Welcome to this month’s ‘Meet the Speaker’ where we’ll be interviewing a new member of our speaker line-up for Care Show Birmingham 2025. It’s a chance to get to know the experts behind all the real insights, experience, and guidance presented at the show. 

In this month’s editions, we’ll be learning more from Sarina Kiayani, Policy & External Affairs Manager from ARCO…

 

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started in the retirement living sector?

I started out on a graduate scheme in the public affairs team of a PR agency. One of my clients ended up being a retirement housing operator with some extra care schemes, who I then worked with for almost two years, so I became familiar with the sector by total accident! I realised there was so much untapped potential for the sector in housing and health policy, so when I was looking for jobs doing policy and media in-house rather than within an agency and the role at ARCO came up, I jumped at the opportunity.

What’s the focus of your presentation/s at this year’s conference, and why is this topic important right now? 

My presentation will focus on the role of Integrated Retirement Communities in addressing the social care crisis, and how expanding their provision can improve health outcomes. As the government looks towards cost-savings and prevention, the role of IRCs can fit perfectly as part of this.

What’s one thing you hope attendees will take away from your session?  

Knowing the definition of an IRC. You'd be surprised at how many people don't!

Have there been any recent developments or research in retirement living that you find particularly exciting?

ARCO has been working on proposing an alternative tenure to leasehold for IRCs, which my colleague Sally will be speaking about at the show. The UK is unique in using leases for this model of housing, with many countries with a more developed IRC sector, including New Zealand, using contract-based tenure models. Sally's session will detail ARCO's proposals for a contract model and how this can help to grow the sector and provide increased consumer protection, which is a key part of ARCO's role in the sector.

What’s one misconception about retirement living that you often encounter — and how do you address it?

That IRCs are care homes or like the traditional retirement housing model. Residents live independently with their own front doors, care delivered to their door if they need, and communal facilities they can use as little or often as they wish. We are currently raising public awareness of what an IRC is through a campaign with Hearst, a global media corporation, where we have built a dedicated website, www.findmyirc.co.uk to address this.

How do you continue learning and evolving in your practice? Are there any books, courses, or mentors that have influenced you recently?

Women in Retirement Living is an excellent organisation which aims to support underrepresented groups in the retirement living sector and provide networking, training and support to aid personal development. Through WiRL I met my mentor, Sue, who has been fantastic in supporting me in my career. I highly recommend joining WiRL!

What do you enjoy most about working in this field?

I love how "everyone knows everyone", and how much widespread support there is for the IRC model. We all recognise that we need to improve housing options for people as they age.

Outside of work, how do you like to unwind or recharge? 

I love reading fiction and walking on the Common where I live in Chorleywood.

 

Come along to the Retirement Living Stage to meet Sarina and say hello! She will be chairing the theatre across both days of the show, and delivering the following sessions:

Leasehold reform: navigating the latest updates – 8 Oct – 14:35 – 15:05

What are Integrated Retirement Communities? – 9 Oct – 11:00 – 11:30

Tenure reform: what’s changing for retirement living? – 9 Oct – 13:15 – 13:45