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Interested in having Grand Plans talk to your people about the best practices for mitigating geri-drama? Contact Susanna Barton for details about live presentations at susannabarton@me.com. The 35-minute presentation is available here or below, for you to share at your convenience, free of charge:

Workshops and Presentations Available for Individuals, Groups

Grand Plans/Mindful Aging Strategies is available at The Cathedral Bookstore and Gift Shop and the Cathedral Center for Wellbeing in downtown Jacksonville, FL! The course offering at the center called “Mindful Aging Strategies: Grand Plans for Second Half Thriving.” This five-week class unpacks the fundamentals of structured aging preparation — the process of real-talk planning  for the challenges and opportunities life’s second half brings. Based on the book Grand Plans 2.0: How to Mitigate Geri-Drama in 20 Easy Steps, the course utilizes group discussion, videos and worksheets to address some of the more tangible components of grand planning, including: compiling obituary and funeral information; preparing advance directives and essential legal documents; assessing long term care options; considering transportation contingencies; and communicating effectively with loved ones. The class is led by local author and gerontology student, Susanna Barton. Just say no to GeriDrama! Claim your right to thrive and register for Mindful Aging Strategies today!

Mindful Aging Strategies: CORE Curriculum: COMING SOON! A new quarterly Mindful Aging curriculum at the Center for Wellbeing. This free and hybrid in-person/Zoom class is nearly ready to launch and will be on the Center calendar shortly. Stay tuned!

Mindful Aging Strategies: Grand Planning for Second Half Thriving is a five-week course focusing on some of the major components of a workable Grand Plan including housing, legal and advance directives, financial issues, transportation and communication, among many others. Each course is one hour and includes classroom instruction and videos as well as opportunities to share and discuss personal stories.

Mindful Aging Strategies: Legal, Financial, Medial: There are three one-hour Mindful Aging Strategies courses available that focus on three specific areas of Grand Planning: legal, advance directives and financial. These presentations are based on Barton’s books GerisPrudence, Advance Gerictives and AlGeribra.

The Bishop’s Institute for Ministry and Leadership’s Mindful Aging Strategies: Paths to Second Half Thriving: We also are offering a bimonthly course through the Episcopal Diocese of Florida’s Bishop’s Institute. Led by Jacksonville gerontologist and author Susanna Barton, this quarterly seminar series for the institute and and in conjunction with the St. John’s Cathedral’s Center for Wellbeing focuses on four specific areas of Mindful Aging Strategies and how to approach these topics from a prayerful, practical and planful perspective. Just say no to GeriDrama! The talks are based on the 20 steps outlined in Barton’s book, Grand Plans 2.0: How to Mitigate GeriDrama in 20 Easy Steps. The Bishop’s Institute presentations are a fresh combination of these steps and have been crafted thoughtfully for a clergy and lay leader audience from the Diocese of Florida. Seminars include lunch and are held in Busey Conference Room, St. John’s Cathedral. Contact the diocesan office for more information about how to get involved in this important conversation:

Additional customizable presentations:

Grand Plans Mindful Aging Conversations is a customizable 1:1 coaching session, group workshop, or presentation that helps adults confidently navigate the four essential relationship pathways of aging conversations: talking with older parents, adult children, peers, and professionals. Using the Grand Plans conversation card groups, participants learn how to open the door to meaningful, proactive dialogue about legal, financial, medical, housing, and personal-preference planning. The session teaches simple frameworks, practical prompts, and emotionally intelligent strategies that reduce tension, improve clarity, strengthen relationships, and replace GeriDrama with productive, level-headed communication about the second half of life. COMING SOON!

Decoding Your GeriDrama Risk Score: A Guided Assessment and Roadmap Session:This session guides participants through the 20-question GeriDrama Risk Score, helping them understand where their strongest protections are and where preventable risks may be hiding. Participants learn the five domains of Mindful Aging Strategies (Legal, financial, medical, housing and communication_ and receive practical strategies for reducing their personal GeriDrama score. The 1:1 or group workshop transforms anxiety into agency and ends with a clear set of next steps tailored to their score range. Participants leave with a customized “My First Five Moves” planning roadmap. COMING SOON!

