Author: Derek Dunham

“Did you notice that she didn’t come to lunch yesterday?”

“Have you heard who he’s sleeping with?”

“Oh, she’s a mess. She doesn’t comb her hair, and she always smells funny.”

Where do you think these quotes originate? Perhaps in a middle school cafeteria during lunch, or after a high school sports practice? Scarily enough, they could be happening right now, at any aging services community in the world. Bullying like this isn’t just a problem that afflicts young people. Increasingly, Boomers and seniors are becoming the victims of bullying by their peers.

A study released by Dr. Robin Bonifas of Arizona State University cites that 10 to 20 percent of residents of senior living communities have experienced some form of bullying. Take a moment to think about that number. This means that, between one in 10 to one in five residents have been bullied!

We can already hear you saying, “That doesn’t happen at my community! All of our residents are nice, lovely people who would never do that.” While we have every confidence that your community is a wonderful place to live, we also have to recognize that, when large groups of people live together in close surroundings, they are naturally going to come into conflict. For some, the way of handling these conflicts is to engage in negative behaviors that they may not even realize they are displaying.

While physical bullying is more common among younger groups, social and emotional bullying is the forte of older adults. Examples of bullying that fall into these categories are exclusion from social activities, the spreading of rumors and gossip, and negative personal speech. These behaviors can be further amplified by physical conditions, such as dementia and mental health issues. Where once someone was a loving and caring person, he or she might become negative and hurtful with the onset of dementia or after suffering from pain for a long period of time.

So, what can you do as an aging services professional to ensure that bullying doesn’t occur at your community? First, keep an open mind to the fact that it may be happening. Be mindful of residents’ behavior toward one other, and listen to what residents are saying about each other. Be certain to not agree with a resident’s negative actions or statements; rather, remind him or her that his or her behavior could be hurtful, and try to help the resident empathize with how the other person might feel.

A great resource for more information on this trend — and for ways to cope with bullying behavior — can be found at SeniorHomes.com, here: https://www.seniorhomes.com/p/bullying-in-senior-living-communities/

Whether we want to believe it or not, bullying is happening in our communities, and we must be cognizant of the impact that it has on resident life quality. Paying attention to the warning signs now can help to avoid bigger conflicts in the future.

In the aging services space, especially as it pertains to retirement community and rehabilitation services, 90 percent occupancy is an important benchmark. If you look at occupancy rates from key sources, such as NIC and Zeigler, you’ll find 91 percent to be about average as of late. At this level, most organizations have their costs covered and are probably in the black financially.

However, many organizations struggle to get above the 90 percent mark for a number reasons, including resident turnover, the time needed to remodel apartments and cottages, and the lead time it takes for a new resident to sell his or her house and move in. Thus, 90 percent has taken on the air of acceptability.

At Varsity, we strive for 100 percent occupied and reserved — not just because it sounds nice, but because that remaining 10 percent can be the difference between new community development, community improvements, higher wage increases and increased resident and staff satisfaction.

Let’s look at it from the financial standpoint first. For this example, we’ll start with a community that has 100 residences: 60 apartments and 40 cottages.

The apartments generate $1,000 a month in profit over and above costs for service, while cottages generate a similar $1,500 per month. (For simplicity, we’re going to disregard entrance fees, contract types and other mitigating factors that could cause confusion.)

This means that, during a single year, the apartments generate $720,000 of pure income, with the cottages creating an additional $720,000 — for a total of $1.44 million per year in profit.

Now, let’s look at the impact of an occupancy rate of only 90 percent each month — meaning that 10 of the 100 residences are unoccupied.

Seven empty apartments = $7,000 in lost income

Three empty cottages = $4,500 in lost income

That’s $11,500 in lost revenue each month, or $138,000 each year! While this a simplistic example, we think it’s important to realize just how much financial impact that 10 percent can have each month.

