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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Modern Aging

Dr. Scott Kaiser became the first chief innovation officer at the Motion Picture and Television Fund in June 2014. He was brought on board to help spearhead MPTF in a different direction to better care for the aging population. Throughout its 95 years of service, MPTF has provided health services and support to people working in the entertainment industry and their families. The fund was established by Hollywood heavyweights of the time, such as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, and is supported by industry members who give back through charitable donations or by volunteering their time. However, people are living longer and are beginning to place more importance on quality of life and overall well-being. In response, Kaiser and MPTF are working to bring a more holistic approach to age-related care using technology, innovation and compassion. Title: Chief Innovation Officer Organization: Motion Picture & Television Fund Born: Chicago Education: M.D. from USC’s Keck School of Medicine, residency at Lawrence Family Medicine Residency in Lawrence, Mass. and fellowships at both Harvard University’s Geriatric Medicine Fellowship and UCLA/VA Primary Care and Health Services Research Fellowship. Career Turning Point: During his geriatric medicine fellowship, he provided health information to an older audience through a Boston public access program, which inspired him to look beyond health systems and into the community to engage people in their health. Most Influential People: Virginia McLaurin, the 106-year-old woman who was dancing with the first family at the White House, and Dr. Walter Bortz II, a pioneer in geriatrics Personal: Lives in Brentwood with his wife, Dr. Christina Ford, and his son, Otis, 3. Hobbies: Spending time with his family, exploring the city, going to the beach, listening to live music. Question: How did you get involved in geriatrics? Answer: I recognized early in my career that with such few geriatricians in the country, or globally even, it was really incumbent upon us to create better systems of care and put ourselves in a position to serve not just our patients individually on a one-by-one basis but to think about ways to reach broader populations. Is your job depressing? To the contrary. I’m dealing with interesting people who have a wealth of experience and often tremendous wisdom to impart. More importantly, I’m in a position that’s really an intimate place from which to address and confront challenges and solve problems related to what really matters most to people. At the end of the day, geriatric medicine isn’t necessarily about making a diagnosis or finding the right pill to prescribe. It’s about making sure people are engaged and living the healthiest lives they can in a way that’s consistent with what matters most to them – whether it’s family, their path or dreams. It’s definitely not depressing. How did you become a chief innovative officer? After entering into its partnership with UCLA Health System, MPTF was making a transition and I was recruited to help establish a new direction for this organization. MPTF created the position chief innovation officer to accomplish this. What does a chief innovation officer do? One of the immediate things that comes to mind for people when they think of a chief innovation officer is technology. While technology certainly is something we consider and plays a role in the services and programs we are creating, it is certainly not first and foremost. Particularly, when it comes to the care of older people, we recognize that there is going to be a lot of human connection and heavy lifting required, and not any technological solution alone. When you come to an organization, there already is a culture of innovation. The question is not about replacing it or re-creating it, it’s about fostering its growth and guiding it into the future. Who is a typical resident of MPTF? The average age of residents on campus is 87 with the oldest resident turning 106 in the next month. But I don’t think there is a typical resident here. These are people who worked in front of and behind the camera as well as their loved ones. You have people on the creative side, on the production side, writers, executive assistants, drivers – you name it. Everybody here really has their own story, and our job is to help continue to write that story as to how they’ll thrive here. How much does it cost to live here? The rates vary greatly from situation to situation. However, we do have a mix of people who pay to live here and who have their expenses subsidized by our foundation, so people are able to live here irrespective of ability to pay. Whether or not industry members can qualify to live here is dependent on years of service and the work they did in the entertainment industry. Can you tell me about the Live Well Walking Groups? We’ve organized community walking groups throughout the L.A. area in which industry members and their families get together and walk on a regular basis. It’s fun, engaging and gets people moving. How did MPTF come up with this idea? These walking groups were formed out of our experience of last year’s celebration of National Senior Health and Fitness Day on our Woodland Hills campus. We had over 400 guests join us to celebrate active aging and living well. We will again celebrate National Senior Health and Fitness Day for industry members on campus on May 25. We see this as a great opportunity to further engage people in our walking programs. How can businesses get involved? Our MPTF Live Well Walking Groups are out walking in the communities, and we’re eager to find ways that they can go and connect with local businesses on their walks. It’s important that as these groups are gathering they have places to stop and socialize. This is about creating a community health movement. Our groups are out there in the community, advancing a message of healthy living and community health – a message people of all ages need to get. Sedentary lifestyle is a public health epidemic, and this is really about mobilizing the community and getting people out there. We are eager to find opportunities for our groups to enhance this experience and connect with local