Embracing Technology for an Enhanced Senior Living Experience
Revolutionizing Senior Living: Cut costs, improve service, and attract tech-savvy baby boomers. From robots to smart kitchens, a new era in senior care is here.
As the senior living industry continues to rapidly evolve for providers across the country, it is critical to proactively seek innovative ways to meet current, and potential resident expectations.
The key to maintaining and growing occupancy rates, resident satisfaction and optimizing operations? Embrace technology to enhance resident experience by changing the service model and learning to execute services in new ways.
Implementing new technologies can enable senior living providers to reduce costs in several areas of operations, starting with one of the most costly – staffing. Through automation and efficiencies of scale, technology can help solve staffing shortages, which continues to be a pain point for senior living providers.1
Operationally, technology helps increase process efficiencies and effectiveness, which relieves burden on staff while boosting performance and morale, leading to higher retention. Staff retention has a direct impact on the resident experience as it fosters engagement, consistency, and an overall sense of wellbeing in the community.
According to a recent U.S. Census, by 2030 all baby boomers will be 65+. As baby boomers enter their senior years, a demographic shift referred to as a “silver wave” will significantly change the face of the U.S. population.2
This group is tech savvy, more sophisticated, educated and focused on health and wellness than previous generations. They are seeking experiences, outside community connections, education and learning opportunities. As baby boomers are beginning their search for senior living communities that meet their needs, implementing technology tools today is a game-changing way to attract this group of potential residents.3
While bringing new technologies into your community, it’s essential to do so without losing that personal touch with residents, but also by demonstrating immediate benefits to their experience. Technology solutions may be visible to residents, front of house, or invisible, back of house. One front of house example many CCL Hospitality Group’s clients have successfully implemented are tabletop push button paging devices allowing direct guest-to-staff communication. The devices have customizable buttons to request a server, their check or order another beverage or refill for example.
These tabletop paging devices increase speed of service by letting servers know what guests need, while eliminating a table visit. And while they’ve have been particularly successful in dining spaces, they are also enhancing service poolside, in pubs, fast casual dining spaces and for residents with mobility issues.
Another efficiency enhancer front of house tool, which provides the ability for your team to communicate across multiple channels, are headsets. Headsets connect your team by giving servers direct communication with the kitchen, and allows for group, 1 on 1 communication or team broadcasting. The system also has indoor Bluetooth, outdoor GPS location tracking, real-time team location data on phones, laptops and tablets and peer-to-peer language translation (30+ languages).
Headsets help to quickly change or fix a resident request without requiring the server to make an extra trip to the kitchen. Integrating tablet ordering via servers and headsets is an excellent example of executing combined technologies – one enhances the other for seamless dining service. An alternative to tablet ordering through servers is self-serve table-top tablet ordering in dining rooms and pubs, which saves time for both staff and residents.
Additional service enhancing technologies include:
Increasing Operational Efficiencies and Costs
As the front of the house sets the stage for connection and community engagement, the back of the house is where technology can maximize performance and elevate resident experience when multiple solutions work in tandem. And as important – help your staff provide a variety of fresh quality food, consistently while minimizing waste.
Digital display screens in kitchens help smooth out production, provide quick access to recipes and can identify customized order preparation should a resident have a food allergy.
Sous vide cooking has become an increasingly popular technology – and with good reason. One of the primary benefits of sous vide cooking is the ability to achieve consistent results every time. Since the temperature is controlled precisely, there is no risk of overcooking or undercooking your food. Sous vide cooking also helps to retain nutrients, saves time by allowing chefs to prepare food in advance and finish it off just before being served. It also saves money by allowing chefs to use tougher, less expensive cuts of meats to tender perfection. It’s easy to use and enhances flavor.4
The Evero Hot Holding System holds hot food products for 72 hours without compromising quality or nutritional value and helps to reduce food waste and costs.
There are many other technology solutions that may benefit your community. As your partner, CCL Hospitality Group will help you identify the options that would bring the most impactful and successful outcome for you and your community.
