Geriatric and Disability Medicine
Private Practice
Chicago, Illinois
1985- Current
Medical Director
Wellspring Personal
Care Chicago, Illinois
1993- Current
Member of Board of Directors
Continuing Education Institute of Illinois/Active Senior’s Options Inc. Chicago, IIllinois
2012- Current
Founder and Developer
Home Care Metrics SM
Chicago, Illinois
2014- Current
Chair: Medical Advisory Council
Home Care Association of America
Washington D.C.
2020-2023
Internship – General Rotation, Des Moines General Hospital
Des Moines, lowa, 1981 – 1982
Doctor of Osteopathy, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, 1977-1981
Master of Science – Biology, University of Illinois
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois 1975-1977
Bachelor of Science – Biology/Chemistry, Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois, 1971 – 1975
Contributing
Editor The Blue
Island Forum
2018-2020
Chaplain
Fraternal Order of
Eagles Blue Island,
Illinois
2017-2020
Instructor
Elder Law Seminar, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 2002-2007
Examining Physician
Service of Will, Grundy and Kankakee County
Preadmission Screening and Annual Resident Review for Persons with
Disabilities Joliet, Illinois
1990-1995
Clinical Consultant
South Suburban Access Homewood, Illinois 1990-1991
Founder and Medical Director
Wellspring Gerontological Services Chicago, Illinois 1985-1993
Senior Housing
Consultant Village of Niles Niles, Illinois 1987
Medical Director
Village of Oak Lawn Health Services Oak Lawn, Illinois 1986
Senior Housing
Consultant Village of Orland Park Orland Park, Illinois 1985-1986
Physician Private
Practice Evergreen Park, Illinois 1982-1985
Elder Law Initiative Advisory
Board Member Loyola University of Chicago 2001-2004
Financial, Law Enforcement and Government (FLAG) –
A Partnership to Prevent Financial Exploitation and Abuse Member, Board of Directors, Chicago, Illinois, 1997-2001
State of Illinois Guardianship Reform Project
Member, Task Force, Chicago, Illinois, 1999-2001
City of Chicago – Heat/Cold Emergency
Intervention Member, Task Force, Chicago, Illinois,
April 2000 – 2001 Illinois Citizens for Better Care
President, Board of Directors, Chicago, Illinois, 1994 – 2001
Pathways to Alzheimer’s Disease: Identifying Factors that
Promote or Inhibit Early Detection – Northwestern University
Medical School Member, Research Project Advisory Board,
Chicago, Illinois, 1998- 2000
Chicago Community Trust
Long Term Care Forum, Chicago, Illinois, February 1995
Mental Health Association of Greater
Chicago Vice-President, Chicago, Illinois,
1993-1994
Illinois Attorney General Senior Advisory Committee — Health Care
Subcommittee Springfield, Illinois, 1992-1994
BOGARD Case Coordination Panel — Subcommittee on
Training Joliet, Illinois, 1993
Illinois Attorney General Senior Citizens Advisory
Committee Legal Affairs Subcommittee
Springfield, Illinois, 1992 – 1994
“Advance Directives and Legal Planning for Older Adults,” Illinois Department on Aging – 5th Annual
Elder Rights Conference, Chicago, Illinois, July 1991
“Dimensions of Male Longevity,” Writers’ Conference on Men’s Health, American Osteopathic
Association, Chicago, Illinois, November 1990
“A Medical and Legal Partnership in Elder Care,”American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, August 1990
“Care and Involuntary Commitment of Cognitively Impaired Elderly,” Chicago Voluntary Legal
Services Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, March 1990
“A Geriatrician’s View: The Physiology of Aging and the Impact on Housing and Healthcare
Services,” Retirement Housing Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 1988
“Zoning, Municipal Regulation and Monitoring of Retirement Housing,” Northwest Center for
Professional Education, Chicago, Illinois, November 1987
“Support Groups for the Elderly,” Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Geriatric Symposium, Oak Brook, Illinois, October 1987
“Health Care – 2000” and “A Focus on Alzheimer’s Disease,” National Association for Senior
Living Industries, Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, April 1987
“Congregate Housing, Municipal Regulation and Development Guidelines,” Mid-American Congress
on Aging, 14th Annual Conference, Omaha, Nebraska, April 1987
“Wellness Among the Aging in Community Settings,” Governor’s Conference on Aging Chicago, Illinois, October 1986
“Functional Assessment in the Continuum of Care,” Testimony to U.S. Senate Public/Private
Sector Advisory Committee on Catastrophic IlIness, Chicago, Illinois, July 1986
Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight “The superpower of older adults.” Southwest Messenger Press Newspapers, March 2025.
How to Markedly Reduce Your Risk of Going to a Nursing Home-Part II, Southwest
Messenger Press Newspapers, November 2024.
