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.
What’s the healthy habit every three-year-old practices?
It’s something we should all try, because it’s one of the 9 practices shared by residents of longevity hot spots around the world. Why is this habit so important?
Because research has found that habit #3, “downshift” (finding ways to relieve stress), can help you live longer and lower your risk of heart disease. For long-lived residents of Ikaria, Greece, downshifting means an afternoon nap. Why not join them? Happy snoozing!
Check back next week to hear about #4: the 80% rule.
What are the five happiest states for the 55+ crowd?
Some popular retirement destinations didn’t make the cut, although Florida does rank in the top one-third. According to a recent Gallup report, Hawaii, Montana, South Dakota, Alaska and Iowa are the five states that ranked highest for total well-being in adults aged 55 or over.
The poll ranked each state on five elements of well-being: community, physical, purpose, financial and social — many of the same factors measured by the Blue Zones® study, which analyzes lifestyles in communities where people live significantly longer.
Not surprisingly, higher well-being aligns with a lower incidence of heart attack and other chronic diseases. Two of the states that made the top five for total well-being, Hawaii and Alaska, were also in the top five for fewest heart attacks. West Virginia, which ranked #50 for well-being, had the nation’s highest incidence of heart attack at 7.7%.
If you don’t happen to live in Hawaii or Alaska, there’s still good news. According to Gallup, well-being increases significantly as we age, in all fifty states.
How would you like to make life easier for elders, from folding clothes to taking meds? Just come to the Aging 2.0 30-event, 30-city, 30-day pitch tour, going on now through October 8. Start-ups in cities from Beijing to Boston are pitching tech inventions to panels of senior care providers. Winners will move on to the semi-finals, and finalists will present in San Francisco, November 19-20.
By partnering with one of these start-ups, communities can try out helpful new technology for their residents on a trial basis. A few of the innovations include:
Reminder Rosie, a robot that helps elders remember medications and appointments
What do many of the trends we’ve spotted lately have in common? They all do one important thing: nurture ties among people and communities.
Connecting to Generations: Avanti Senior Living brainstormed with kids to create meals, programs and events just for them.
Connecting to the Community: Smart design draws in locals through community centers, gyms, art galleries and restaurants, all of which are open to the public.
Connecting to Safety: Residents at Episcopal Senior Communities wear pendants that connect them to the staff via wifi, so they feel safe anywhere on campus.
Connecting to Discovery: “The Magic Table,” created by Dutch start-up, Active Cues, and reported in Mintel, allows residents to interact with words, images and games beamed down on a table from a smart projector.
Connecting to Nature: A multisensory immersion environment in The Goodman Group’s memory care unit includes plant walls, ocean scents and star-like lighting.
Music has been shown to enhance brain function, reduce stress and build relationships.
And the more connected people feel to the music, the better. One study found that seniors who sang along to tunes scored significantly better on cognitive tests than those who just listened.
In LA, a group of seniors has even formed its own band. “The Fifth Dementia” is made up of musicians with degenerative diseases and high school students. Watch the video to see how they find a common language.
The band is part of Music Mends Minds, Inc., an organization created by Carol and Irwin Rosenstein when Irwin, a musician, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and discovered that music was beneficial to him. The organization’s mission is to use music to help control the progression of cognitive decline in seniors and build support systems for students.
The program has been a huge hit, and more musicians are still needed. Know someone who’s interested? Learn more here.
How would you complete the sentence: “Getting older is getting better because ______.”? That’s the question we have been asking friends of ours to spotlight the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which took place earlier this month.
So far, we’ve gotten some interesting answers, including:
Getting older is getting better because …
…my fishing license is free!
…I am healthier.
…I get to spend time with grandchildren.
…I’ve learned to cherish the little things.
…my newly discovered diet makes me feel better.
…every experience I have builds on the one before it.
The White House has held a conference on aging every decade since the 1960s. The 2015 Conference is an opportunity to look ahead to the issues that will shape the landscape for older Americans in the next decade. Some important issues that will be discussed at the conference are retirement security, healthy aging, long-term services and support, and elder justice.
