TEDx Talk by Gerontologist Susanna Barton Reframes Aging as a Design Challenge, Not a Crisis
Jacksonville, FL — Gerontologist, author, and Mindful Aging strategist Susanna Barton has released her TEDx talk, “Aging Isn’t a Crisis. It’s a Design Challenge We’re Ignoring,” now available on the TEDx YouTube platform.
In the talk, Barton challenges the dominant narrative that aging is something to fear or avoid. Instead, she presents a compelling case for approaching the second half of life as a design challenge—one that can be navigated with intention, preparation, and clarity. Drawing from her professional work and lived experience, Barton outlines the consequences of widespread under-preparedness and offers a practical framework for individuals and families to plan ahead.
“Aging is not a distant issue—it’s a universal one,” Barton says. “Every one of us is either aging or supporting someone who is. The question is whether we’re doing it by default or by design.”
The talk represents a significant milestone in Barton’s ongoing advocacy around aging preparedness, expanding the reach of her work to a global audience through the TEDx platform. Early responses to the talk have been thoughtful and encouraging, underscoring the relevance and urgency of the topic.
Viewers are encouraged to engage with the talk to help amplify its reach during its initial release period. Watching the talk in full, liking, commenting, and sharing the video all contribute to broader visibility and impact.
👉 Watch the TEDx Talk here: LINK
Barton hopes the talk will spark meaningful conversations—within families, among friends, and across communities—about how to better prepare for the realities of aging.
For those interested in taking next steps, additional resources are available through Barton’s platform, including the GeriDrama Risk Score, a simple tool designed to help individuals assess their current level of preparedness and identify one actionable step forward.
Barton also offers educational programming through the St. John’s Cathedral Center for Wellbeing and the Episcopal Diocese of Florida Bishop’s Institute, where she teaches courses on legal planning, financial preparedness, caregiving, housing decisions, and legacy development.
In addition to her courses, Barton is available for speaking engagements and small-group presentations, offering tailored conversations designed to help organizations and communities engage more deeply with the principles of mindful aging.
For more information, resources, or to explore upcoming classes, visit mygrandplans.com.
About Susanna Barton
Susanna Barton is a Jacksonville-based journalist, author and founder of Grand Plans, a consulting practice and educational platform dedicated to helping adults and families prepare for the social, legal, financial, medical and emotional realities of aging. Her work, including Grand Plans 2.0, integrates research in gerontology with practical tools for communication, caregiving, and legacy planning. She is founder of an emerging practice in Gerontology known as Mindful Aging Strategies. A graduate of Hollins College and MS Gerontology student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Barton is also a speaker and writer passionate about helping communities embrace aging as an intentional, creative and empowering process.
Media Contact:
Susanna Barton
Jacksonville Author and Mindful Aging Strategist Susanna Barton to Speak at TEDx Jacksonville 2026
Jacksonville, FL — Local author, journalist, and mindful aging strategist Susanna Barton will take the stage at the TEDxJacksonville 2026 Conference, themed On the Edge — Where Certainty Ends & Curiosity Begins, on January 17, 2026, at the Lazzara Performance Hall at the University of North Florida. The annual event celebrates “ideas worth spreading” by bringing together thought leaders and innovators from across Northeast Florida and beyond.
Barton’s talk explores how Americans can meet the coming demographic revolution with intention and creativity. By 2034, adults over 65 will outnumber children under 18 in the United States — a historic shift that demands new ways of thinking about aging. Barton, author of Grand Plans 2.0, argues that “mindful aging” is not something to postpone, but something to prepare for now.
Drawing on her work helping families and individuals develop legal, financial and emotional readiness for later life, Barton reframes aging not as decline, but as a design challenge—an opportunity to shape the next chapter of life with purpose and grace. Her talk illustrates how proactive planning around care, housing, information, communication and legacy can be one of the most profound acts of love we offer ourselves and those we leave behind.
“Too often, we wait until crisis strikes before having the hard conversations about care, money and the way we want to live our Second Half lives,” Barton says. “But when we prepare with intention — when we learn, talk and design together — we reduce chaos and create beautiful new opportunities to thrive during one of the most incredible times of our lives.”
The TEDxJacksonville 2026 lineup will feature an array of speakers whose work embodies the conference’s theme of curiosity, courage, and innovation at life’s edges. Tickets and event details are available at tedxjacksonville.com.
About Susanna Barton
Susanna Barton is a Jacksonville-based journalist, author and founder of Grand Plans, a consulting practice and educational platform dedicated to helping adults and families prepare for the social, legal, financial, medical and emotional realities of aging. Her work, including Grand Plans 2.0, integrates research in gerontology with practical tools for communication, caregiving, and legacy planning. She is founder of an emerging practice in Gerontology known as Mindful Aging Strategies. A graduate of Hollins College and MS Gerontology student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Barton is also a speaker and writer passionate about helping communities embrace aging as an intentional, creative and empowering process.
Media Contact:
Susanna Barton
New “GeriDrama™ Risk Score” Helps Families Predict and Prevent Aging-Related Crises
Mindful Aging strategist and Grand Planning advocate Susanna Barton has announced the launch of the GeriDrama™ Risk Score, a first-of-its-kind assessment tool designed to help adults identify—and reduce—the hidden risks that often lead to family conflict, crisis decision-making and preventable stress during aging transitions — a common challenge known as GeriDrama.
Grounded in evidence-based Gerontology and informed by national health, financial and caregiving data, the GeriDrama™ Risk Score gives adults a simple, 10-minute way to evaluate how prepared they are for the second half of life.
“We avoid conversations, paperwork and planning — then we expect our families to perform miracles in the dark,” said Barton, creator of the GeriDrama™ Risk Score and founder of Grand Plans. “This score is a flashlight. It shows you where the risks are and what steps you can take next.”
