In the new
intergenerational garden at Valley House in Castle Rock, Colorado, children
enjoy the playground while their grandparents, residents at the
assisted living community, enjoy the scene from park benches. Another group of
residents practices golf skills on the putting green. Also
among the outdoor attractions, a paved walking path—accessible to residents who
use wheelchairs and mobility aids—winds in and out of carefully landscaped
areas. An open lawn invites croquet and badminton matches. A raised vegetable
garden lets seniors sit while planting, and residents and their families can
pick apples and strawberries in a nearby orchard.
A
central gazebo is known as The Meeting Place to encourage community and family
barbecues, birthday parties, and other gatherings. It’s also the gathering spot
for daily exercise sessions, when the weather cooperates. Benches throughout
the garden provide inviting spaces for anyone who just wants to sit and watch
the outdoor activities.
And
if residents want real peace and quiet, they can slip away to a semi-private
“Kissing Corner,” featuring a view of a tranquil pond and the fragrance of
nearby roses.
“The
Kissing Corner has generated a lot of fun comments from residents,” says Barbara
Dice, executive director of the 23-resident assisted living community, one
of three owned by Castle Country Assisted Living in Douglas County,
Colorado. “They love the name. Of course, there are a lot more women than men
in assisted living, so they are not sure how it’s going to work,” Dice jokes.
Every
aspect of the Valley House landscape is part of a strategic plan that aims to
encourage activity—similar to public parks—down to the carefully selected trees
and shrubs that are known to attract birds. The goal is to make the garden a
lively and interactive place; it’s also just one example of the many innovative
ways communities are approaching resident recreation, as part of an integrated
strategy to enhance resident experiences every day. Communities are taking
advantage of new technology, for example, and inviting seniors to be more
involved in planning their own fun.
Guidance and Flexibility
A recent study by Rush
University Medical Center in Chicago confirms: Social activity not only
improves quality of life for seniors, it also slows motor function loss and
other aspects of age-related decline. Therefore, an overall wellness program
for residents will have at its core a comprehensive network of activities, each
one a strategy to enhance resident care and the resident experience. However,
true success lies in providing corporate guidance and allowing for community
flexibility.
For
example, the LiveWell! Lifestyles program administered by Tampa, Florida-based Horizon
Bay Retirement Living encompasses six dimensions of wellness—physical,
emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, and vocational. To ensure residents
have access to a balance of activities in each category, the company developed
LiveWell! Standards of Excellence. Jim Concotelli, vice president of
resident programs, and Horizon Bay’s regional directors conduct onsite visits
and program evaluations, and coach program managers at the community level. But
they also allow communities the creative freedom to customize programs to the
interests and needs of their residents.
Popular
LiveWell! social activities include tea parties, happy hours, musical
entertainment, and mind aerobics and brain games, sometimes organized into team
competitions, Concotelli says. Another hit this year are educational programs
on self-care for chronic pain, such as breathing relaxation techniques.
The
successful recreation program developed by Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based Brandywine
Senior Living also is based on a mix of corporate-level guidance and
community flexibility, says Maria Nadelstumph, vice president of organizational
development and program excellence. Arts and entertainment directors from all
of the company’s assisted living communities meet quarterly at the corporate
office to share ideas that have been successful in their residences and jointly
develop strategies to roll out new programs companywide.
To
date, the most well-attended activities have included block parties for new
residents to meet neighbors, live acoustic cafes with local musicians, mock
game shows, art lectures, volunteer activities such as packing gift baskets for
the troops, educational programs where Brandywine taps a local college for an
expert on a particular topic, and the Brandywine Cup competition, during which
communities compete to create the most creative slate of activities. Last year’s
winner, Brandywine Senior Living at Huntington Terrace in Long Island,
organized a marriage vows renewal ceremony and reception for residents and
staff, talent shows, cook-offs, a USO-themed party, and a carnival.
Seniors in Charge
Communities that are
successfully enhancing their residents’ daily experiences all point to a simple
strategy—ask residents what they want to do. Today’s seniors are more eager to
participate in activity planning than residents in years past, Nadelstumph
says, just make sure your avenues for collecting feedback are resident friendly
and designed to deliver specifics.
As
part of Brandywine’s new “Make Life Beautiful Every Day” program, residents
take surveys to assess what they like or don’t like about activities and are
invited to join activity-planning committees.
“Engagement
is a key piece,” Nadelstumph adds. “Lots of residents are voicing their
opinions and no longer letting the recreation director do all the planning.
After all, it’s their home, it’s their community.”
At
Horizon Bay communities, all new residents receive an overview of the LiveWell!
program and take a lifestyle interest survey to match them with activities and
other residents with common interests, Concotelli says. Annual satisfaction
surveys collect comments on existing programs and include feedback mechanisms
to identify ideas for new ones. And residents who want to get more involved
both in planning and civic engagement at their residences can join the
LiveWell! Leadership Forum.
“LiveWell!
Leadership Forums have created green committees for recycling and energy
conservation at their community, supported local charitable organizations and
schools, and developed intergenerational programs,” Concotelli says. “We’ve had
some communities develop an outreach support system to keep in contact with
residents who are in the hospital or going through rehabilitation.” Remember
that many residents were once leaders in their jobs, nonprofit activities, and
churches, he adds.
