By Kent Mulkey
When you boil it all down, we all “do” the same things in senior living: dining, resident care, maintenance, business office, HR . . . and activities. Yes, activities are often last on the priority list, and go unseen and undervalued as a vital part of creating the lifeblood in the community. Trust me, I have asked a bunch of activities staff members. Sad.
The other day I spoke with one extraordinarily successful Activities Director (or Life Enrichment, Resident Engagement, or a host of other titles that might fit your situation). At her community, she leads a team of three full-time equivalent staff members who plan events, teach fitness, host parties, conduct 1-1 time with residents, hold concerts, etc. Hmmm – she never mentioned bingo. Residents deserve far more than that, she said.
Keys to Success
Here are a few things she mentioned as keys to their huge success:
- The Executive Director is 100% behind her and anything she and her team want to try or do. In their culture, there are no limits and no failure, so they go for broke to engage and lift the spirits of the residents.
- They engage residents on an emotional level, not just giving them something to do pass the time. A shift they made with the COVID-19 restrictions was to pair up each resident with a staff member one on one who checks in with them twice a week. Sometimes they go for a walk when a staff member can engage the resident by listening to their life history. THIS is the heart and soul of resident care!
- They are committed to providing a wide variety of opportunities for residents to participate, which forces them, all of them, to do it as a team. They lean on each other, including staff from other departments. Every summer they host a luau that draws over 500 residents, families, and community guests. It takes an army to pull it off.
- They take activities to the residents. Some residents are simply not going to get out and attend an event. Perhaps they do not feel well, are used to being alone, or do not find interest in much that is on the calendar (which is hard to believe!). So, the staff walk around the halls with a cart of games, drinks, cards, and snacks to give out to residents in their apartments and take a few minutes just to talk with them.
- They smile at residents. A lot. It makes a huge difference.
Magic? Call it the vibe, the culture, the fun, the energy that happens when all the parts of the orchestra are in sync. Generally, it is your activities department that plays a key role in creating it.
Elevate their work. Value them for the contributions they make. Everyone will thank you.
I respond as a CCRC resident. This article exemplifies a missing piece from the term “resident engagement.” Yes, all those fun activities create can create a non-boring atmosphere. As a resident, I don’t want a boring campus life. But I also want “engagement” — and more often than not, it’s not there.
What do I mean by “engagement” — it’s seeking input from residents in a proactive sense. Sure, you may get after the fact; i.e., reactive. Examples: designing a new layout of an IL dining venue, including updated restrooms. There is hype about the grand opening, after many weeks of “temporary” dining while construction was underway. Then, the Big Reveal. Turned out the restrooms didn’t have automatic door openers. Were the residents shown the plans ahead of time during which time those on scooters or in self-propelled chairs could have asked about entry into restrooms? No. Another example: a new Resident Handbook is distributed with zero input from any focus group of residents having been sought that could have contributed ideas ahead of time — say, the missing subjects that they think should have been included or subjects needed more elaboration. Or, buying a brand new van for “Life Enrichment” excursions without any kind of “try before you buy” process. The seats are too small, there were no armrests for aisle seats, and no “pull up” grab bars to board and wheel wells on the back row. Lots of post-purchase reaction. Or, there is a conversion to a new phone system, with no pre-conversion inventory to determine how many residents have the Clear Caption phones — something that later proves to be a problem. We see money spent on that could have been done better, for just a few dollars more if done at the outset. Retro correction costs more or else is impossible. Then we residents sit back and await the annual fee increase.
I am a leading-edge babyboomer. Has Marketing asked me WHY we chose the CCRC life? Why we chose this community over all the others we visited? How our contemporaries reacted when we announced our move? What our contemporaries say to us now? Not.
So many residents climbed the corporate ladder or had their own businesses. Some are willing to share their expertise to make their life in a CCRC more “optimal.” Where are the resident focus groups for assisting Marketing? Where are the focus groups with Human Resources backgrounds to provide ideas on how to locate people to apply for job openings? Where are the focus groups of those who had technical careers who might have ideas about the Audio Visual system that seems to flummox staff time and time again? Where are the focus groups of those retired from professorships who might have good ideas about cultural/educational activities, presentations, and excursions?
Don’t just pat yourselves on the back just because you got a lot of people to participate in your pumpkin carving parties.