The opportunity to engage with our surroundings meaningfully each day is a basic human right. The freedom to do this must be protected by providers who are serving older adults in our industry.

Every day, our company has discussions with providers who are shifting their mindset and deciding to invest in the value of resident engagement. Nothing is more exciting to us than to collaborate with frontline teams and their organizations once they’ve made this commitment to improving the quality of life of their residents and staff.

Using digital technology, the staff members were able to personalize resident programming and assess in real-time any changes in resident ability or preferences. After only one year with the new strategy, the community increased the number of engagement programs offered by 145%!

Fully integrated, person-centered care looks beyond just the biological age of a person, their current chronic conditions and their disabilities and instead focuses on providing creative and meaningful engagement opportunities, which are measured and evaluated in real-time using technology, so that they are perfectly matched to a person’s changing needs and preferences.

It is time for the senior care industry to take note of how preserving a person’s agency in the care process is a necessary component of purposeful engagement.