How Women Shaped Modern Retirement and Senior Living
As we approach March and Women’s History Month, this is the perfect time to honor women and the amazing contributions they’ve made to health care. From Florence Nightingale to Antonia Novello, the first female U.S. Surgeon General, women haven’t just been prominent leaders in health care throughout American history, they’ve also developed a great deal of what we’ve come to expect in modern patient care and senior living. Currently, women make up 95% of speech therapists, 92% of occupational therapy practitioners and 65% of physical therapists, who are key to helping seniors regain or maintain their independence.
How Women Created the Modern Retirement Lifestyle
Senior living communities would not be the vital, health focused lifestyle – like Freedom Plaza – we know today without these three women:
Virginia Henderson: After receiving her Diploma in Nursing in 1921 and going on to earn a master’s degree in 1934, Virginia Henderson started her career in nursing at the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service. She then taught at her alma mater, the Teachers College, while practicing nursing at New York teaching hospitals. During her time, Virginia re-shaped senior living through the implementation of her Need Theory, in which she defined what nursing practice should be and how a patient’s independence should be the highest priority.
Keren Brown Wilson: Known as the Mother of Assisted Living, Keren Brown Wilson set out to transform elderly care from hospital settings to residential settings when her mom, Jessie, had a stroke at age 55 that confined her to nursing homes for the next decade. What she established for assisted living is the model of long-term care that is practiced in the U.S. and internationally.
After becoming a professor of gerontology at Portland State University, her idea was to bring health care services to older adults in low-income housing – allowing those seniors to remain at home. But she couldn’t get money from the state of Oregon to help pay for the services. So, Keren and her husband, Michael DeShane, a fellow gerontologist, borrowed several million dollars to build a community, and her concept of assisted living was born. Not only did that early community serve lower income people for a flat rate, but the pilot study also showed that residents had better health outcomes than those who lived in nursing homes.
Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus: The founder of the American Association of Retired People, more commonly known by its acronym AARP, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus was passionate about providing independence and dignity for older Americans and was the forerunner of the modern idea of aging in place and independent living. After decades in education, while serving as a volunteer with the California Retired Teachers Association, Ethel was dismayed to meet retired teachers whose pensions had been eroded by inflation and rising health care costs. This inspired her to establish the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) in 1947, which gave retired educators a national voice in making life better for all.
In 1958, Dr. Andrus decided to establish a new organization called the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which was modeled on the retired teachers group. AARP offered an affordable group health insurance plan, drove down prescription drug prices, established affordable group travel and encouraged other companies to improve their products and services.
In addition, she launched one of the nation’s first “universal design” homes. She conceived of the idea to help persuade delegates to the first White House Conference on the Aging to support construction of housing where people could live safely and comfortably as they aged.
Women’s History Continues to Impact Us Today
Come experience modern senior living at its finest. At Freedom Plaza, we continue to build on and celebrate women’s history and, in 2024, were awarded the Best Continuing Care Retirement Community by US News and World Report and won #1 in customer satisfaction among Independent Senior Living Communities six years in a row. To schedule a personal visit with us today, give us a call, use our Community Assistant chat feature or contact us here.
