Meeting the Leadership Challenge in Long-Term Care What You Do Matters By David Farrell, MSW, LNHA, Cathie Brady, MS, and Barbara Frank, MPA

David Farrell, M.S.W., L.N.H.A.

David Farrell, M.S.W., L.N.H.A., is a licensed nursing home administrator who has spent his entire career in the long-term care profession. He started as a certified nursing assistant in order to earn extra money while attending college. That experience inspired him to pursue a Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Gerontology and Administration from Boston College. In the 25 years he has served as a nursing home administrator, David has advocated for culture change using quality improvement practices. A published author and member of the Board of Directors at the Pioneer Network, he has delivered inspiring presentations to long-term care leaders at conferences and training events in 46 different states. While working for state Quality Improvement Organizations, he played a lead role in the National Nursing Home Quality Initiative. Currently, David is the Director of Organizational Development and Regional Director of Operations for a private nursing home management firm in California. He resides in Berkeley, California, with his wife Brenda and daughters Isabella, 7, and Chloe, 1.

Cathie Brady, M.S.

Cathie Brady, M.S., has more than 30 years of experience providing services and advocating for older adults in a variety of settings, including serving as Executive Director of the Department of Aging Services for the city of Bristol, Connecticut, and for 10 years as the Regional LTC Ombudsman for Eastern Connecticut. Cathie has an M.S. in Organizational Management from Eastern Connecticut State University. She is co-founder (with her co-author Barbara Frank) of B&F Consulting, where she co-produced a Webcast for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on “The How of Change: ‘What a difference management makes!’” Cathie directed the Connecticut Career Ladder and Culture Change Initiative. For 3 years, she worked with the New Orleans Nursing Home Staffing Project, which helped nursing homes recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She co-produced a film with Louisiana Public Broadcasting called The Big Uneasy: Katrina’s Unsung Heroes. Cathie is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences and specializes in leadership development at all levels of an organization to assist nursing homes interested in being better places to live and work.

Barbara Frank, M.P.A.

Barbara Frank, M.P.A., began her career in long-term care by serving 16 years at the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform in Washington, D.C., where she facilitated the Campaign for Quality, through which providers, consumers, practitioners, and regulators developed consensus on what became the OBRA 1987 legislation that overhauled nursing home regulations to require more individualized care. She has served as state ombudsman for Connecticut. Barbara facilitated the first Pioneer Network gathering in 1997, and in 2005 she facilitated the St. Louis Accord, a national gathering of providers, consumers, regulators, and quality improvement organizations that came together to improve clinical outcomes through culture change. Co-founder (with her colleague, Cathie Brady) of B&F Consulting, she works directly with individual nursing homes to improve their performance measures through workforce retention and culture change. Barbara led a team in the New Orleans Nursing Home Staffing Project, which helped nursing homes recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She co-produced a film with Louisiana Public Broadcasting called The Big Uneasy: Katrina’s Unsung Heroes. She co-authored Nursing Homes: Getting Good Care There (1996) and has written extensively on efforts to improve care and outcomes in nursing homes. Barbara has an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government.