How to Markedly Reduce Your Risk of Going to a Nursing Home Part I, Southwest Messenger Press Newspapers, October 2024.
Trip Stumble and Fall, Southwest Messenger Press Newspapers, July 2024
2023 Long -Term Care in Illinois “A Guide for Attorneys” e-book February 2023.
July 2020, COVID-19: What Caregivers Need to Know, HCAOA
Quarterly April 2020, COVID-19 Care, HCAOA Quarterly
“The Geri-Doctor” Blue Island Forum, Blue Island, Illinois
January 2020 Do Not Worry About Alzheimer’s
December 2019 Health Happiness and You
November 2019 Where You Live Determines How Long You Live
October 2019 Takotsubo and The Widowhood Effect
August 2019 Will Metro South Close
June 2019 Ageism: Everyone Is At Risk
May 2019 Emergency Room: Profits Before Patients
March 2019 Why Prescription Drugs Are So Expensive
January 2019 We Are Eating Ourselves Into Dementia
December 2018 I Want My Dog To Live Longer
October 2018 Grief and Grieving
September 2018 To Go Or Not To Go To The ER
August 2018 How Long Are You Going To Live
July 2018 Elder Abuse: The Silent Epidemic
June 2018 How To Prevent Dementia
April 2018 Dementia Drugs Do Not Work
March 2018 Alzheimer’s and Dementia
February 2018 Geriatric and Disability Medicine
“A 20/20 View of Homecare Technology,” Home Care Pulse, The 6th Annual Edition of the Private Duty Benchmark Study, 2015 pp. 175-176.
“Healthcare’s Transformation: Don’t Forget about ‘Big Jim’ The Patient” The Remington Report, November/December, 2012 pp 41-42
“Reality Testing for Health Care Professionals,” Chicago Hospital News, January 2005.
“Reality Testing for Elder Law Attorneys,” The Journal of Elder Law and Post-Retirement
Planning: Elder’s Advisor, Spring 2002, Vol. 3. Number 4, pp. 66-64.
“Is It Personal Autonomy or a Personality Disorder?” The Journal of Elder Law and PostRetirement Planning: Elder’s Advisor, Summer 2001, Volume 3. Number 1, pp. 63-65.
“Primum Non Nocere (First Do No Harm): Nursing Home Litigation, Part I — III”
Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting, Volume 8, Number 1 and 4, 1997; Volume 9, Number 2, 1998.
“Healthy Diet, Exercise Can Cut Your Risks for Osteoporosis,” Diabetes in the News Volume
14, Number 2, March — April 1995.
“Over Medication Threatens the Elderly, Health for Whole Family,” Journal of the American
Osteopathic Association, Spring 1990.
“Where to Live? How to Evaluate Housing Options,” Seniors Choice, Spring 1989.
“Management Philosophy in Retirement Housing: A Geriatric Physician’s Perspective,”
Retirement Housing Report, Volume 5, Number 3, November 1989.
“Memory Loss and Aging,” Idaho Senior News, Eighth Edition, Nov. 1988.
“Discoveries Offer Hope for Prevention,” The Reporter, March 19, 1987.
“The Corporate Response to Employees and Their Families in Our Aging Society,” Wellspring Gerontological Services, November 1987.
“Wellness: the Wave of the Future,” The Reporter, November 13, 1986.
“Impact of Interdisciplinary Team Care on the Well-Being of the Elderly in Congregate Housing Facilities,” Center for Education Development, University of Illinois Press, September 1985.
“A Clinical and Pathological Review of Alzheimer’s Disease with Reference to Current Etiological Concepts,” 490 Research, University of Illinois, May 1977.
American Academy of Home Care Medicine
American Geriatrics Society
British Geriatrics Society
AMDA-The Society for Post Acute & Long-Term Care
Medicine Illinois Geriatric Society
Society for Science & The Public
Home Care Association of America
On his 72nd birthday Dr. Steve Fox swam 72 lengths (1.25 miles) in 63 minutes. His practice of medicine has focused on the care of older adults for the past 43 years. He has no intention to retire. The author of ‘Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight’ and ‘ How to Markedly Reduce Your Risk of Going to a Nursing Home,’ has a projected Healthy Life Expectancy of 94 years.
Healthy life Expectancy (HLE) is defined as the year to which an individual is capable of and functionally able to live independently. It is a significant indicator of the when someone will need daily nursing home and personal care. It is based upon the measured physical and psychological resilience of an older adult.
The good news is that an older adult’s resilience and Healthy Life Expectancy are not fixed or determined by genetics and chronic illness. They can be improved and maintained, especially in the seventh and eighth decades of life.
After three years of research and development, a free online assessment is available for anyone 60 to 90 years old. In addition to Healthy Life Expectancy and Resilience, Statistical and Functional Age are reported. The assessment is now available at resilient80s.org.
