Sherri Friend, Oakwood Creative Care’s President and CEO, has been working in the nonprofit sector for 25 years, helping seniors live their best lives. Considering how Arizona has the fastest growth rate of Alzheimer’s disease in the country, as well as her own personal experience watching her grandmother progress through dementia, Sherri calls it her life’s mission to do everything in her power to create change within the senior care industry.

Since its establishment in 1975, OCC has taken new and innovative steps to allow older adults to experience a life fully lived, no matter their diagnosis. Sherri spoke about these steps on a panel featured in the Morning Scoop presented by the Arizona Capitol Times called “Navigating Dementia – Arizona’s Innovative New Model.”

“As we have been pushing the envelope in how we offer care, the mission of our organization is to enhance quality of life and spark joy for seniors with cognitive and physical impairment. Quality of life is a standard we talk about, but joy is a little different – we take that very seriously. It’s a super important component of the innovation and model that [Oakwood] portrays. We offer what [the industry calls] ‘adult day health services.’ We have shifted away from calling it adult daycare because the folks who come to our programs deserve more than being in daycare.”

Sherri also reflects on how she and Oakwood’s teams have worked on reviewing and reforming the best practices of dementia care collected from around the world. As a result, Oakwood continues to expand and offer families a more refined, all-encompassing approach to dementia care that allows aging loved ones to experience a more inclusive community. 

You can catch the full panel discussion here: