How to Turn Families into Champions with Senior Living Technology

We talk a lot about resident and staff engagement on the Icon blog. But family engagement is just as important. Apart from being key decision makers in the senior living search, families can also be powerful champions for your community in their own circles and on social media.

But families don’t become champions overnight. In order to advocate for your community, they need to feel confident in the resident experience and plugged into what’s going on. 

Senior living technology can be a huge asset here. Here, we’ll share three ways you can use tech to turn families into passionate senior living evangelists.

1. Win Over Families with a Tech-Forward Resident Experience

Today’s families want a modern and vibrant senior living environment for their loved ones. And increasingly, that means a community that embraces tech at every level. After all, many older adults already use smartphones, tablets, and smart home devices every day. They want their new home to offer the same comforts and conveniences – and so do their families.

With a tech-forward resident experience, senior living communities can meet that expectation. If you don’t already, make sure you have…

• A personalized activity calendar: Residents should be able to access a digital calendar where they can view and sign up for upcoming community events. The best software will offer personalized activity recommendations based on attendance data, a lot like how Netflix suggests new shows based on your watch history. (We call this Smart Aging™ at Icon – here’s a deep dive.)
• A mobile resident portal: This should let residents view a resident and staff directory, , check dining menus, schedule maintenance requests, message staff, and more – all in one central location.
• Smart home devices: Residents can use tools like Amazon Alexa to check their daily agenda or order maintenance requests hands-free. Tablets make it easy to message or video-call family members. And connected wearables can instantly alert staff in case of emergency (like a sudden fall).

To showcase all your community has to offer, consider using social media to share photos and videos of residents using tech. And make sure to play up the value of a tech-powered experience when interacting with prospective families. This way, it’ll be easier to win their confidence from the start and get their loved ones excited about your community.

2. Build Trust Through Transparent Communication

Trust is everything in senior living. Families need to know they can rely on you to provide a safe and caring environment for their loved ones. And after last year’s concerning reports on the industry at large, many families want reassurance that their loved ones are in good hands.

One way to foster trust? Use a family engagement portal to support transparent communication.

Much like its resident-facing counterpart, this tool gives families easy access to everything they need to know about your community. In particular, families should be able to use a mobile app to…

• Digitally manage important documents, whether they need to upload, download, or e-sign a form. 
• View your activity calendar and keep tabs on their loved ones’ attendance.
• Communicate with staff instantly with HIPAA-compliant messaging.
• Stay informed on community happenings via push notification, email, or SMS. 
• Provide community feedback through real-time surveys.

Together, each of these features can put families at ease and boost their confidence in the resident experience. And the more confidence they have, the more likely they are to advocate for your community within their circles. 

3. Measure Family Engagement Metrics

Even with the tips we’ve shared so far, every family engagement strategy will need tweaks from time to time. But with robust measurement, you can better understand how effectively you’re connecting with families and where there’s room for improvement.

Our recommendation? Focus on measuring metrics like…

• Message response time: Measure how quickly staff respond to messages through the family engagement portal. This can help you understand whether your team is communicating efficiently enough to meet families’ needs.
• Net promoter scores (NPS): Gathering this data via regular surveys can help you keep a pulse on overall family loyalty and satisfaction.
• Social media interactions: Track which posts families are engaging with the most to inform your social strategy. 
• Email marketing interactions: Monitor newsletter open and click-through rates to see how engaged families are with your communications.
• Family engagement portal logins: Login frequency can tell you whether your app is a useful reference point for families.

A data-driven approach gives you the insights you need to proactively respond to families’ and residents’ needs. If message response times are flagging, you can equip your staff with tools to enhance their efficiency. And if social media interactions are up on a recent pickleball video, you might consider posting more like that going forward.

The goal? An engagement model that shows you’re actively listening. Families will be sure to take note.

Give Families the Tech They Expect

Tech is already a core part of residents’ and families’ daily lives. It should be core to your family engagement strategy, too. With a tech-forward approach, you can help families feel more connected, informed, and valued. What you’re likely to get as a result: proud champions for your senior living community.

Of course, achieving this outcome depends on a robust tech stack. Icon’s suite of senior living tech can help. From family engagement software to smart home tech, we can equip you with the tools you need to transform your digital strategy.Want to learn more? Book a demo or drop us a line – and let’s start a conversation.