A Growing Need for Early Aging Preparation
Recent national data highlights the urgency of tools like the GeriDrama™ Risk Score:
- Life expectancy is rising, reaching 78.4 years in 2023, which means more years to plan for medical, financial, and long-term care needs (CDC/NCHS).
- Long-term care remains expensive, with the 2024 national median annual cost of a private nursing home room at $127,750 and assisted living at $70,800 (CareScout/Genworth).
- Unpaid caregivers provided 36 billion hours of care in 2021—worth $600 billion—adding enormous strain to families (AARP).
- Only one in three U.S. adults has completed any form of advance directive or documented medical preference (Health Affairs/JAMA).
- Just 55% of adults say they could cover three months of expenses with savings, leaving many households vulnerable to unexpected care costs (Federal Reserve).
“These numbers tell the story,” Barton said. “The risks are predictable, but they are preventable if we start planning earlier and talking sooner.”
What the Score Measures
The GeriDrama™ Risk Score evaluates readiness across five categories:
- Conversations & Decision-Makers
- Documents & Designations
- Care & Housing Pathways
- Finances & Protection
- Family Communication & Logistics
The score highlights gaps and provides clear next steps to reduce the likelihood of what Barton calls “GeriDrama”—avoidable family chaos during aging transitions.
A Tool for Adults of All Ages
While most aging discussions focus on people over 70, Barton emphasizes that proactive planning should begin much earlier.
“The GeriDrama™ Risk Score is for anyone who wants to protect the people they love,” she said. “The best time to prepare is when you’re healthy, clear-minded, and not in crisis.”
About Susanna Barton and Grand Plans
Susanna Barton is a communications specialist, speaker, an upcoming TEDx Jacksonville presenter and incoming gerontologist who focuses on the new gerontological practice of Mindful Aging Strategies. Through Grand Plans and her Mindful Aging Strategist work, Barton helps individuals and families prepare for the second half of life with confidence, intention and compassion.
For more information or to take the GeriDrama™ Risk Score, visit www.mygrandplans.com
Gerontology Alumna has Grand Plans
By Sarah Newell (link to story at UNCG)
Everyone ages, but not everyone prepares for it. UNCG alumna Susanna Barton helps caregivers, as well as those who are entering that stage of life.
She started her business focused on educating others on preparing for the second half of life, Grand Plans, after an unexpected turn in her own life. About seven years ago Barton received a call from someone regarding the welfare of an older couple she knew but had not kept in close contact with.
“Unknown to me, (this couple) had assigned me as their primary caregivers,” she said.
Barton took on the unexpected role for two years, while simultaneously having her own family obligations with two teenagers and her own father suffering a brief illness and passing away.
“It opened my eyes to how much we all have to do to prepare for the aging experience,” Barton said. “I wrote down what I needed to do to make things easier for my children.”
This includes medical care, housing, legal documents, a financial plan, and what will happen to pets, among other things.
With one in four adults in the U.S. acting as caregivers, planning is essential. Barton wrote a book, “Grand Plans,” to help others not be caught off guard like she was. Her focus is to help others think through legal, financial, housing, and care decisions as they age.
Barton — who was previously a journalist, and then in education communications — decided she wanted to focus on this as a full-time career, realizing how important it was.
I felt there was a greater purpose in sharing the lessons I learned.Susanna Barton
“I felt there was a greater purpose in sharing the lessons I learned. This demographic is shifting so quickly. When we go through hard times, we want to share lessons to benefit others,” Barton said. “I wanted to shift gears from communications to something more flexible, and this seemed like the right path to me.”
She was unfamiliar with the official field of gerontology until a friend mentioned it to her. She researched programs and applied to UNCG. She graduated in December 2025 with her master’s degree in Gerontology, earning the degree online from where she lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
“Attending UNCG and earning my MS degree in the Gerontology program was so affirming. It gave me street cred and the science to know what I was talking about, not just my experience,” Barton said. “I could have gone in and learned what I did was not best practice. It also opened my eyes to the ecosystem of people in the field of gerontology. This program was affirming in every way.”
Barton said the faculty and fellow students also made the program enriching.
Dr. Eifert and Dr. Caro were so supportive. And even though the program was online, I felt so connected. UNCG has such a well-run program and it’s so educational.Susanna Barton
“Dr. E (Eifert) and Dr. Caro were so supportive. And even though the program was online, I felt so connected,” she said. “UNCG has such a well-run program and it’s so educational.”
While earning her degree, Barton expanded her business, blogging, writing a free bi-monthly Grand Plan newsletter with aging information and reviews on books that cover aging, and conducting Mindful Aging workshops.
Upon graduation, she was also part of a Jacksonville TedX talk on aging. Barton is also designing a new workshop.
“People are reluctant to talk about preparing for aging, until you get them talking about it, and then it’s hard to get their lips zipped,” she said. “Older adults who are moving through that season are starting to talk more.”
Barton admits that following a “Grand Plan” can take a lot of work, but is worth it in the end, saying she and her husband are still finalizing their own.
“I did most of my directives and financial piece and am having conversations with my kids about what we want, making them normal, healthy conversations. I still need to work on decluttering,” she said. “My eyes are very wide open. I try to be aware of what I still need to do as I age.”
For new caregivers, Barton offers a few tips: Ensure legal documents are structured correctly, such as living wills and health care wishes.
“And find relief that there are so many wonderful people in the aging and gerontology fields to find support,” she said. “All caregivers get to a point where it is too much. To build a team to support you is a big deal, instead of thinking you can do it all alone.”
By Sarah Newell
Grand Plans 