Leaders in companies and organizations often face enormous demands on their time, but the best leaders realize they can’t let those demands become so overwhelming that their health suffers as a result.

Successful leaders prioritize personal wellness, both at home and at work. And those who don’t prioritize personal wellness should realize it’s not too late to make it a New Year’s resolution for 2018. Plus, taking care of themselves is also a great way for leaders to inspire others throughout the organization to do the same.

Team members will be more inclined to focus on their own well-being if they see the leadership team making it a priority. It’s better for the entire company when everyone strives to be physically and mentally fit.

In my own life, I follow these five guiding values for personal wellness.

• Breathe. Many people forget to breathe during the day — though I’m not talking about breathing to stay alive. On any given day, we are going to experience moments of stress. Focusing on taking a few long, slow breaths can help calm you down.

• Move. Movement is another way to take care of your well-being. Many of us are sedentary most of the day, sitting at desks then lounging at home in the evening. We are not made to sit like this all day every day. To get moving, you don’t need to schedule time at a gym for an aggressive workout. It can be as simple as stretching while at your desk and taking time once an hour to get up and walk, even if it’s just to walk to somewhere else in the office. 

• Play. Children love to play, but adults forget they need to take time to play as well, even if it’s just a game of cards or charades. Next time you find yourself stressing, give your brain a break and call your inner child out for a play date.

• Nourish. No matter how smoothly life is going, there will always be conflict, so you should handle it directly, openly and immediately. When you do, you will be nourishing your relationship with those employees and they will have the opportunity to nourish themselves. Take the approach that everything is a learning opportunity and work with your employees on how to improve rather than running them into the ground and making them feel even worse. If they know you care and support them even in hard times, you will have their loyalty.

• Replenish. Life gets hectic, so it’s important to set aside time for reflection, introspection, meditation or just plain quiet time. My best ideas come from my quiet times. I am sure that’s why so many of the great pioneers, artists, and scientists spend hours each day walking and contemplating.

As you consider your own personal well-being, it’s important to remember that you create your life and how you feel. Change starts at the individual level.       

Kerry Alison Wekelo (www.kerryalison.com) is managing director of human resources and operations at Actualize Consulting. She also is author of “Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain a Thriving Organizational Culture.” Wekelo is also a yoga teacher, life coach, and founder of Zendoway, a company that encourages holistic wellness.

In the 2015 movie “The Intern,” Robert DeNiro starred as a 70-year-old widower who returns to the workforce as an under-appreciated and seemingly out-of-step intern working for a young boss played by Anne Hathaway.

Initially, Hathaway’s character can’t quite relate to this baby boomer who ditched retirement out of boredom, but by the film’s finale, she comes to appreciate his skills and experience.

In real life, you’re unlikely to encounter many septuagenarian interns, but it’s not unusual for people to re-enter the labor market or launch new careers when they are well into what was once considered retirement age.

And that can be good for businesses that are willing to take advantage of all those decades of hard-earned experience. 

Starting a new career after 60 is not for everyone, but it can be rewarding for those with energy and commitment levels that are high, and who are willing to learn new skills and keep up with the constantly evolving technology.

The question is whether businesses will balk at hiring workers who, in many cases, are old enough to be the parents of the people managing them. Sure there are downsides, but the upsides can be tremendous when it’s the right fit for the right person.

Here are three reasons why hiring older employees is a wise decision, provided employers keep in mind several important factors:

- Experience counts. Baby boomers come to the table with a whole set of experiences, including 30 or 40 years of interpersonal people skills that make them more adept at dealing with unique situations or different types of people. On the flip side, some of them could lack the technical skills that we take for granted in today’s workforce. So, be careful what you are asking them to do.

- Self-motivation. The odds are older employees will be self-motivated. If these potential workers would like to join an organization or start a new career after 60, they probably like the idea of work. They need to do something every day. Perhaps they view their job as intellectually stimulating. You do need to make sure of their motivation, though. If they’re just working for a paycheck, that might not cut it.

– Different age groups have their own behaviors. Baby boomers often have a very different set of values than millennials. Different things motivate them. The culture of an organization is very important and can be tricky. You want to make sure these older workers have an opportunity to thrive in your new environment. While it’s best to avoid stereotyping the generations too much, in general, baby boomers tend to be productive, loyal to the company, willing to put in long hours to get the job done, and prefer to have conversations in person.