We do realize that true 100 percent occupancy isn’t sustainable. So, let’s imagine if your team can reach 95 percent occupancy consistently each month — an increase of only five percentage points. Now, you’re only leaving 5 percent of that revenue on the table. That’s an additional $69,000 in yearly income, which can still have quite an impact on the bottom line. It is that additional revenue that will help spur new community growth, provide increased wages and enable staff to address resident satisfaction concerns in a proactive way.

So, how do you tackle the challenge of selling that remaining 10 percent? In our next post, Jackie Stone, our VP of sales consulting, will share some of her insights for overcoming the 90 percent plateau that will help drive your community to be 100 percent occupied and reserved.

As LeadingAge wraps up another very successful annual conference, the Varsity team took a step back to discuss what we heard throughout the various presentations and our discussions with colleagues. Our list contains seven items that we believe are going to be critical as we forge into 2018 and beyond.

1. Welcome to information overload! As professionals in the field of aging services, we are being provided with more data than we have ever been before. Not only do we have to be able to understand what the data represents, but we must also be able to apply it in a way that leads to growth for our partners. This means knowing what data points to focus on as key performance indicators, and which to ignore as white noise that can only serve to distract our plans.
2. The continuum is changing rapidly and becoming more complex to manage. As residents enter into more skilled levels of care — and remain in those beds longer — we are learning much as a field. Of course, with this additional knowledge comes a change to best practices and regulations. The speed at which these adjustments are occurring is faster than ever before. This, coupled with all of the moving parts of the care continuum, is really forcing providers to react in the moment rather than plan a measured response.
3. Aging services is an aging field. If you take a look across the country, many of the most successful and longest-serving C-suite office-holders are nearing retirement. They made excellent careers in aging services and stayed at their employers for decades. Now, as they near retirement, their organizations are concerned about what a change at the top might mean. Succession planning and internal training are top of mind for many LeadingAge members as they begin to wrestle with who will fill the shoes of leadership in the future.
4. What a retirement community looks like is changing. Anyone working in aging services is familiar with the biggest player in the field: The Villages, in Florida. This community changed what it meant to retire. Then came along NORCs – naturally occurring retirement communities — where individuals of similar age found themselves living in close proximity, creating a little community all their own. The next evolution of this model, dubbed “Boomtown,” places emphasis on intentional intergeneration communities that bring together people of all ages to the benefit of the whole. Focusing on the entire spectrum of wellness, the Boomtown model works to seamlessly integrate senior living spaces into existing communities.
5. Life Plan at Home extends community reach. The Life Plan at Home model is quickly becoming the next big thing in retirement marketing. By enabling potential residents to enter the system without actually moving the community, the Life Plan at Home model creates a revenue stream now and ensures new on-campus residents in the future. By partnering with third-party program providers, aging services providers are growing their scope and reach, engaging with potential residents and working them into the sales funnel earlier than ever before.
6. Communities must know their place in the market. Every community is unique because of the residents and team members that make up the campus. Knowing the core values of your community is important to your marketing message — do you understand how you are perceived in the marketplace?When a potential resident is shopping around for aging services, he or she often visits many different campuses and talks to people with deep field knowledge. As shoppers discuss their choices, they are given feedback, with perceptions on what a community is like. What are people saying about you? Are you “luxurious and cultured” or perhaps “rich and snobby”? It’s amazing how quickly others will ruin a reputation by twisting a brand identity.

7. Consumers are loyal to authentic organizations. What does it mean to be authentic? In short, it means that your organization actively acts ethically and according to your mission and values. In aging services, this is accomplished through a strong and distinct sense of identity that goes above and beyond the business. It means that all of your actions align with your mission and help advance your cause.At Varsity, our signature brand odyssey process directly relates to authenticity. We help you identify how your brand is perceived, how the mission aligns with that perception, and what actions you can take to become more authentic moving forward. Check out our Services page to learn more!

Viagra. CIALIS. Levitra. ADDYI.