Beyond GeriDrama: Turning Overwhelm into Wisdom: We can learn so much from each other! Beyond GeriDrama: Turning Overwhelm Into Wisdom is a reflective, research-informed workshop that explores how life’s most challenging aging and caregiving moments can become power sources of clarity, connection and preparation for others. Through storytelling, data, shared experiences and guided conversations, participants learn why talking about difficult moments reduces future stress, strengthens families and improves planning outcomes. Attendees walk away with practical insights, personal reflections and renewed confidence for navigating the second half of life. COMING SOON!

Lighten Your Load: A 7-Day Plan for a Lifetime of Stuff: This one-week declutter plan is a fast, structured and compassionate one-time workshop designed to help adults declutter their home in just seven days. Participants learn a proven system for sorting belongings, making decisions quickly, minimizing emotional overwhelm and coordinating the people and resources needed to get this important job done. With practical strategies for separating items into keep/sell/donate/recycle/trash categories and clear steps for lining up junk removal, donation pickups, estate sale support and more, this workshop transforms a hard, heavy process into an achievable plan. Attendees leave with a customized roadmap and the confidence to tackle even the most daunting home cleanout with clarity and peace! COMING SOON!

PREPARE for Your Care presentation: PREPARE for YOUR Care is a step-by-step program with video stories to help you: Fill out an advance directive form to put your wishes in writing. Get the medical care that is right for you Talk with your medical providers, family, and friends. This is a free guided service, and an essential one!

Grand Plans for Purposeful Living: Interested in aligning Mindful Aging with ideas on purposeful living? Seniors on a Mission Executive Director Joanne Hickox and I have you covered. Free of charge, we are happy to speak to your group about the importance of thinking about how and where you will live as you age, underscored by the example of Hickox’s innovative G3 Village concept in Northeast Florida.

We also are happy to schedule a five-week Grand Planning workshop if you’re interested in getting a group together. Make sure you hi the high notes on the GeriDrama Risk Score! The winter 2024 workshop was great fun, we’d love to do more of these Also, free personal 1:1 or group workshops on Mindful Aging Strategies and reducing GeriDrama are available through the Center for Wellbeing.

Materials from Grand Plans: The Workshop DAY 1

Copy of THe 20 Steps (2).pdfDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 Death-Binder-HANDOUTDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 FB-Funeral-Planning-ChecklistDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 getting-your-affairs-in-orderDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 Merrill Lynch ChecklistDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 10 End of Life Legal Documents Everyone Should Have from Senior Services of AmericaDownload
GP WORKSHOP 1 Obituary Templates from LegacyDownload

Materials from Grand Plans: The Workshop DAY 2

GP WORKSHOP 2 Living wills and advance directives for medical decisionsDownload
GP WORKSHOP 2 Types of Senior Living OptionsDownload
GP WORKSHOP 2 Aging in Place vs Other OptionDownload
GP WORKSHOP 2 downsizing-checklist-for-seniorsDownload
GP WORKSHOP 2 The Pros and Cons of Having a Pet During the Senior YearsDownload

Materials from Grand Plans: The Workshop DAY 3

driver-planning-agreementDownload
aging-wellDownload
60-ways-to-live-healthier-and-better-from-aarpDownload
6-reasons-communication-mattersDownload

Materials from Grand Plans: The Workshop DAY 4

building-trust-in-relationshipsDownload
how-to-build-community-and-why-it-mattersDownload
how-to-build-technology-confidence-as-an-older-adultDownload
volunteer-opportunities-for-seniorsDownload

The 10 “Concrete Steps” of a Grand Plan

  1. Write it Down: Create a ‘death binder’ of essential, obituary and funeral information
  2. Lawyer Up: Hire an attorney to get legit about your affairs.
  3. Bean Count: Get your financial house and plan in order.
  4. Advance Your Directives: Write your prescription for health, consider your medical thresholds.
  5. Know Aid ABCs: Get knowledgeable on government programs and long-term care plans
  6. Find Help: Research professional resources available to you
  7. Welcome Home: Educate yourself on the cost, scope and reality of the life and housing you envision.
  8. Toss It: Minimize the hell out of yourself and your stuff.
  9. Real Talk: Communicate with your people, early and honestly and often
  10. Buckle Up: Relinquish the keys and be ready to ride.

And there are 10 more slightly softer steps! Learn more about all 20 steps by ordering the book Grand Plans 2.0: How to Mitigate Geri-Drama in 20 Easy Steps on Amazon, today!

Reach out to learn more about personal consultations or to see how Grand Plans can share its mission of planful aging strategies with your organization. Presentation, workshop, column, book event and ambassador partners have included: