RESIDENT INNOVATION COUNCILS Part 1 — Safety, Accessibility, and Socialization
Over the past year we have been doing some research on how to improve the quality of life of older adults through our Resident Innovation Councils. We have incredibly insightful people living in our communities, many of whom regularly participate in various technology pilots (like virtual reality!). We always appreciate the time we can spend learning from our residents about how to be more innovative across the company. Here is what we’ve learned from you thus far.
Three common themes we heard were: safety, accessibility, and socialization.
SAFETY & ACCESSIBILITY
“I am worried about falls. Sometimes I am not wearing my pendant even though I should be. And other times I’m just not sure that my pendant works where I am.”
“Is there a benefit [of using Alexa] for someone with low vision?”
“Trouble hearing the announcements.”
“Would like reminders…”
“Pendants only work in certain parts of the building…”
Falls are one of the biggest problems in our industry. An overwhelming amount of feedback centered around how we can improve safety while maintaining independence. Are there more fashionable or “wearable” fall detection or emergency call pendants, like a Fitbit? One of the Residents in the group shared that she bought one on her own provided by Guardian. The Goodman Group has a contract with a large pendant technology provider and has been taking inventory and making improvements to the pendants we provide to our residents.
Another topic that was brought up was nighttime safety. Falls often occur at night for a number of reasons. We were able to find some devices that can help measure sleep quality and activity if someone exits the bed but never enters. Another company we found makes a bed sensor connected to battery-operated lights to illuminate the pathway to the bathroom. This is one of the products we are including in this quarter’s Innovation Council. The other product offers a functional way to sit up and down while in bed. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on both!
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SOCIALIZATION
“Can we do the VR groups more?”
“I don’t consider myself to be lonely, but know someone who is.”
“I like new programs, but want them to be social and outside of my room too.”
A big topic we wanted the groups to discuss over the past year was Amazon Echo (Alexa). The voice-activated assistant can play music, read the news, give a weather update, set multiple reminders, read audiobooks, and more. There are so many things this product can help with, especially for those with low vision who have difficulty reading or using a computer screen.
That said, not everyone wants to be more connected to the internet. We want to be more connected to our families, friends, and community we live in. We are now investing in software that can work with Alexa to help connect residents to the events, activities, and people around them to drive more social experiences. We’ve even found a way to offer periodic surveys to help improve socialization and reduce loneliness which has become a growing priority for our teams.
This platform may also be a way to assist in the daily checkins of your community. It has the capability to call any phone number, like the front desk, and set daily reminders. We would like to learn more about this to improve our staff’s time as well as Resident quality of life.
We realize that some of our communities have WiFi limitations so we are prioritizing those needs before piloting anything that requires a strong wireless signal.
We have so much more to learn. We appreciate you taking the time to act as advisors to our team as we determine how to better improve the wellbeing and quality of life of our staff and residents. We look forward to what you have to say in the next Resident Innovations Council session.
Thank you,
Al Baker, The Goodman Group
Innovation Lead
Please email me at al.baker@thegoodmangroup.com to continue the conversation!
