas State University
Panel #2: Wrap-up Discussion
Addie Abushousheh, PhD, Assoc. AIA, EDAC, Research Associate, The Center for Health Design
Experts
Dr. Abushousheh is an Organizational and Environmental Gerontologist and Researcher Associate for The Center for Health Design. With combined expertise in architecture, organizational development, gerontology and applied research, Addie advances comprehensive and translational agendas related to quality assessment and performance improvement for aging and dementia in the continuum of care. In addition to publishing and presenting, Addie is a tri-chair of the Facility Guidelines Institute’s residential document group, maintains an adjunct faculty appointment at Kent State University, is a member of the Moving Forward Coalition, is a Board Member for IDEAS Institute, and serves as an Advisor to Abacus Institute and The AIA’s Design for Aging Knowledge Community.
Melody Karick is the Personal Care Administrator at Meadow View Memory Support at Garden Spot Village. She is an active board member of Dementia Friendly Lancaster and specializes in educating local businesses. She is Certified as a Dementia Practitioner, Montessori Dementia Care Professional, as well as Coach, Trainer, Engagement Leader and Consultant with Positive Approach to Care. Melody is passionate about maintaining normalcy, living each day with purpose and focusing on the strengths of each person life for those living with dementia.
Tama is a Principal, global leader of Gensler’s Senior Living practice, and an advisor to the Health Sector. A leader in the healthcare industry for decades, she challenges conventional design and develops solutions to reimagine longevity in an age-inclusive world. Actively leading projects across all regions, she is a frequent speaker at national events and conferences, and her work has been published in Forbes, Interior Design magazine, Fast Company, and The McMorrow Reports. Active in the healthcare community, she is a member of Women in Healthcare and on the Washington, DC Mayor’s Age-Friendly Task Force. Tama serves on the boards of the Capitol Hill Village and The CARITAS Project, and on Advisory Boards for the Healthcare Facilities Symposium, Marymount University and Medical Construction & Design Magazine. She is one of the few design professionals inducted as a fellow into the American College of Healthcare Executives.
The first half of Eunice Noell-Waggoner’s professional career involved interior and lighting design for public buildings and commercial spaces. The second half of her career has been focused on addressing the needs of older adults, especially focused on lighting for aging vision and health, through the Center of Design for an Aging Society, a not-for-profit organization she founded.
She was the founding Chair of the Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) Lighting for Older Adults and the Low Vision Population Committee, and continues to serve on the IES Committee contributing to the update of ANSI/IES RP-28-20 Lighting and the Visual Environment for Older Adults and the Visually Impaired.
In 2017 she stimulated the formation of collaborative research teams to study the impact of LED light and daylight to address circadian disruption in memory care and nursing home residents. The first research project included Brown University School of Public Health Long-Term Care Quality and Innovation Center, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Center of Design for an Aging Society, and the ACC Care Center in Sacramento, CA. The findings have been published on the Department of Energy’s website and in Seniors Housing and Care Journal 2020.
Naomi Miller straddles the line between design and engineering at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Portland, OR. Called a “Senior Scientist,” she uses her decades of experience in architectural lighting design in Upstate New York and San Francisco to educate clients, customers, and practitioners and help nudge the SSL industry toward better, more practical solutions. Researching and reporting on lighting quality issues such as visual comfort, flicker, and light distribution with respect to SSL products, she is the tedious voice of experience. By bridging the gap between technology and application, she can promote the wise use of LEDs, working with industry to overcome the hurdles and celebrate the opportunities.
She has many years of experience working in different facets of the lighting industry, but still finds lighting to be an intriguing stew of economics, human factors, and physics; an essential element of productivity and comfort; and a visual delight. She recently served on the Illuminating Engineering Society’s Board of Directors and is both a Fellow of the IES and the IALD.
John Shoesmith is a Partner at Shoesmith Cox Architects in Seattle, WA. For the past 30 years, John has dedicated his career on improving the environments in which elders live. John’s design work seeks to balance functional, programmatic and aesthetic requirements against the unique needs of each user. He is an invited panelist and speaker at regional and national conferences on design for aging and his work has been recognized through multiple design for aging and advocacy awards.
Gaius Nelson is president of Nelson-Tremain Partnership, an architectural practice focused on serving the design needs of older people. In 1987 he helped pioneer the first Household/Neighborhood concept within a skilled nursing setting at Evergreen Retirement Community in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Throughout his professional practice he has worked to promote non-institutional, resident focused environments for living - through design, education and policy advocacy. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences, and has served on numerous civic and industry committees including more than 25 years on the Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI) Revision Committee.
