A Better Outlook!! Occupancy Level Rising

It has been a long time since annual living absorption were positive: 4Q07. For most assisted living metro area, the second quarter of 2009 was actually the first time that there was an annual increase for absorption since the end of 2007.

NIC MAP is the leading provider of data concerning occupancy levels of the assisted living market. They survey the top 31 metro markets in the US on a quarterly basis.
as of the second quarter of 2009, there were 150,919 occupied rooms within the sample coverage area, compared to 150,798 in the second quarter of 2008.
In the past twelve months, 16 of the 31 metro markets have seen an increase in their occupancy level. The big winners of such trend have been California, Chicago and Riverside, Las Vegas being the biggest loser.


More here:

NIC MAP has released 3Q09 reports and data for independent living, assisted living, and nursing care properties in the 100 largest metro markets. Subscribers can access the reports and data included within their subscription by logging into NIC MAP. Reports can also be purchased on an ad-hoc basis for any of the 100 largest metros or Inventory and Construction Reports for any of the largest 31 metros by visiting the NIC Store

3 technologies for better Life Enrichment and Activities

Activity Directors and Life Enrichment Program Directors have seen their job description and requirements evolve deeply in the past twenty years. As demand and needs shift towards a less "institutionalized" life in retirement communities, huge challenges for the management of these facilities arises. One of the most common complaints comes from the lack of personalized and resident focused activities.
To keep current residents happy and attract new residents, communities need to offer daily activities calendars that include the following requirements:

• Be both intellectually and physically stimulating
• Takes care of gender by providing activities that suit males and females
• Takes into account the age range and diversity of all residents
• Adapts to socially active as well as "loner" types of residents
• Provides group and individualized activity
  
• Suit different types of impairments such as vision, hearing loss, dexterity and mental issues
• Conform to care planning requirements by having "a systematic assessment and identification of a resident's problems and strengths, the setting of goals, the establishment of interventions for accomplishing these goals."

Given the little budget, time and assistance a typical staff has, such requirements are hard to achieve but are essential.
It is sometimes surprising to see that Activity Directors and Life Enrichment Program Directors forget to turn to technology to increase their efficiency and the reach of their efforts amongst residents.
In recent years, several products and services have gained a lot of interest and have now become standard tools for any Activity Directors. Here is a quick list of items that all communities should consider and test:

1. Activity Connection

ActivityConnection.com needs no introduction. With over 10% of the US market, it is the leading provider of services to Activity Directors. Their website offers elegant turnkey tools that simplify and ease the job of the activity staff and is used on a daily basis by thousands across the country and abroad.
This online resource is special because they offer "Ready-to-Go" activities with complete scripts and downloadable props. There are more than 35 sections on their site which are updated every month with hundreds of fresh ideas and activities.

2. Games such as the Wii

Who would have thought that seniors and retirement communities would embrace video games? Released in 2006 the Wii is now the best selling video game system ever. It has been praised for its novel approach for gaming by putting emphasis on the user interaction instead of pure processing power: Instead of just pressing different buttons to perform an action, most games use the actual natural movement. To play tennis, for example, one simply needs to mimic the action of hitting the ball and so forth
This has been a major hit with seniors as the games themselves are simple and very quick to grasp.
Some of the great advantages of such a product is that it provides good therapeutic excerice while remaining fun. It is also a great way to have group activities and introduce competition driven sports. Some retirement communities now organize regional championships!!!


3. Easy email and easy computing

Computers, email and internet do not have to be complicated. Actually, there are a few services that provide easy computing experience and simplify the process of "putting somebody online".
Offering and teaching someone the option to use the Internet is a great way to connect them to the rest of the world. They have access to the news and an infinite number of resources on subjects they might enjoy reconnecting with or discovering. They can communicate and gain a higher level of social interaction while keeping up with friends and family news.
Leading communities around the country even organize Skype sessions so that residents can see relatives - Best of all: Skype is free!!!

We'll soon be posting advice on how to successfully introduce these types of technologies

Silvers Summit @ CES 2010

The CES (Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas is the annual meeting of everything that has to do with technology. Some view it as an annual pilgrimage to spot products before they take off. Major successes were introduced there such as the CD, the DVD, the Blue Ray format...

While the highlights of the 2010 version of the show were 3D technology, tablet PCs and e-book readers, it also had the Silvers Summit, a full day program on Saturday, January 9; it showcased the products and services that keep boomers engaged, entertained, connected and healthy. This year's was the second edition of this particular show that targets seniors. It was both awaited and very well attended: “When you have a growing market segment, everybody wants a piece of the action,” said Majd Alwan, director of the Center for Aging Services Technologies.

