Flourishing communities applying family connection 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.

Joining a senior living community can be an emotionally complicated milestone. On the one hand, communities can offer older adults hands-on healthcare, engagement, and social connection that may not be accessible to them otherwise. On the other hand, entering a senior living community means living apart from family members like children and spouses, potentially for the first time in the resident’s life.

Numerous studies have found that older adults with family connections enjoy more positive mental health than those without. It’s critical for senior living communities to foster residents’ well-being by facilitating connection with their loved ones outside of the community.

From involving families in community events to offering a virtual connection portal for messages and photos, our Flourishing Communities webinar guests find innovative ways to integrate family members into community life and keep them connected with residents. Read on to discover family connection best practices to help your residents maintain strong ties with their loved ones.

Involve families from day one

It’s common for family members to feel anxiety when their loved one joins a senior living community. To help ease the transition, it’s important to involve family members early and reassure them that there are ways to stay connected.

The welcome tour is oftentimes prospective residents and family members’ first impression of the community, and serves as a unique opportunity for the community to introduce ways for families to stay connected. Patrick Welsh, Executive Director at Mount Alverna Village, highlights the importance of showcasing community life through digital signage. He notes that during tours, screens in common areas that display daily family activities and event photos are particularly effective in giving visitors a real-time glimpse into the vibrant community life. These visual displays help families feel more at ease, knowing there are events and activities they can participate in to stay connected.

Verna Law, Program and Outreach Director at The Pearl at Jamestown, also emphasizes the importance of integrating families into the community from the outset. She explains, “When someone comes in, and they decide that The Pearl at Jamestown is going to be their loved one’s new home, we have them sign the resident connection form right away. That plugs them into our community quickly, and then they can be informed of all the goings-on in the community, right from the start.” This form provides login information for the community’s family connection portal, and introduces them to features like the activity calendars and messaging platform.

Share activity calendars

Once their loved one is moved into the community, giving family members access to the activity calendar can help integrate them into the rhythm of community life. Instead of relying on printed calendars that can be easily misplaced or sending them out only in monthly newsletters, a best practice is to offer a digital activity calendar. A digital calendar that updates in real time and is accessible on demand allows both residents and their families to stay informed of upcoming activities.

Sister Marilyn Ketteler of New Cassel Retirement Center shares a story that illustrates the importance of sharing activity calendars with family members. She recounts how a resident’s daughter, visiting from Washington, D.C., attended a Rosary-making class with her mother. The daughter enjoyed the class and wanted to ensure her mother could continue participating, so Sister Marilyn directed her to the activities calendar. Having access to the calendar helped the daughter remind her mother of the upcoming class, ensuring her mother remained engaged in her community while strengthening their connection through their shared interest.

Verna Law further emphasizes the value of sharing activity calendars by highlighting how it allows family members to actively engage with their loved one when visiting. “They might participate in some of the trivia games. They may also help not just their own loved one, but another resident with some interactive games as well, and I love that so much,” she shares. “And I can see as they get more involved in some of these programs, it also helps them to deal with the stresses and the ups and downs of being maybe a spouse of someone with dementia or a child who has a parent with dementia.” By allowing family members to easily access digital activity calendars, senior living communities can help strengthen family bonds while providing stress relief during visits.

Offer ways to connect virtually

It’s very common for residents’ family members to live out of town or even in another state, and so having virtual communication options helps them stay connected despite physical distance. Carrie Chiusano, Executive Director at Presbyterian SeniorCare Network, notes that “many of us thought that [virtual communication] would all go away after the pandemic, but families continue to ask for the virtual visits, especially family members from other states. They actually tell us that they feel more connected now than they ever have.”

In addition to video chat features, senior living communities should look for connection portal software with options for sending photos and videos. Stephanie Deecher of The Heritage Memory Life Community emphasized the importance of photo sharing when she revealed a touching story of a resident who couldn't attend her granddaughter’s wedding due to health concerns. The family used their connection portal to send the grandmother photos and videos from the wedding, helping her feel that she could be part of the experience even from afar.

Digital communication options are no longer just nice to have, but a necessity for senior residents to be able to maintain ties with family members between in-person visits.

Give families a holistic view

Once communities are able to offer family members features like activity calendars and photo sharing, the next evolution is to make it as easy as possible for them to log in and access these features in one place.

Grace Faurote, Executive Director at Astral at Auburn, touts the many benefits of the community’s comprehensive resident engagement and operations platform: “Family members can see what we're doing activity-wise. We do a newsletter each month that goes out to them so that I can update them on what events we're having and maybe encourage them to book that flight to come back to partake in some of those fun activities.” She also highlights the maintenance request feature, noting that “even if the residents aren't bringing the concern to us, those family members can put in that work request and get those things fixed for Mom or Dad from afar.”

Kayla Pierce of The Kensington at Walnut Creek echoes Grace’s sentiments, giving an example of family members who can effortlessly see upcoming activities, send a reminder message in the connection portal, and check that their loved one has the necessary transportation, all in one place. Giving family members access to a comprehensive senior living engagement and operations platform offers them a holistic perspective of their loved one’s community life and makes it easy for them to get involved.

Strengthen family bonds

Our Flourishing Communities webinar guests demonstrate that even when family members don’t live with their loved one full time, there are innovative ways to help them feel like part of the community. By leveraging technology that keeps families in the loop with their loved one’s community life, senior living operators can help them not only maintain family connections, but strengthen them.

Feel inspired by our guests’ stories? Join our Flourishing Communities webinars live or on-demand.