Gaius Nelson is an architect and consultant dedicated to designing person-centered senior living environments. He received a Master of Science in Architectural Studies degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where his studies focused in the research of the built environment and its impact on elders, bringing a unique understanding of the inter-relationship of operational issues and design. As a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow, Mr. Nelson spent six weeks in 1995 studying public policy formation and implementation at AAHSA (currently known as LeadingAge) in Washington, DC. During this time, he also served as Chairman of the private sector Workshop for the Office of Technology Assessment study titled: Residential Technologies for Elderly People and Persons with Disabilities: Issues in Innovation, Design and Implementation.
Dr. Calkins is nationally recognized as a creative, dynamic leader, trainer and researcher in the field of environments for elders. She is Board Chair of IDEAS Institute, an independent research institute dedicated to exploring the therapeutic potential of the environment--social and organizational as well as physical--particularly as it relates to frail and impaired older adults. She is a highly sought after speaker for conferences in the US and abroad. She has published extensively and received over $6m in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and foundations to develop training resources and explore the impact of the environment on people with dementia. She has served on numerous board, both local and national, including the Pioneer Network, Green House, Advancing Excellence, and the Cleveland Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She was a founding member of SAGE- Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments, and is on the Editorial Board for The Gerontologist, Journal of Housing and the Elderly, Journal of Clinical Psychology and Health Environments Research & Design Journal among other journals.
Jane Rohde is the Founder and Principal of JSR Associates, Inc., a consulting practice that focuses on person-centered care model development, architecture and design for all ages, and sustainable, healthy, and evidence-based approaches to integrated care models, operations and the built environment. Jane is also the Founder of Live Together, Inc., a non-profit focusing on intergenerational models that are componentized to meet the individual needs of residents living in a specific locale regardless of age. She is the recipient of the Changemaker Award for EFA from The Center for Health Design and the ASID Design for Humanity Award.
Jane is recognized as an Honorary Alumni of Clemson University’s Architecture + Health program and honored as one of the top ten Women in Design demonstrating leadership in healthcare and senior living design. Jane received the Pioneer Award from the Facilities Guidelines Institute for her work on the completion and ongoing cycle updates to the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities, recognized as a Green Globes Fellow by the Green Building Initiative, and most recently recognized as an Impact Icon by ecomedes®
Robert (Bob) has been practicing architecture for 24 years, and is currently a Principal Partner at MMP Architects. As Senior partner Robert is responsible for corporate culture and procurement of new clients and projects. The firm is structured around Robert's philosophy to empower staff to succeed in new challenges. Robert specializes in the planning and design of elder care projects, aiming to improve the quality of care for people living in long term care facilities and supportive housing projects forming part of the continuum of care for seniors.
Challenging the traditional view of the Long Term Care home as a treatment facility, Robert advocates for a cultural shift through a care model that supports a non-pharmacologic approach for neurocognitive disorders. Robert’s view of the models of care in the majority of today’s long term care facilities is that they contribute to a loss of identity where the person’s purpose in life is stifled behind an institutional and procedural system of care. Robert is an advocate for system wide change which calls for a new foundation of health care for our elderly where a personal care home can become a place for living rather than a place to die; a vision not possible to fulfil within the current framework of care.
Robert is a level III EDAC practitioner. He continues to leverage his research and network affiliates in aging research to cause change in current institutional standards to bring about a greater understanding between the relationship of design and the well being outcomes of residents, and staff that provide care in these environments.
Dr. Migette Kaup is a Professor at Kansas State University and an Interior Designer specializing in gerontological and universal design. She earned her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Her major area of research is in aging and environment relationships with emphasis on long-term care policy structures to investigate progressive changes occurring in nursing homes. Her educational background also includes a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and Masters of Architecture in Environment & Behavior and Place Studies with an emphasis in Gerontology from Kansas State University.
Migette is NCIDQ and EDAC certified and her professional design practice includes over nine years in architectural firms as well as seven years in private consulting to long-term care providers and design professionals. Her combined areas of applied research and practice over the past 20 years have focused on various aspects of senior housing and care including specialized dementia care and person-centered design strategies. Dr. Kaup is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE), as well as the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and International Interior Design Association (IIDA). Migette served as the 2016-17 President for the Interior Design Educators Council and served on the IDEC board for over eight years.
She currently teaches for the College of Health and Human Sciences in the Interior Design Program. She is also a member of the gerontology faculty through the K-State Center on Aging. Migette is co-PI on the PEAK (Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas nursing homes) 2.0 Program with the Kansas State University Center on Aging. PEAK 2.0 is a pay-for-performance program administered by the Kansas Department of Age and Disability to incent person-centered care (PCC) implementation in nursing homes across Kansas. Her work on long-term care settings and design has been published in both books and journals and she is a regular presenter at national conferences.