Meet the West Health Accelerator Team: Lesley Adkison, PhD, RN
Lesley Adkison is the nursing practice innovation leader at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and is also part of the West Health Champions program.
Q&A
Why do you love caring for older adults?
Lesly Adkison: I came to caring for older adults not at the very beginning of my career, but about a third of the way through. And what really drew me to them is the resilience that they brought to the table. Really, they are adapting through change and deciding how they want to live the rest of their lives. They're in vulnerable situations that they didn't anticipate. It's that resilience, and how people recalibrate, that’s incredible. And then, of course, there are the stories—older adults bring their whole lives with them. You get this deep sense of who they are, what they've lived and what they value. All of that wisdom is there for us to learn from — if only we take the time to listen.
What led you to want to be part of this program?
LA: Over time, my appreciation turned into this real awareness of how hard it is to be an older adult navigating our system. It's complex, it's overwhelming, it's easy to feel unseen. So that's when it became clear to me that I wanted to be part of doing things better, and that's why I'm so glad to be part of this program.
Can you share a moment when an older adult expressed gratitude or feedback that really resonated with you?
LA: I'm just really floored sometimes by the gratitude of older adults and their caregivers for what are really very small things. It’s usually expressed when, as a team, we got things right. It's not about the individual provider or someone in particular on the team, but the team as a whole. Sometimes it's around those big moments. It's around goals of care or end-of-life discussions, but just as often, it's about the smaller things. It's about believing in things. It's about being happy with them when a small gain is achieved. And what stands out, is that the bulk of this appreciation comes from being seen and heard. It seems like that should be easy, but it makes such a difference to them. The depth of their appreciation reminds me how much we can do as a system to help make their experience better.