Jun 18, 2021
Jennie Chin Hansen’s career in aging services has taken her from a community operation in San Francisco’s Chinatown to the presidency of AARP, all underpinned by a desire to view aging through a more holistic lens than the often one-size-fits-all institutional model.
Hansen’s work as CEO of On Lok, an organization formed to care for Chinese American elders in San Francisco, helped inform the creation of the federal Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE. Susan Ryan sat down with Hansen to discuss PACE’s incredible results and still-unlocked potential, as well as her personal history with On Lok and the need to understand the deep connections linking race, ethnicity, and elders’ needs as they age.
In this episode of “Let Me Say This About That,” Marla and Mary discuss a number of topics Jennie mentioned during her interview.
Mary takes a closer look at the Great Society and why Jennie placed the creation of On Lok within the context of that program. Marla explores the “geriatric day hospital” model in the U.K., as well as the definition of ethnogerontology and why it is important.
We discuss the “On Lok Playbook” and how it relates to the Green House model.
And when serendipity occurs – what do you do with it?
Read about Ethnogeriatrics here: https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/culturemed/overview/introduction/theories.html
Learn more about The Great Society: https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/great-society