Flourishing communities applying data management best practices

In our Flourishing Communities webinar series, we have the privilege of interviewing leaders at top-performing senior living communities around the country, gaining insight into their first-hand experiences and strategies that have driven success in their communities. Now, in this Flourishing Community Best Practices blog series, we’re bringing their top insights directly to you. Read on for actionable advice on how to help your community flourish.

Senior living operators have a primary goal of creating the best possible experience for staff, residents, and their families. This requires informed decision-making and continuous improvement, which are exceedingly difficult without effective data management.

Senior living communities generate vast amounts of data daily, from resident engagement metrics and family interactions to transportation, maintenance and meal requests. By harnessing both leading and lagging indicators in these key areas, operators can make data-driven decisions that lead to better outcomes for everyone involved—community members and business stakeholders alike.

Our Flourishing Communities webinar guests excel in not only creating exceptional resident experiences, but proactively improving these experiences over time. Here, we’ve compiled best practices from operators who effectively collect, interpret, and act on data to help their communities thrive. 

Identify the right metrics

The first step of an effective data management strategy is to identify which KPI’s (key performance indicators) to track. With a wealth of potential data points to measure, it’s essential to focus on the ones that provide actionable insights.

Constance Brasher, Corporate Director of Life Enrichment and Memory Support at Franciscan Ministries, highlights the importance of tracking key performance metrics, noting, "[Our data management solution] addresses not just resident participation, but also staff usage or associate usage, and family usage. ‘How many photos were uploaded?’ I mean, it really gets to the nitty gritty to really feel like everything you're doing matters."

Instead of relying on manual processes for tracking or inputting data, communities like Astral at Auburn (a Franciscan Advisory Services community) leverage a data management solution to not only aggregate data from different areas like resident engagement and operations, but organize the data in a way that gives operators a comprehensive view of their community performance.

Make adjustments based on feedback

While 73% of business leaders believe data is a powerful way to drive better decisions, less than one-third actually leverage data to inform their strategies. Data collection alone isn’t enough; its true value lies in how it’s used. Once the right metrics are identified and tracked, the next step is to use that data to guide decision-making.

Joseph Villanueva, Executive Director at The Kensington at Walnut Creek, highlights the community’s emphasis on using feedback loops to continuously improve their residents’ experience. He notes, "Technology here helps us gather a lot of data in order to again see what's working, what's not. And then we can make adjustments that then drive our business and then drive the engagements for our residents."

Tracey Zuk of Mount Alverna Village echoes Villanueva’s sentiment, explaining "We do all the logging for every activity, whether somebody comes or not... It tells a story." She notes how the community relies on a data solution that flags whenever an individual’s participation dips. She can then dig into that resident’s other inputs: are they experiencing medical troubles? If not, then are they not engaged for some other reason? Those data points help her and her team identify when programming needs to be adjusted to encourage participation.

Communities that track the right metrics can begin to identify trends, such as why a resident might not attend certain activities, and adjust their offerings to meet residents’ preferences. This proactive approach ensures that resident and staff needs are met and address issues before they escalate.

Simplify reporting

Data management solutions should make it easy to report findings and track performance. Melissa Jeaggi of Opportunities, Inc. emphasizes the value of a user-friendly reporting system, noting, "I have a responsibility to report to our board of directors... the great thing about LifeLoop is there is the portal community dashboard... it just makes it really easy to take that information and show it right to them." Simplified reporting not only saves time, but also ensures that key stakeholders have a clear understanding of the community’s performance and the impact of their decisions.

Brasher further highlights how having these metrics readily accessible is especially important when overseeing multiple communities. She points out, "You're able to see something like this—with again a click of a button for one of the features—to then have all of this data right at your fingertips to move forward and support the communities best." By being able to quickly access and analyze relevant data, multi-site operators can make proactive adjustments and ensure each community has the support they need to deliver the best experience to residents, staff, and families.

Foster a culture of continuous improvement

As these award-winning community leaders highlight, data management is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. By continuously monitoring KPI’s across operations, engagement, and connection, operators can identify areas for improvement and make informed adjustments. This culture of continuous improvement is what helps communities not only deliver positive resident experiences today, but ensure a future where community members continue to thrive.

Thanks for following along on our Flourishing Community Best Practices blog series! The insights don’t end here. Tune into our well-attended Flourishing Communities webinar series to get more first-hand stories and advice from leading senior living community operators.