AUGUST 2020 //
Inspiring Senior Lifestyle Marketing & Sales Teams to New Heights
IN THIS ISSUE: The list you need for virtual events Everything that’s new on BrandWorks Ask the Expert: The COVID-19 Perspective from Angel Morrison Plus, a look at how social media has performed since March 2020
THERE’S VIRTUE IN THE VIRTUAL 1
The real need for virtual events. A list to get you started. Sylvia Jones, Senior Lifestyle Marketing Manager
Until we can safely gather again, we can offer virtual events that rival the fun, educational benefits and social enrichment of in-person happenings. Virtual events create connections and help future residents – and their families – continue to get to know your community as they near their decision to move in. You might not be as familiar with virtual events as you are with the open houses, lunch-and-learns, and themed events you’ve previously offered. So here’s a little list of suggestions to get you started. Pick a few or create your own. Then get them on your calendar and uncork Grapevine to help you reach your prospective residents and adult child influencers.
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Arts & Entertainment • Art Show: Activities director presents residents’ painting, woodworking, pottery, quilting or other art projects. • Bingo: Use online card generator. • Craft Demo • Old Photo Show: Brief stories about residents’ ancestor photos. • Talent Show: Showcase your choir, dancers or other performers; alternatively, make it a 2-minute talent show. • Virtual Movie Night: Using Netflix Party or a third-party program like Scener.com, prospects, friends and family members can watch the same movie separately. Education • ACIs Talk: Hear from a panel of ACIs who have successfully navigated the process of choosing a place for their loved ones. • Book Club: Choose a free or public domain book or move your Bible study group online. • Connect Us: Offer tutorials on using online tools. • Downsizing: Information about rightsizing your life. • How to Make the Move Into a Senior Living Community: Q&A with staff and residents. • Resident Tips: Feature residents who can offer tips on cooking, gardening, crafts or other interests. • Safe Greetings: Residents and staff demonstrate alternative greetings for socialdistancing best practice. • To Tell the Truth: Correct the misperceptions and myths with the truth about senior living as told by a resident and staff panel. • Virtual Tour Fitness & Health • Brain University Series: Introduction to Brain Health University with a brain health activity offered.
• Caregivers Workshop • Chair Yoga: A fitness class. • Dementia Series: Review early signs of dementia, managing difficult behaviors, and caregiver stress and self-care. • The Doctor Is In: Advice offered on gerontology, medication management, balance, fitness and nutrition from the community’s medical director. Live chat with the doctor included. • Easy At-Home Exercises: Fitness director demonstrates basic exercises that require no gym or special equipment. • Fall Reduction: Fitness director speaks to fall-risk reduction and demonstrates simple exercises to improve strength and balance. • Health Care: Classes on topics such as stress, diabetes, heart health and dementia. • Support Groups • Tackle Loneliness: A seminar about combating isolation and loneliness. • Quarantine Fatigue Series: Coping and selfcare tips. Food • Cooking Demo: Chef demonstrates techniques for plating entrées. • Cooking Demo: Chef prepares a dish and viewers get recipe via email after registering. • Easy Recipe Demos: Examples include how to jazz up a frozen pizza, make a kitchensink soup or bake bread. • Farmer’s Market: The chef shows how to select the best vegetables, fruit and herbs at a typical farmer’s market. Include a cooking demo. • Kitchen Tour: Chef or food service manager as tour guide. • Mixology: Kitchen or bar staff demonstrate mixing the drink invented for the community’s pandemic lockdown.
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Social • Featured Resident: Interview a resident. • Featured Staff Member: Interview a staff member. • Meet Our Pets: Activities director emcees a series featuring videos of residents and their pets. • Resident Ambassador Check-In: Daily or weekly calls from Resident Ambassadors to prospects willing to connect. • Resident Ambassador Roundtable: Residents field questions from an online audience. • Virtual Parties: For example, a dance party, a tea party or a happy hour. Virtual events work and keep everyone safe. I encourage you to set up virtual events that match the personality of your team and community. It’s a great way to continue to present opportunities for prospects and their families to engage with you. Keep that dialogue open and the relationships will grow. We’re in this together. We’re creating safer, richer communities where seniors can live well, know they’re safe, and maintain their dignity and sense of purpose. In today’s changed world, this means we follow CDC guidelines for masks, handwashing and social distancing. And it means: • Everyone entering our communities wears a face mask and is screened according to CDC guidelines • Staff are screened at the beginning, middle and end of their shifts • Every assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing resident is monitored for temperature, oxygen saturation level and condition changes • We’re working with national-level laboratories for staff and resident testing Thank you all for your patience and perseverance.