Companies that pass on hiring older workers risk missing out on people who could become some of their most valuable employees. Age shouldn’t be the issue. Instead, as with any hire, the issue is what skills and experiences each of these people can bring to the workforce.           

Andrew L. Simon is a partner and member of the professional consulting staff at Simon Associates Management Consultants (www.simonassociates.net). Himself in his 70s, Simon has had a 50-year career as a senior executive. 

The world of long-term care is changing in 2018, and this will impact the future of care in Central New York, as well as the future of Loretto. 

Dementia & memory care trends

The number of Americans age 65 and older living with memory loss, including Alzheimer’s and other dementia conditions, is projected to more than triple from 5.1 million in 2016 to 16 million in 2050. Close to 18 percent of that growth will be right here in New York state. Not only is dementia affecting more people, but it is also starting to impact younger people. For these reasons, a significant investment in memory care will be needed to ensure we have the appropriate professionals and the facilities for victims of this disease.

Telemedicine trends

The concern over rising health-care costs combined with technological advances are continuing to shape the industry in a unique way. Nationally, more than 20 percent of Medicare patients discharged to a skilled-nursing facility return to the hospital within 30 days. The federal government estimates this translates to $17 billion that could be saved with proper patient care. 

To help address these concerns and best leverage new technology, Loretto will be working to improve patient care and reduce readmission rates through the incorporation of telemedicine to enhance our rehabilitation services. This year, Loretto will be introducing TeliStat Restorative Care Units with portable monitors that track multiple health risks in real-time. Residents in our short-term rehabilitation program will receive an interactive telemedicine device that enables them to access physicians any time of day or night. 

Workforce development

There continues to be a shortage of the skilled nursing and other professional staff that are needed nationally, and in this region. Recruiting, training, employing, and supporting these individuals is a key area of focus for Loretto in 2018.

Loretto’s partnership with CenterState CEO’s Work Train initiative through the Health Train Industry Partnership creates local career opportunities in health care. We’ve hired more than 300 graduates of this program over the past three years with an 89 percent retention rate, higher than the industry standard of 50 percent to 60 percent. This demonstrates how the state of our industry can differ from region to region.

Impact of tax reform

Some of the most significant challenges we will face in 2018 and the near future come in the form of legislation. Tax reform passed, and despite congressional leadership calling for cuts to Medicare, the final version preserved several tax provisions, including the medical-expense deduction, which is promising. But House Speaker Paul Ryan has been vocal about making cuts to Medicare, saying, “This [Medicare] has been my thing for many, many years. I think it’s the biggest entitlement we’ve got to reform.”

However, tax reform is just one of many critical pieces of legislation that affects the services and programs we provide to individuals of all ages and income levels in Central New York. Residential facilities, like several of Loretto’s facilities, account for 42 percent of all Medicaid spending — so any changes there would have a significant negative impact on our people. And the number of people we are serving, as well as the number of years for which we serve them, is also growing. Residents coming into our facilities are now living with us for 10 even 20 years, which was not the model when Medicaid was introduced in the 1960s. Even those who may have saved for retirement and care in later years likely didn’t anticipate living to 90 or 100, and at some point, they will need Medicaid assistance.

Looking ahead

All of this means that 2018 is going to be a challenging year. We are likely to have fewer resources and potentially fewer referrals as more people are going home from the hospital. Additionally, we face increased demand for complex medical and behavioral care services, and subsequently the need to increase investments in IT infrastructure, staff training and benefits, and access to real-time critical business information. At the same time, however, there is potential for more resources and new opportunities over time in other areas.

Managed care, readmission measurement, and value-based payments are here to stay, no matter what happens with health-care reform efforts. But for managed care as the primary payer, the revenue cycle will be longer, so we will need to find ways to increase cash on hand.

While we sharpen our focus, we can’t lose sight of what’s ahead. We need to be creative in anticipating the needs of our community, particularly for home and community-based services and specialty care services.

We will continue to be active in these and other potential issues that threaten the care that our residents and program participants need. But we won’t let these challenges take our focus away from creating opportunities to secure the future of long-term care in Central New York.                         

Kim Townsend is president and CEO of Loretto, a nonprofit network of elder-care providers. It serves nearly 7,000 individuals annually in Central New York. Loretto employs 2,500 people and says it is the sixth largest employer in Central New York. It adds that it’s the fourth largest health-care provider in the region.