businesses. Does innovation cost money or save money? Certainly innovation is an important approach to really trying to improve the bottom line. We are trying to develop programs that meet a need and provide something to people that can really help them lead a healthier life. Sometimes those are things that are expensive, that there isn’t necessarily a clear revenue source associated with it, and we just need to find ways through philanthropy and other resourceful approaches to make those things possible for those in need. What is the Memory Training and Physical Exercise Study? Participants are randomized to various conditions, combining exercise and UCLA Longevity Center memory training programs. The idea is we know that exercise is good for your brain health and we know memory training can improve cognitive function. The question is how can we combine these modalities to potentially have an even greater impact? While this study is ongoing, preliminary findings suggest that there may be a greater effect of memory training when conducted while exercising. Again, the idea being that when you are exercising in an aerobic zone, you are releasing neurotrophic factors and creating the conditions for fostering healthy brain growth. What is the Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Center for Behavioral Health? It is a new geriatric psychiatry unit on our Wassermann Campus in Woodland Hills. It was developed to meet a growing need in our community for geriatric mental health services. Within this center, we provide comprehensive mental health care for older adults with psychiatric illness in a healing and nurturing environment. We have 12 single-patient rooms and beautiful common areas and outdoor space in a brand-new facility that just opened in the fall of 2015. This provides a much needed resource for adults 55 and older with acute mental health needs. Why is it open to the general public? We recognized the tremendous need for this type of service. We have a system in which we’ll give priority to members of the entertainment industry but wanted to be sure that this service is available to the public. What is the new Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion? It is a new building on campus that will transform the way we provide care for our residents living with dementia and those in need of skilled nursing care. The fundraising for this project was initiated with a $15 million gift from Kirk and Anne Douglas, and the whole facility will cost $35 million. The pavilion will house 80 residents in reimagined living spaces designed to enhance health and quality of life. What’s most exciting about this development is that this is really an effort to move away from an institutional-type care and really re-create the sense of home for those most vulnerable. How is UCLA involved with MPTF? We work in partnership with UCLA Health System. It manages MPTF health centers throughout the L.A. area that provide primary and specialty care to (entertainment) industry members and their families. UCLA took over our five health centers in June of 2014. They own and operate the health centers but not the Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills. I would say since UCLA has come on board, we’ve only seen expansion of access to services, increase in our specialty network and more quality care offerings available to industry members and their families. How is geriatric care changing? Geriatrics has always been a major priority within MPTF. In general, health systems are really just coming to appreciate the value of quality geriatrics. This is an area MPTF has been taking the lead and pioneering for decades. We will continue to work in partnership with UCLA to expand our Age-Well Geriatric Care Clinic, which offers people access to interdisciplinary geriatric assessments and ongoing care. We’re also expanding our geriatric care management and social and community services through programs like our Elder Connection Program. What about palliative care? It has typically been associated with end-of-life care. While we continue to strive to provide the best care possible at the end of life, we’re seeking ways to initiate concurrent palliative care early in a patient’s course of treatment. If they are diagnosed with a serious illness – regardless of what care avenues they seek – palliative care can be included as an additional layer of care and support, because we know patients do better when they have a team that’s directed around their goals, their needs, and the unique challenges related to managing their serious illness. What can we expect from MPTF in the future? An example and one area of specific focus for us in the immediate future is to take on social isolation as a health issue. We are currently developing programs that will engage our network of volunteers to identify social isolation in our community. We are finding ways to get people connected and by doing this, improve their health and well-being. How did you get involved in health care innovation? I’m a person who is infinitely curious and through my patient care, I often recognize clear shortcomings of the current system and am always eager to think of ways to make it better. So I’d say that combination of being curious and being committed to creating something better is what’s gotten me interested in health care innovation. How would you describe your leadership style? Collaborative. I would say no man is an island and certainly with the kind of broad, sweeping ambitions that we have of really trying to engage and improve health and well-being at a population level, it takes all hands on deck. From the most disparate stakeholder in the community to the CEO at the center of the organization, all of us need to come together to create a better system of care. What advice would you give to people thinking about a career as an innovation officer? If you recognize a need and feel there is a better way, if you’re committed and interested in something that’s creative and engaging, and if you’re ready to be resourceful, then this is a good fit. There are real problems in the world, particularly when it comes to health and systems of care, and if you feel like you can work with people to find a way to make it better, go for it.

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