5 Takeaways and Opportunities from Go Icon’s 2025 Benchmarking Report for Resident and Family Engagement

Senior living communities rise and fall on their ability to engage residents and families. But what exactly does engagement look like in 2025? 

That’s the main question of Go Icon’s first-ever benchmarking report on the matter. With responses from more than 60 activities directors, regional managers, and executives, the report offers a comprehensive look at how communities are performing, where they’re falling short, and what it’ll take to improve.

Here are the top five takeaways – and what they mean for communities looking to raise the bar.

1. Resident Engagement Faces Staffing and Budgetary Roadblocks

Communities offer a healthy average of 32 activities per resident each week, with physical activities and social gatherings driving the strongest participation. 

But leaders say 56 percent of residents participate less than half of the time. And multiple challenges make it difficult to further improve engagement. 

The biggest elephant in the room is the staffing crisis, which has strained staff’s time and energy for years. But wallets are also tight. Although many organizations allocate 10 to 15 percent of their budget to engagement, activities directors say only a slice reaches their day-to-day work. 

The bottom line: Teams are juggling a lot with limited resources. As a result, some of the most innovative programming is put on the backburner while staff try to stay afloat.

Quick wins:

• Automate tedious admin work (logging attendance, pushing reminders, etc.) to reclaim time for face‑to‑face connection.
• Fast-track personalization with Smart Aging™ AI, which can draw on digital resident profiles to recommend activities based on interests, abilities, and wellness goals.
• Advocate for more resources by linking strong engagement scores to resident and community outcomes (e.g., lower turnover and higher occupancy rates).

2. Family Engagement Is a Weak Link

Although 75 percent of corporate leaders believe their community formally tracks family engagement, only 30 percent of activities directors say they actually do so. And 30 percent of communities don’t track family engagement at all.

That’s a serious problem. When families assume their input is being tracked but don’t see meaningful follow-up, it can subtly erode trust and make it harder to build the kind of connection that leads to referrals.

Where to focus:

• Provide family engagement portals that give loved ones a real‑time window into daily life, from activity attendance confirmation to post-event photo libraries.
• Maintain consistent, multi‑channel communication (via text, email, and push notification) so updates never slip through the cracks.
• Invite feedback often with quick pulse checks so families feel heard before issues snowball.

3. AI and Smart Home Tech Have Enormous Potential – With the Right Training

Most senior living communities already use technology to enhance resident and family engagement. And 42 percent believe tools like AI and smart home tech could massively benefit engagement within the next three years.

But frontline adoption is lagging. What’s more, many employees struggle to learn how to incorporate new tech into their own workflows, much less show residents how to use tools effectively.

To course correct:

• Focus on interoperability by choosing platforms that minimize friction and sync with the rest of your stack (from your calendaring software to your EHR platform).
• Pilot before you plunge to measure the impact of new tech in a limited setting before expanding based on impact.
• Offer continuous training and support so no one feels left behind. (On the resident side, a tech committee can be a great way to create digital champions that will organically encourage adoption.) 

4. Communication Channels Need a 2025 Upgrade

A whopping 60 percent of regional directors say their communication strategy is ineffective. That’s in part because of a disconnect between frontline workers and executive leadership when it comes to the highest-impact channels.

Unfortunately, that disconnect can create communication gaps at exactly the moments when clarity matters most – like around care updates or major community changes. Over time, these misfires can chip away at residents’ and families’ confidence, making it harder to build and nurture trust-centered relationships.

What to try:

• Use a central communication platform that can schedule-send emails, texts, and push notifications with consistent messaging.
• Let residents and families choose how they want to receive messages so nothing falls through the cracks.
• Measure every interaction. If more frequent updates result in lower open rates, tweak the timing or shorten the copy until your metrics rebound.

5. Measurement and Reporting Are King

Most senior living communities do a decent job at measuring resident and family satisfaction. But more powerful reporting tools can help leaders better understand trends and make program tweaks with even more confidence. 

How to evolve:

• Invest in dashboards that visualize participation, satisfaction, and sentiment over time.
• Showcase data wins on staff bulletin boards and in family portals – it can turn data into motivation.
• Leverage Smart Aging AI™ to strategize next steps and iterate quickly so your program never stagnates.

There’s a Clear Path to Better Engagement

The path to standout resident engagement relies on human empowerment, great senior living technology warmth, and relentless measurement. Communities that…

• Invest in personalized programming
• Empower staff by automating busywork
• Prioritize mobile-first communication with families
• Let data lead the way

…will earn the loyalty residents cherish and the word‑of‑mouth that families trust.For more granular insight into how your peers are tackling engagement today, download our full benchmarking report. And when you’re ready to chart your path forward, get in touch. We’d love to show you how Go Icon’s suite of senior living technology can help.