A Head Start on Innovation: 4 Tech Upgrades to Fold Into Your Next Digital Roadmap

Believe it or not, it’s almost 2025 – which means it’s time to kickstart your annual planning. If you’re still deciding what to add to your digital roadmap, though, we’re here to help.

In this piece, we’ll share four senior living tech innovations that should make the cut – and explain why now is best time to invest in them.

1. A Self-Service Family Engagement Portal

Why now: We’ve talked about family engagement tech a fair amount this year, and for good reason – last year’s spate of negative industry reporting has left many families skeptical of senior living.

One of the most powerful ways to overcome skepticism, though, is with great communication. After all, communication breeds trust – and trust can turn families into active champions for your community.

All of that work becomes much easier with family engagement software. A self-service portal can keep families updated on their loved one’s resident experience without overburdening your staff.

What to consider: Make sure your tech lets families…

• Manage important documents. Enable secure document uploads, downloads, and e-signatures from anywhere.
• Learn about your community. Allow families to view your community’s activity calendar and learn what excites their loved ones most.
• Chat instantly with staff. Offer HIPAA-compliant direct messaging for quick and secure communication.
• Customize notifications. Give families the option to choose between via push notification or email for regular community updates – which you can schedule and automate to save your staff time.
• Provide immediate feedback. A quick experience survey lets families share their experience. You can use the data to guide your annual community engagement strategy.

Families will value the transparency – and they’ll love having your community’s essentials right at their fingertips.

2. Gamified Employee Engagement Software

Why now: The senior living labor shortage is still top of mind for every community leader. It’s tough to attract new hires, much less get them to stick around. And with the latest CMS staffing mandate now in the mix, it’s more important than ever to invest in tools that can boost employee retention.

One tool to add to your toolkit is gamified employee engagement software. By gamifying employee rewards and recognition, you can drive a 48 percent increase in engagement.

What to consider: Your tech should make it easy to…

• Recognize employees. Award points to employees for, say, running a standout game night or marketing campaign. And make sure staff can receive shoutouts from residents, families, and colleagues.
• Offer creative rewards: Allow staff to redeem points for gift cards, company merch, and even job perks (like an extra day of PTO).
• Create friendly competition. Let different departments compete for points to encourage teamwork and build camaraderie.
• Define milestones. Award digital badges for important milestones in an employee’s career (e.g., their one-year anniversary, their first 100 sales calls, etc.). This can boost morale and provide a sense of achievement.

We’ve found that effective recognition and rewards can lower turnover by up to 50 percent. With the right staff engagement software, you can make your workplace that much more attractive in 2025.

3. Smart Home Tech

Why now: Smart home tech is one of the hottest senior living trends right now. More and more older adults are using Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices around their home to manage their life hands-free – an important convenience as mobility needs change. As these folks begin to explore senior living communities, they’ll likely want to replicate their tech-enabled experience.

What to consider: Amazon Alexa devices are often a big hit in senior living communities. But for the greatest value, you’ll want to make sure they’re integrated with the rest of your senior living tech stack. Residents should be able to…

• Check your community’s activity calendar.
• Ask about today’s lunch menu.
• Set medication reminders.
• Call or text your staff in case of emergency.

And don’t ignore other smart home devices too, from Nest thermostats to connected smart watches. A robust suite of smart home tech can empower residents to take control of their health and comfort – and improve your resident experience in the process.

4. AI (With a Caveat)

Why now: Many community leaders have spent the last two years exploring AI use cases for senior living. The question for most today isn’t whether to implement it, but how and when. Our recommendation? Make 2025 your great leap forward with AI. Early adopters will stay a step ahead of the competition.

What to consider: Don’t just choose any AI software. Instead, define the highest-impact use cases for your community. That means identifying the biggest pain points for residents and staff so you can tailor your AI strategy and maximize ROI.

One helpful starting point might be AI-powered life enrichment activity planning. It’s a common frustration: staff find it tough to come up with ideas that are guaranteed to excite residents. And residents don’t always know which activities they’re likely to enjoy.

But Smart Aging™ technology takes the guesswork out of both experiences. AI can analyze resident engagement data to suggest activities worth putting on the calendar. And it can point residents toward ones they’re likely to enjoy based on their attendance history (a lot like Netflix’s recommendation algorithm).

AI is still largely untapped in senior living, which makes it ripe for exploration in 2025. One caveat, though: we’d suggest holding off on using AI to directly interact with residents and families. Many still don’t trust this technology – and it’s worth being cautious with its deployment to avoid driving folks away from your community.

Be Proactive About Senior Living Technology

Many senior living communities have undergone massive digital transformations this decade. And many more have big plans for 2025. As we inch closer toward the new year, now is the best time to explore creative senior living innovations – a proactive mindset can keep you one step ahead of the competition.The tools we’ve mentioned here are a great starting point. But if you’re wracking your brain for more, let’s chat. Icon’s suite of senior living technology can transform your resident, staff, and family experiences. Book a demo or reach out – we’d love to start a conversation.