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The in-demand products on BrandWorks. In stock and shipping now! Add signature style to your efforts. BrandWorks now offers an assortment of timely aids – from face masks to move-in incentive flyers – that can bump up your marketing during the pandemic. Choices include:
BrandWorks can help you now, as you work hard to keep residents and staff safe – and grow your community’s relationships with future residents and their families. Visit BrandWorks Now
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Branded face masks Door seals Move-in incentive flyers PPE and sanitization products Shine Bright product line
Need something not on the list? Get in touch with your Grapevine Designs Account Manager, who’s ready and eager to assist.
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Staying Safe: Angel Morrison, Vice President of Clinical Services
These are unprecedented times, and as a nurse, I can honestly say this period will define my career. I’m blessed to be with Senior Lifestyle, where no matter the day or situation, the focus is, was and will remain on the best possible outcomes for residents. Keeping our communities safe is the number one priority in everything we do. The changes I see. From my vantage point, community life certainly looks different today: • Increased infection control, virtual visits, PCR testing and PPE are the quality indicators that drive our efforts now. • We strictly follow the CDC guidelines regarding social distancing and mask usage in every community. Every employee is required to wear a mask while in our communities, and employee screening is conducted several times every shift to monitor for new onset signs and symptoms.
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• State- and county-level phased-opening guidelines set our protocols for visitation. All visitors are required to follow the screening guidelines, and we ask that they wear a mask while in our communities, if permitted. • We have an admission protocol in place, as permitted by the state and county guidelines, which includes a virtual preadmission assessment conducted by a Senior Lifestyle nurse, an initial off-site COVID test that must be negative, and the option upon move-in to the community to either elect for a second COVID test or isolation for a full 14 days while we monitor for any potential signs and symptoms. • On every shift, we monitor every resident in a licensed bed through screening questions and vital signs. • As permitted, we offer small group activities, hallway and door activities, and
Persevering during the pandemic. remote activities via web-based or phone call-in options. • Communal dining is limited in all communities – unless the state allows otherwise. • We’re sticking with the social distancing and strict disinfection guidelines, so we’ve allowed communities to increase access to their amenities. Use of pools, exercise equipment and outdoor walking paths is encouraged. • Quarantine and isolation have brought mental health to the surface, and we’ve had to adjust our approach. Seniors need interaction and socialization. They miss hugging their friends and family. Each community is working through their available options to resolve this. Solutions include, but are not limited to, virtual visits, window or shielded visits, drive-up visits and outdoor distance visits.
Sanitization protocols are changing. Community leaders do a great job communicating, based on what is preventative in their market or area. Divisional nurses conduct weekly COVID-specific calls and review updates, standards and protocols. We now have concentrated and increased disinfection procedures in place, and we continue to look at new developments, products and supplies for safe, effective sanitization. And overall, we’re working closely with our communities and taking their lead on what they need or request in addition to state, federal and national guidelines. Our communities are doing an amazing job each and every day managing the care of our residents and navigating the ever-changing and very fluid world of COVID-19. I’m in awe of their compassion, professionalism and attention to detail.
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SOCIAL MEDIA: How you’re staying connected when apart
76.2%
• 54 communities had equivalent or higher engagement rates and averaged 3-12 posts each week. That’s between once every other day up to twice per day – a consistent presence that doesn’t overload the communication.
The overall engagement rate for March through July was 11.9%. That’s up from 6.8% for the previous 5-month period (September 30, 2019 - February 29, 2020).
• Big winner #1: With a 24% engagement rate during this time, Brookstone Estates of Tuscola posted 8 times per week (about 1-2 times per day). Several photos were included in each post to maximize engagement and give their audience more looks at what’s happening in the community.
is the increase in engagement rate.
• Big winner #2: The 21.7% engagement rate for this time period at Mahoney House was based on 9 posts per week (about 1-2 times per day). The community featured individual photos of residents, group photos of socially distanced residents and outdoor photos. • Big winner #3: An engagement rate of 17.2% at Carriage Court of Washington Court House was the result of offering about 8 posts each week (1-2 times per day, on average). Carriage Court typically submits high-quality, vibrant photos – never blurry, always well composed.
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30.6%
is the increase in overall published posts when compared to September 30, 2019 - February 29, 2020. This is important. Now that they are unable to visit residents in person, loved ones want to see even more posts.
15.9%
is the increase in overall engagements when compared to September 30, 2019 - February 29, 2020. Always optimize the visuals and copy to maximize the engagement possibilities. • High-quality photos and videos encourage audiences to stop scrolling and interact with the post. • Smart captions also encourage audiences to interact with the post: “Comment about your memory,” “What are you doing today to celebrate?” “Help us wish our resident a happy birthday in the comments” – all simple examples of captions that spark the desire to respond.
11.2%
is the increase in overall Facebook page likes when compared to September 30, 2019 - February 29, 2020. A great-for-your-awareness metric.
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303 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60601 www.SeniorLifestyle.com 10