We know that every community and business in the aging services space is trying to stay ahead of safety and communications for the COVID-19 virus while juggling the needs of residents and staying connected with prospects. This led us to think about some free and easy tips that can keep current and future residents engaged and upbeat as much as possible while their movement is restricted.
Here are some ideas we’ve collected that we wanted to share with you. We realize that there are many more out there, but we thought this would be a good place to start.
Keeping Residents Engaged
Educational opportunities/lifelong learning/cultural stimulation
- Online museum tours
- Free live opera audio streams
- Resources for online courses, books, etc.
- Giant panda cam (National Zoo)
- San Diego Zoo live cams
- Fast Company article featuring different options
- 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free
- Wildlife cams
- The 50 best museum tours around the world
Spiritual grounding
- Free mediation
- Church services (many options online)
- Shabbat services (many options online)
Exercise
- Planet Fitness Free home “work-ins” every day
- Silver Sneakers Free access to exclusive classes for yoga, cardio, balance and more
Connections
- Use in-house channels to share “coffee chats” with residents.
- Ask residents to send pics of what they enjoy doing in their homes to share with others in the community.
- Encourage residents to FaceTime with each other and with their families. (Send an email to all family members encouraging them to FaceTime with their loved ones regularly.)
- Caution against reading social media or listening to “hype” on TV or the radio, and encourage residents to reach out to the appropriate person if they’re at a low point.
Maintaining relationships with prospects
It’s important to always look for opportunities to follow up with prospects in meaningful ways, and the coronavirus pandemic is one of those (unfortunate) opportunities. Call your prospects to check on them during this health crisis, and ask if they are doing okay. Do they have food in the house? Is there anything they need? If they are local, drop off soup, muffins, toilet paper or other necessities on their doorstep. Recommend Netflix movies, documentaries, comedy shows or online live theater performances that might appeal to them. Give them ideas on how to stay safe, entertained, occupied and healthy. They will be grateful that you thought of them during this extremely stressful time.
In addition, we recommend virtual marketing events, where you can share details, floor plan walk-throughs, advice and just somebody new to talk with.
Social distancing doesn’t have to mean social detachment. During these troubling times, we all have to find new ways to stay connected.
