It can be easy to take our personal autonomy for granted. Choosing what to eat for breakfast, what outfit to wear, which songs to play during our commute—every day, we make hundreds of decisions based on our preferences or mood.
This desire to make decisions for ourselves doesn't diminish with age. For older adults in senior living communities, maintaining control over daily choices is essential to well-being. Research shows that when individuals feel a sense of agency in their lives, they experience higher self-esteem, improved mental health, and greater engagement in daily activities.
How can senior living operators help residents maintain a sense of independence, offering programming that suits their preferences and empowering them to shape their community life?
In part one of this series, we talked about how operators can scale personalization by creating processes that help them understand residents when they move in, and use that information to tailor activities and social connections throughout their experience.
Here, in part two, we’ll explore how to leverage this engagement data to continually refine programming, and offer customizable experiences that put the power of personalization into the hands of residents and their families.
Residents aren’t guaranteed to maintain the same preferences over time. In fact, many older adults join senior living communities to expand on and explore new interests.
For example, a resident may attend bingo every week for months, then grow disengaged and seek something new. By the time a resident’s participation has fallen off, it may be more difficult to re-engage them with programming that is suited to their evolved interests.
A truly personalized resident engagement program is defined by proactive data analysis, analyzing resident engagement data and using that to adjust programming.
A data-driven engagement platform enables staff to track participation trends at multiple levels—by individual resident, community, campus, or region. Leading indicators, such as gradual declines in attendance, allow for early intervention, helping staff re-engage residents with new opportunities that align with their evolving interests. Meanwhile, lagging indicators, like overall participation trends, help refine programming by revealing which activities are thriving and which may need adjustment.
With the right tools, operators can ensure engagement remains dynamic and responsive, preventing disengagement before it happens and fostering a vibrant, ever-evolving community experience.
Equipping staff members with resident information is just one piece of a personalization strategy. What would it look like to then also help residents take a more active role in their community life, staying informed about upcoming activities, booking their own transportation and maintenance requests, and staying in touch with family and friends?
A digital resident portal makes this possible, giving residents more control over their daily lives. A user-friendly portal with a dedicated login—ideally single sign-on to minimize steps—empowers residents to explore upcoming events, see which friends are attending, and stay connected with their community.
When they’re not participating in activities or meals, residents can check community updates, message friends and family, and engage with content that matches their interests.
By giving residents multiple ways to be integrated into community life, operators can empower them to customize their community experience—giving them a sense of independence, well-being and satisfaction.
Our identities are formed not only from our hobbies and passions, but from our close relationships as well. Helping residents maintain ties with family and friends is an important part of reinforcing their sense of self and making their community life feel uniquely theirs.
Technology plays a critical role in helping residents to stay in touch with loved ones, especially when distance or busy schedules prohibit them from making frequent visits. Regularly scheduled newsletters with community updates like upcoming activities, community renovations, and photos and news from past events can help plug loved ones into community life, and provide vital talking points.
In between broadcast updates, it’s also helpful for families to be able to access community information in real-time. The best way to enable this is through a digital portal. A robust family communication portal could include the activity calendar, meals, and newsfeed so family members can stay up to date, and plan their visits around key events.
In the same portal, giving them access to create transportation and maintenance requests can also help them support their loved one’s independence.
By removing barriers to community information, operators can easily keep family members and residents connected. And, they can help reduce the number of calls, emails, and messages that staff need to receive and send out.
While technology plays a crucial role in scaling personalization, its ultimate purpose is to enhance human connection. By equipping staff with tools to tailor programming and enabling residents and families to stay connected, operators can create more meaningful interactions throughout the community.
This interconnected network of staff, residents, and family members forms a foundation of support that empowers residents to shape their community experience, fostering long-term autonomy, engagement, and well-being.