Surely you recognize some of these brand-name drugs. They all have one thing in common: They are designed to help with sexual dysfunctions that disproportionately affect Boomers and seniors. When these drugs rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s, communities found themselves confounded by a problem that they had never encountered before — the sexual activities of their residents. Fast forward to today, when campus administrators are all too aware of the challenges that come with residents’ sexual expression.

Sexuality is a private matter, but with any large group of people living in close proximity, human nature cannot be overcome. Retirement communities are not magical places where people move after their sex drives turns off. Studies continue to show that adults are remaining sexually active longer than ever before — and are becoming more adventurous than previous generations.

According to the Longitudinal Study of Aging, 31 percent of British men aged 80 to 90 are still sexually active. That number grows to 60 percent for those 70 to 80. Aging women are also sexually active, with 34 percent of women aged 70 to 80 regularly engaging in some form of sexual expression. In fact, the National Council on Aging has found that women over the age of 70 find sex more physically satisfying than when they were in their 40s or younger!

The reason behind the increase in sexual activity in older adults becomes obvious if you ponder it for a moment. First, people are living longer, healthier lives! With an emphasis on wellness, fitness and nutrition, older adults are now in physically better shape than they were at similar ages in previous generations. Then, we have to factor in the pharmaceutical sexual revolution that was created by the drugs mentioned at the beginning on this article. They enable sexual activity to continue to occur far longer than nature may have provided for. Lastly, the current generation of Boomers also happens to be the generation that came of age in the 1960s. The Summer of Love and the Age of Aquarius may still be holding sway today, half a century later.

These changes are having direct effects on the day-to-day management of communities. Relationships developing between residents are common — and now more than ever, probably include a sexual component. Women outnumber men on campuses significantly, leading to a situation of supply and demand between the sexes that can cause interpersonal conflict to arise. These conflicts may not be limited to your community, either! As family members learn of these relationships, they may look to staff to intervene on their behalf; however, residents are adults and can make their own decisions, even if their children aren’t happy with them. This puts administrators and managers in precarious situations, dealing with sensitive topics that they might have never thought about before.

Let’s face it — sexual activity is more than likely occurring between residents on retirement campuses nationwide. The statistics don’t lie. As professionals in the aging services industry, it’s our job to understand the trends we’re seeing in our residents and respond appropriately to protect their well-being. Sex is just another aspect of wellness that is coming to the forefront and is one that we all must be aware of.

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the third of four regional conferences being held this year by the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries. Held in Boulder, Colorado, the event centered on development and engagement. For those who were unable to attend, you missed a great event with some excellent speakers. As I reflect on the session, I found that I came away with three key points from which I think that every person working in the aging services field can benefit.

Development must be part of the branding process.

When we undertake a branding process at Varsity, we look at the organization holistically. From the frontline staff all the way up to the C-suite, it’s important that everyone in the organization can articulate the brand and feel empowered by it. During the conference, many development professionals shared that they sometimes feel overlooked in the branding process. At Varsity, we work to include all departments in our Brand Odyssey, especially development, as we understand how important they are to any nonprofit organization.

Arguably, development is one of the most public faces of your brand. They are the ones going out into the community and working to articulate your mission and values to potential donors. If they don’t feel like the brand matches their goals, or they are forced to adapt a brand to their needs, it becomes harder for them to do their jobs. Marketers ― especially in faith-based, mission-focused senior living organizations ― desire brands that speak to vitality, energy and continued life. Meanwhile, studies have proven that donors are more likely to make contributions to organizations that they feel are helping those experiencing hardship. These two messages can easily be at odds! During our branding process, we strive to keep this in mind and balance the needs of both sides of the organization.

Digital marketing isn’t just limited to filling apartments; it’s great for donors, too!

We all know that it takes money to make money. The same is true for development. You have to invest time and resources into reaching the right potential donors ― at the right time, with the right message. Digital marketing, both through search engines and social media, provide this exact capability. But, because of the time and effort it takes to execute such tactics and then analyze the results, many development professionals shy away from them. Why wouldn’t they? In-person discussion sessions are far more likely to end up with a gift than a single digital ad. But, as Millennials begin to further explore charities, meeting them in the areas in which they congregate ― namely, on the web ― is going to be an important part of any development tool kit.