To
boost activity participation, Horizon Bay also recently rolled out an
educational initiative to familiarize all staff with the program schedule and
ways they can gently motivate reluctant residents to attend activities they
might enjoy. For example, beyond just advertising activities, staff can
identify activities that match the interests of specific residents—and then
extend personal invitations based on that knowledge.
“When
the suggestion is personalized, it works in a different way,” says Concotelli,
and greatly improves the chances that a resident will participate.
Fun and Games
In just the past couple of
years, the Nintendo Wii has skyrocketed in popularity at senior living
communities. Now some companies are taking Wii games to a new level by
organizing competitions between their communities. Starting this fall,
communities throughout the country will compete in Wii bowling and golf
competitions for regional and national championships as part of the
Atlanta-based National Senior League (NSL).
NSL
Founder and President Dennis Berkholtz, a member of the U.S. Olympic handball
team in 1972, says he started the league as a way to give back to the senior
community in honor of his late mother who had Alzheimer’s disease.
“In
three months, I have not contacted one senior community that doesn’t play Wii
or wasn’t excited by what Wii does for its residents,” Berkholtz says. “Every
community I spoke with already has a Wii and an LCD TV. The only big challenge
was how to set up Webcams so people [at the competing residences] can watch each
other play.”
The
NSL is encouraging participating communities to wear team uniforms and help
facilitate league standings and team and player statistics online, just as in
any professional sports competition.
“It
will help our residents stay connected to the outside world,” says Sophia
Talley, executive assistant to Joe Mikalajunas, president of Bell
Senior Living in Greensboro, North Carolina. Talley is managing the
company’s participation in the new Wii league and says it will be a fun way to
connect residents.
“They
may have friends at other communities, and whether they win or lose, there’s a
sense of camaraderie, team spirit, and pride for the community they live in,”
she says.
However,
communities should take certain precautions to ensure resident safety in such a
competition—maybe even in addition to the policies and procedures most activity
directors already have in place for new resident offerings. For example,
because Wii activities require physical effort that can at times be quite
strenuous for an older body, “each resident must go through an initial
screening process completed by a nurse, and in the event a resident has special
needs, a physician’s approval might be necessary with any modifications
necessary prior to the resident playing,” Talley explains. Bell’s seniors also
do stretching exercises before playing to prevent injuries.
Full-Circle Benefits
Having a strong activities
program with high participation is becoming more important for increasing the
number of move-ins and boosting a community’s bottom line, says Traci Bild,
president of Tarpon Springs, Florida-based Bild Consulting, which
specializes in sales and marketing in the senior living market. Today’s seniors
and their families often consider three to four properties and visit a
community four times before sealing a deal, and activities are key to getting
them to return on those crucial repeat visits, Bild says.
“When
prospects come to look at a residence and see nothing going on, they might as
well stay home,” she asserts. Communities should invite prospective residents
to activities that reflect their interests and set the property apart.
For
more than a year before the new garden at Valley House was completed, sales
staff included project plans and a video, in which residents talked about how
much they were looking forward to the amenity, as part of their marketing
materials for prospective residents, and it has definitely stimulated move-ins,
Dice says.
One
of the biggest appeals to residents has been the opportunity the park-like
space affords to entertain families and grandchildren onsite, Dice adds. “I can
remember going to visit my grandmother in her tiny little room and there was
nothing to do. I think we’re going to see lots of grandchildren and great
grandchildren that we haven’t seen before.”
Anya
Martin is a contributing writer to Assisted Living Executive.
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Contact
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Senior, Social, Savvy
Less than 10 percent of
Americans 65 and older are participating in an online social network, but that
number is sure to grow fast. In June, the media measurement firm comScore
reported that Internet use was growing nearly twice as fast among people 65 and
older than any other age group.
Whether
they’re living at home and trying to combat loneliness or they’re residents of
a senior living community where cybercafes with high-speed wifi are popular
meeting places, older Americans increasingly are socializing online.
About
a third of the 308 residents at River Bay Club, a Brookdale Senior Living independent
and assisted living community in Quincy, Massachusetts, are using MyWay
Village, an online social networking community developed for seniors. One
89-year-old resident receives photos through the site from her granddaughter
who lives in Argentina. Other residents are using the platform to write their
memoirs.
MyWay
Village is only one of several social networking sites
targeted at seniors as well as aging boomers who will soon become the next
generation of residents. Other social networking sites include Eons.com,
GrowingBolder.com, Boomertown, Multiply, and Rezoom. However, because many
family members are already on Facebook, that’s also an easy way to introduce seniors
to social networking. Once residents start making connections, they quickly
become savvy social media users; any aversion to technology has not been an
obstacle.
“It
is about technology but it’s really about connecting residents with their
families, and people they may have known, and groups they have been connected
to in the past, such as World War II veterans,” says Sara Terry, vice
president of Brookdale’s Optimum Life program. And these connections are
helping enrich a resident’s daily experience.
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