1. Your Program is More Than a Calendar
The calendar is only 25% of engagement in your community. The remaining 75% is just as critical; resident discovery, fostering new and ongoing relationships between staff to residents and staff to staff, communication tactics, and partnerships with the greater community.


2. What if Residents Had a More Active Role in the Planning Process?
The approach to creating a calendar can look different! Resident designed. Weekly approach versus monthly approach.

3.Community Engagement = Collaboration
Interdepartmental collaboration between programming/activities, dining/culinary, sales, and marketing to ensure experiences are designed to be elevated and engaging and marketing and sales know-how to how to share via media and with prospective residents and families.

4. Turn Your Gaze Inward
Your greatest asset lives and works in your community….the residents and staff! Both are filled with passions and skills that can enhance community engagement. We cannot plan a life “for” someone, instead, it has to be “with.”

5. Stop Buying “Stuff”
Budget-friendly program opportunities….movement, breathing, going outdoors, gratitude, and building connections and what about being green and environmentally friendly.

6. Learning About the Growth Factor
Activities versus Programs….know the difference.


7. Boardroom Confidence
Take a seat at the table….how to make a business case for your needs.


8. Engagement Begins with Discovery
Resident discovery….what do you want to learn? Where does this information “live”? Who can access this information? How often do you update it?


9. Don’t Take it Personal – Level Up
Leaving the past in the past! How to move forward thoughtfully and professionally.

10. Self-Advocacy & Professional Development
Find a mentor! LinkedIn, fellow senior living colleagues, etc. Find someone who teaches you to have the confidence and demeanor to advocate for yourself with facts and data, not losing your composure and becoming emotional.

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I posted an article on LinkedIn sharing perspectives on how engagement professionals can maintain the traction gained of respect and enhanced quality during the pandemic.  Check it out for a free download of/ a Tips for Elevating Engagement Professionals handout as well as a full recording of a recent conversation with Sara Kyle and Kelly Stranburg with LE3Solutions and myself!  You're sure to find encouragement, best practices, and next steps as you continue the good work in your community.  AGE-u-cate and LE3Solutions are here to support you!

I consider myself fortunate that so far, nobody in family has lived with dementia.  Many people working in aging services are there after having personal experience caring for a loved one.  Strangely enough, my first experience interacting with someone living with dementia was in college, during an internship in a CCRC my senior year. 

Sometimes we all need to be reminded of how our little part in helping a world in need can change our thinking. 

Matt Reiners is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Eversound, a hearing solution company dedicated to improving the quality of life for elders.  Recently, he had a conversation with our own Laura Ellen Christian about the future of training and education for the senior living industry.  

In the world of options for quality life engagement programming, seeking activities that decrease staff direction serves many purposes:

That latest research from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving is alarming. The US had 43.5 million unpaid caregivers in 2015. By 2020, that number soared to 53 million. Nearly one in five or 19% provide unpaid care to an adult with health or functional needs. 

In my last blog post, I shared a recent poll we had conducted that asked what type of training is most effective for aging service providers. Experiential training was the clear leader, followed by peer-to-peer mentoring. Online learning came in last.  We need to change our thinking about online learning!