By tricking out commercial televisions with a software-rich set-top box, we make it easy for senior living residents to stay connected with their family and friends; and user get a marketing differentiator.

By Pam McDonald

By tricking out commercial televisions with a software-rich set-top box, LifeShare Technologies makes it easy for senior living residents to stay connected with their family and friends. It’s also a marketplace differentiator and, therefore, gives communities that offer it an edge over their competitors.

Immediate Benefits

LifeShare Tech, a communication and resident engagement system (as well as a Senior Housing Forum partner), has built-in programming that serves staff and residents alike with the following:

  • enhanced communication functionality, including a free, powerful mobile app that’s a direct channel between residents, their families, and the community

  • internet operations for residents with ISPs

  • digital infrastructure, and

  • loads of choices for individual and group resident activities

Integrating LifeShare into the Community’s Marketing

With all of this added value, Callie Moore, LifeShare’s Director of Training and Communication, believes their client communities should be promoting this amenity to maximum effect.

She says, “We at LifeShare often focus on the awesome benefits our products have for residents, but really that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One of the least utilized advantages of LifeShare is as a marketing tool for a community.”

Showcase Community Life at Its Best

Callie points out that digital signage in communities’ lobbies and common spaces is often the first thing prospects and other visitors see when walking into the building. She recommends communities jazz up their LifeShare slideshow.

She notes, “Your slideshow is a chance to spotlight all of the amazing activities happening daily in your community. The program allows you to personalize your slideshow with pictures and unique announcements, so be creative and innovative as you customize your slides.”

High Praise from LifeShare Users

Joe Sturgeon, the network administrator for Vetter Health Services, says, “Initially, we were looking for a message/welcome board that was easy for people to use and would need limited support. LifeShare provides a dependable support infrastructure that is very responsive.”

Rosetta Tolson, Life Enrichment Director at Trilogy Health Services’ Cedar Ridge Health Campus echoes these sentiments. She says, “I enjoy putting info and pictures of the residents on the CommunityShare.” She notes that residents love seeing and talking with each other about these snapshots.

Additional Tips for Marketing

Callie notes that social media platforms, like Facebook, exhibit activities and events in real time. She recommends community’s “use an announcement in your CommunityShare to inform families to follow your social media accounts.”

She also suggests creating “dedicated scrapbooks and video collections for prospective residents and families,” she says. “You can include a scrapbook of campus pictures and outings, video tours of your community, or even a video about your menu creation.”

Highlighting LifeShare’s Mobile App

Callie also mentions that it’s possible to link to a community’s Facebook page under the website section in community information. She says, “Families, who access community information through the Mobile App, both using family manager accounts and community access PINS, can click on the Facebook page web address and be taken right there.”

Rosetta at Cedar Ridge notes, “There are so many families that live far away and cannot visit that often. It [LifeShare] helps the family member as well as the resident feel better when they can communicate. There is no better way than pictures when they have a Family Manager account.”

Additional Information Always Available

LifeShare has asked its client communities to let them know of other ways they use the system as a marketing tool. Callie concludes, “We get some of our best ideas from clients. We are constantly developing new features based on input from the people who use our system most – staff within senior living communities.”

To learn more about LifeShare Technologies, call (317) 825-0320

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