Think of it this way: If you could run targeted ads about your current capital campaign directly to people in a specific age range within your community, with additional data that says they are more likely to donate than the average person, would you do it? What if you could reach 5,000 of those people for less than $50? One or two donations would likely cover the cost of the campaign, so the rest is pure gifts for your organization!

Are you engaging, not only with current residents, but also with their friends and extended family as donors?

One statement that we seemed to hear over and over again was that the largest and best gifts usually come from those who directly benefit from the services offered by the organization. Sure, most development professionals know the value of establishing relationships with the current service users. However, expanding that reach to the children and family is a great way to work the same angle (those who have benefitted from the service) but also expand your potential donor base into adjacent areas.

I tip my hat to the United Methodist Association team for their hard work in putting together an excellent conference. At Varsity, we love seeing their member organizations succeed and grow, and we look forward to many more events together in the future!

Volunteers form the backbone of many retirement community programs. Whether they are current residents that volunteer their time to make the community better or outside volunteers looking to give back, both groups provide valuable services at little cost to the community. However, finding reliable individuals for volunteer commitments can be a struggle. We’ve identified three recruitment methods that you might not have thought about that could help you boost your volunteer program.

VolunteerMatch.org

VolunteerMatch is the biggest player in online volunteer recruitment. The site lets you post volunteer openings and search a database of potential volunteers, based on interest and location. You can also find experienced volunteers with skills that relate to what you need for your population. This is especially useful when looking for individuals to work with more challenging groups, such as those with dementia or mobility issues.

Website Recruitment

Businesses have gotten very savvy at the recruitment process for employees. They have online applications, screening systems and processes in place to help streamline onboarding. Why don’t we treat volunteers the same way?

Your website should have a volunteer portal, where prospective volunteers can submit their application online, including what areas of volunteering interest them and how much time they are willing to give. Accepting applications this way can help you build your own database of potential volunteers to help in times of need.

Just putting up a portal may not be enough, though! If your online portal isn’t getting many submissions, you may want to think about running an online volunteer recruitment campaign. Social media marketing offers a great way to advertise your volunteer program to those who may be interested. For less than $500, you can run several ads on Facebook, targeting different demographics, and have them taken right to your volunteer portal to learn more and submit an application.

Ask Your Donors

Donors are the bread and butter of many nonprofit retirement organizations — they provide the funding to accomplish the mission. However, have you ever asked them to donate something other than money? Getting your donors to give of their time, instead of their wallet, could be more lucrative than you realize. For instance, if you have a donor base of professionals, the services they could offer pro bono might be worth more than the dollars they are giving. How much would it cost for you to hire someone to do the job they are willing to do for free? The best part is, you already have the names and contact information for these individuals. Taking a moment to ask for their time could pay off with big returns.

At Varsity, we know the value of volunteers and the struggle communities can have to recruit them. However, if you adjust your recruitment strategy just a bit, you may find a new source of volunteers that not only boosts your programs but reenergizes your entire organization.

Potential residents and their families are increasingly turning to the internet to aid in their search for a retirement community. Nearly every community has a website, and most employ lead-generating tactics on them (contact page, downloadable brochures, etc.). But there is always room for improvement. Over a period of three weeks, we’ll provide you with three actionable tips that you can use to improve your digital footprint.

This week, we’re issuing you a challenge to test your SEO.

If you’re doing any kind of digital marketing, you’ve heard the term “SEO” bandied about like a magic bullet; we’re here to tell you that it’s not. Creating quality SEO takes hard work, commitment and deep thought. It’s an art, not a science.

Let’s do an exercise. Open a new tab and go to Google. Now, search to find your community without using its name or the town in which it is located. How long did it take you to find it? How far down on the list was it? This exercise quickly shows that if your search engine optimization strategy is to reinforce your name and the town where your community is, you are missing potential leads.