The event was very well covered by the press and it is interesting to see what the upcoming trends in the industry are. This kind of heavily media-covered event shows a deep change from manufacturers and technology providers. It might have a very positive impact on the quality and the offering of product designed for seniors.
As we previously mentioned on Monday, April 6, 2009 in our blog post:Older Americans and technology design, manufacturers need to include seniors in the design of consumer electronics and technology. From announcements of coming products and offering, it seems that technology will increasingly answer the needs of seniors for attention to impairments, preventive tools but also simplicity and the need to be connected.

Now, as Laurie Orlov mentions in her blog: "vendors and service providers who want to launch their products or services for the boomer-senior market should skip CES and its sub-events. Instead, you need to be at the events where either boomers themselves are (AARP Life@50+, for example) or go to events where the professionals in this industry are (ASA, Baby Boomer What's Next, Connected Health, Health 2.0, AAHSA, ALFA, etc.)."
This is especially true when you look at their low attendance in events that actually support the well being of seniors or best practices in the senior housing market.

But as one says: one step at a time!!!

Linked Senior at GROWS on January 7th

Charles de Vilmorin, CEO and Co-founder of Linked Senior will be speaking at the January Senior Service Network (SSN) Meeting of the GROWS (Grass Root Organization for the Well Being of Seniors)

The topic of the presentation is: Emotional Health and Quality of Life Through Technology

Here are the details:
Holiday Park Senior Center 3950 Ferrara Drive Wheaton, MD
8:15 AM - 10:15 AM
GROWS Member Charles de Vilmorin will speak to the group on Technology and how seniors are using it and benefiting from it.

Hope to see you there!!!

Holiday Greetings from Linked Senior!!!

Our team here at Linked Senior would like to extend to you our holiday greetings; we hope you will have relaxing time amongst your loved ones and wish you many nice things for the year to come.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. Michael Altshuler

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Hal Borland

Here is a little surprise for you from our interns here at Linked Senior, just hit the link:

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We hope to see you very soon!

The Linked Senior Team

These Resident, these Heroes

Sometimes people forget that retirement communities are normal social spaces where interactions happen all the time. There are exchanges between residents, with caregivers, the families and the outside world.
The social landscape of a community has the same characteristics of any other groups of men and women: there are leaders, loners, and active or less active members, funny or more serious people; there are also queen bees and wannabes. And sometimes, there are heroes.

Heroes are residents that distinguish themselves by extraordinary acts or behaviors, during one time events or over the course of time. They are individuals that are respected and whom their reputation was forged thanks to their accomplishment and the way they conduct themselves.
A great example of a community hero is a 98-year-old nursing home volunteer: Nearly 99, Catherine Walker is a resident at a Crestwood, Illinois senior community; she became involved helping Alzheimer’s patients and has built an incredible reputation.

“You have people who live, who go through their lives and do amazing things and never get noticed. That’s Catherine. She’s someone who has made a difference in all these people’s lives. Without her around so much they might otherwise be sitting and staring into space. She keeps them going.”

These heroes are invaluable assets of a community as they help set an example while enhancing the atmosphere and giving pride to a community. This is why it is important to identify and recognize such examples.

Many companies have put in place program that help them identify employees that perform extraordinarily, even CNN has their CNN hero of the year program - why not retirement communities?

The best way to do this is to have a "Caught in the act" program to recognize excellent service, excellent behavior or excellent attitude on the part of a resident. If a resident did something extraordinary, there should be a way for other residents or staff member to report this anonymously or not and a process by which the resident receives an award and recognition.

One of the great effects of putting such program in place is that it creates a sense of purpose for residents and allows excellence and beyond expectations behaviors to be rewarded and respected.

November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. This degenerative and fatal disease was first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906; it damages a person's ability to reason, remember, speak, perform simple calculations, and carry out routine tasks. As of September 2009, the number of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is reported to be 35 million-plus worldwide. That number is estimated to reach approximately 107 million people by 2050.
In the United States, the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures reports that there are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s.

The reasons or causes of this disease have not been discovered yet but scientists know that it is a degeneration of certain areas of the brain. For a long time, it was often associated to senility or old age; there are now simple and easy tests to detect this type of cognitive impairment. The Alzheimer's association came up with a list of 10 signs that can help diagnose this fatal brain disease. The NIH has educational resources with videos on the matter and explains very well how it involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Also, the Mayo Clinic launched an entire blog in September 2007 to provide help, advice and news on the topic.

On top of the distress and the informal costs for the family, the lack of effective treatment (yet) and the looming social issues associated to an increasing number of people affected by this disease, it is also a huge cost for our society: Numbers vary between studies but dementia costs worldwide have been calculated around $160 billion, while costs of Alzheimer in the United States may be $100 billion each year.

This November, during National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, the Alzheimer's Association has listed a variety of ways someone can help fight this disease. Visit their dedicated site for this.