Courtesy of Susan Hindman

Sometimes it’s the simplest of moments that prove to be the most poignant, and Kathy Greenlee, who likes to tell stories, tells one that was pivotal in her life. As Kansas secretary of aging at the time, she was to present a plaque to a nursing home that had turned itself around—morphing from a facility that was so bad its parking lot was cited for being dangerous, into one that was receiving an award as one of the state’s top facilities. She went to the home for the ceremony as well as to see it firsthand and to talk with the residents there, who that particular day were discussing redesigning a bathroom on one wing. Among the ideas tossed out was one by a woman who caught Greenlee’s attention: she specifically wanted green and white towels in this new bathroom. A simple request.

But later, when Greenlee found herself sitting next to this woman and talking with her, “I had one of those moments when you can see yourself in someone else,” she said. “I was in one of the best facilities in the state. And I looked at her and thought, I don’t want this to happen to me. . . . Everybody here lost their health. It doesn’t matter what age they were, they lost their health. . . . This woman needs to be in her own house, designing her own bathroom, not here.”    

And so, aging in place—helping seniors stay in their homes and communities, rather than in assisted living facilities or nursing homes—gained a powerful ally in Greenlee (right), who was appointed assistant secretary for aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in June. She oversees an annual budget of $1.5 billion that finds its way to thousands of service organizations, which in turn disperse money to those who provide more specific services for seniors. She answers to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, with whom she worked in Kansas, and confers with a member of President Obama’s staff who is specifically focused on aging issues.

On September 23, Greenlee gave the closing address at the 25th National Home and Community Based Services Conference in Denver, a four-day gathering that brought together service agency leaders and staff from around the country. In her speech, and in an interview following her speech, she discussed her agenda, which is threefold: working on “culture change” in nursing homes—something “I feel very passionate about”—supporting and expanding home- and community-based services, and encouraging seniors to support their own health.