When creating a website, think holistically about how a person would find each page via a search. If you are optimizing for the phrase “Independent Living Tacony PA,” how many searches do you think you’ll pick up? Tacony isn’t well-known to those outside of the Philadelphia area. Put yourself in the user’s shoes; he or she wants the best search results for the least amount of effort. A better search term to optimize for might be “Independent Living near Philadelphia” or “Southeastern PA Independent Living.”

This sort of deeper thinking is one of the factors that sets a truly great website apart. Critically thinking about the SEO of, not just the homepage, but of every page on the website will help increase leads that convert to sales. By being intensely curious about online consumer behavior, we have been able to identify areas of improvement for our clients’ websites and provide them with a digital strategy that puts them at a distinct advantage in an increasingly online world.

Chocolate gets eaten, flowers wither, but how do you make love last? In honor of Valentine’s Day, we asked a couple in their 80s how they’ve kept their love strong through 60 years of marriage. (Guess what? Celebrating Valentine’s Day didn’t even make the list!)

Here’s what they said:

1. One or both should tell the other how much they are loved every day. Very important!

2. Maintain a balance of responsibilities — which is easier said than done.

3. Cultivate independent interests and encourage each other to do so. Too much togetherness can be a mistake.

4. Do not criticize. Nobody is perfect. Criticism is rarely useful or effective.

5. Talk to each other, and if there is a big topic, sit down and take time for it.

6. Plan fun together. It is easy to neglect, but many trips and social activities require pre-planning. Spontaneity can wither away with age, which is natural. (I always  watch Monday Night Football. I eat brunch at the café every Sunday. We go to Palm Springs every winter, etc.)

7. Try not to ventilate your problems too much to your other half. That can become a habit, but listening is wearying.

8. Last but not least, when you catch sight of a full moon, make your partner look at it, too. Same goes for rainbows. This is an easy rule, but important.

So this year, let’s learn from the experts at love and look at a little less Monday Night Football and a few more full moons.

The secret to keeping residents engaged in the dining experience is to invigorate and empower your chefs. Here are a few ways that communities around the country are energizing their culinary team:

1. Holding Food Network-influenced chef competitions where dueling culinarians must use offbeat ingredients or face other tough challenges
2. Asking chefs to conduct cooking demonstrations, and letting residents taste the results
3. Adding chef recipes, interviews and demos to their website or newsletter
4. Sending cooking staff to culinary training or bringing noted chefs in to share their expertise
5. Having chefs cook dishes, such as omelets or stir fries, out in the dining room
6. Planning unusual-themed events with menus that go beyond the typical holiday brunch
7. Changing the menu often — and allowing residents input
8. Compiling a cookbook of favorite in-house recipes
9. Celebrating the farm-to-table movement with fresh, locally sourced ingredients
10. Working creatively with dietary restrictions to offer healthy food with a gourmet flair

How is your community keeping things fresh in the kitchen? Let me know at wlangley@varsitybranding.com.

Or maximize Medicare reimbursements? Or know early if a resident is unhappy? You can accomplish those goals and more though the power of data.

The benefits of big data analysis were explored in “Data-driven Decision-making: Gaining Clarity for Your Organization’s Direction,” a session at the LeadingAge Annual Meeting & Expo.

The presenters were Chip Burns, President/CIO, The Asbury Group Integrated Technologies; Kevin Purcell, PhD, Chief Data Scientist, Varsity; and Ed Lamberton, Application Development Manager, Asbury Communities Integrated Technologies.

In case you missed the session, here are a few quick takeaways:

• Commitment to data is a competitive advantage in the ever-changing retirement living/health care space.
• Data analysis should not be about a few canned reports at the beginning of the year, but about giving you the power to explore data independently.
• Understanding connections in data can help you adjust quickly to changes in your local markets, meet new regulations and measure progress against strategic goals.

For the rest of the session’s insights, contact us for an in-person presentation.