“Purpose” is a word that’s used a lot in senior living. But what does it mean, and why does it matter?
While definitions of purpose range, the National Library of Medicine defines it as “the extent that people see their lives as having meaning, a sense of direction, and goals.” Purpose is a critical element of wellness; a growing body of research links a strong sense of purpose to better health outcomes, including lower risk of chronic illness and premature death.
Because purpose is deeply personal and unique to each individual, personalization is key to facilitating a purposeful senior living experience. These are the tools and best practices that can help operators personalize the resident experience at scale, to foster an environment where each resident can cultivate purpose.
Understand what makes residents tick
The intake process is a critical stage to go beyond surface-level life facts and uncover the passions, experiences, and values that shape a resident’s sense of purpose. What brings them joy? What are they proud of? What gave their life meaning before this move, and what might they want to continue?
For one resident, purpose may have come from mentoring students or volunteering at a shelter. For another, it might stem from family caregiving, performing music, or swimming. Capturing this information can help staff support residents in continuing the daily activities that help them feel purposeful.
Technology can help streamline the resident intake process, helping staff to capture more information with accuracy. Transcription tools with AI capabilities can turn interviews into structured profiles, automatically tagging resident preferences and interests. These profiles then become a living resource, empowering staff to deliver personalized experiences without adding to their workload.
Create purposeful programming
Once staff have insight into a resident’s sources of purpose, they can translate that into meaningful engagement. This process becomes simpler with tools that integrate digital resident profiles with activity planning. By having all resident information centralized, an AI-powered calendar management software can generate creative activity ideas that speak to residents’ unique interests.
For instance, the AI might suggest a book club led by a group of literature aficionados. Or it could suggest a volunteer outing for civically-minded residents.
Going back to the purpose definition, setting goals can also help residents feel like they’re working towards something. From brain games and trivia to educational series and hobby-based clubs, activities can be framed in a way that supports progress and a sense of accomplishment.
Advanced activity planning software can take prompts that specify a goal or dimension of wellness, and generate unlimited activity ideas that also incorporate resident interests. These tools help staff create calendars full of activities that feel uniquely meaningful to residents, while saving them administrative time that they can reallocate towards engaging directly with residents.
Better personalization, on purpose
Purposeful living in senior living communities doesn’t happen by chance. It requires systems that help staff understand residents and use that information to support them in deriving purpose from their community life.
By personalizing resident experiences, senior living communities can empower residents to direct their own life and pursue what’s meaningful to them.