We’d love to hear how you’d complete the sentence: “Getting older is getting better because ______.” You can tweet your answer to us at @varsitybranding. For more information about the conference click here.
From the Outside In: Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the Prospect’s Decision Process
A team of Varsity researchers brought Project Looking Glass and Project Looking Glass II to the field of aging services. In these nationally recognized studies, researchers moved into two retirement communities for 30 days; there they lived, ate, shopped and socialized alongside residents. We have now launched a third in-depth ethnographic study, called “Project Looking Glass III: From the Outside In.”
In essence, we are turning the looking glass around to dig more deeply into the decision-making process that prospects go through when choosing a community. We’ll learn what triggers people to start investigating senior living communities; what factors influence potential residents to choose or pass on a community; what their expectations were prior to moving into their new home; and the reality that they find as residents of the community.
We’ll evaluate the decision-making process to see how it may vary in different areas of the country and among different cohorts—the current aging generation of prospects (what we call “the transitional generation”) and Baby Boomers—each of which is at a different stage of investigation into retirement community living.
Silent Generation: Born 1910-1925
Transitional Generation: Born 1930-1950
Baby Boomers: Born 1946-1964
Insights from this study will assist senior living communities in further refining their marketing messages and targeting techniques to make sure they’re not only connecting with the right people, but are also having the most relevant, informed conversations that will lead to positive decisions.
If you are interested in participating in this study by having your prospective residents fill out an online survey and/or in having Varsity conduct focus groups at your community, please contact me at .
Once again, we participated in the LeadingAge PA Annual Conference & Exposition, which was held this June in Hershey, Pa. Key leaders gathered to discuss ideas that will shape the future of senior living.
We wanted to share a few of the inspiring solutions we heard.
Swimming with the sharks. On her sixth attempt, 64-year-old Diane Nyad successfully battled sharks, venomous jellyfish and hypothermia to swim from Cuba to Key West. Her motivating advice for reaching your dreams: build a strong support team, give it your all, learn from your failures and never give up.
Spinning stories into marketing gold. Asbury’s session emphasized the importance of finding the right human interest story and repurposing it in blogs, newsletter articles and social media posts, all linking back to your website. Strategic storytelling can be a gold mine of leads, publicity and brand awareness.
Tapping the independent living middle-income market. As the economic spread continues to grow, creating an affordable community for the “working class” is a concept worth looking at.
The end of advertising. Advertising isn’t going extinct—we just need to rethink it. It’s about finding new ways to have conversations with prospects, so we can discover and meet their needs. The engagement shouldn’t stop once residents move in; they need to be invested in the community so they’ll share their positive feelings with new prospects.
Our team would welcome the opportunity to discuss these insights or to simply begin exploring questions that will lead to solid strategies for your community’s continued success.
Let’s Do More than Wear Purple Today to Fight Elder Abuse
Maggie is 87. She lives alone and no longer drives. Her grown children live out of town, and her only regular companion is her grandson Mark who does her grocery shopping and handles her banking. Everyone says how helpful Mark is, but some family members have suspicions.They’ve noticed his new flat screen TV, fancy smartphone and expensive shoes.
When it comes to older people and their relationships, there could be more there than meets the eye. That’s why World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was created. Today, June 15, is a day when people around the world plan activities and wear purple to raise awareness of the abuse, neglect and exploitation of elders.
Here are six facts about elder abuse you may not know:
Over one in 10 elders is affected, but only one in 23 cases are reported.
90 percent of elder abuse is committed by a family member.
Those over 80 are most likely to be abused.
Risk factors for the abuser include substance abuse, mental health disorders and financial issues.
Financial abuse is the fastest growing form of abuse.
Often, the abuser is the only form of companionship for the abused.
It’s important to raise awareness for this serious problem today by getting involved in World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. But it’s even more important to watch out for the red flags of abuse on the other 364 days of the year. To learn more about elder abuse and how to report it, visit www.ncea.aoa.gov or call 1-800-677-1116.
