Community Engagement
Market Map

Engagement Market Map Why

• Provide a resource to operations and staff responsible for finding, vetting and implementing new products and solutions. If you can find it all in one spot, the months of searching are eliminated and hopefully a little time is given back in lieu of “one more demo” that may or may not be applicable to the overall needs and desires of the business.

• Solutions and innovators must know their competition and look for ways to collaborate, integrate and solve as a collective, or better understand who is fighting for the same bucket of dollars. There is not enough money to buy it all, and even if you could it would be a disparate mess of data in silos unable to accurately provide definitive outcomes and what variables are attributed to success, or failure.

LE3 Solutions Community Experience Market Map

January 2023

New Year, New Look 

2023 Projections

The role of resident and customer experience in seniors housing made some strides in 2022. More acquisitions and collaborative relationships narrowed down options, especially in engagement platforms. Although integrations and merging of dual-use customers is not as clearly defined as some would have hoped for or expected by this time. More single-point content solutions are finding a way onto platforms through single-sign on accessibility, reducing the confusion and lack of utilization brought on by logging into multiple portals. 

Owners and operators will continue to talk about the overwhelming need to deliver on resident and customer experience as a market differentiator, however sales cycles and commitment to invest dollars to make it happen will remain lengthy, despite an abundance of enthusiasm. 

The recurring sentiment from community leaders to software and solution developers and companies is a clear consensus...Keep it simple. Don't get too fancy and overwhelm us with features we will not use. And please integrate with our existing partners to reduce the amount of redundant tasks and data entry. 

New Companies

• GaitBetter is saving lives with smart mobility training. How? GaitBetter is evidenced-based gait training for improving mobility and fall prevention. To date, here are 18 peer-reviewed journal articles from research studies proving the effectiveness of their VR treadmill technology system. https://www.gaitbetter.com/resources/

• Eldergrow is so much more than plants and gardening. For memory support, Eldergrow can be a full-service program with educators who provide bimonthly therapeutic programming and garden maintenance. For Independent Living, Assisted Living and even Active Adult settings, try the Do-It-Yourself (D-I-Y) garden that brings ‘farm to fork’ into your community. Fresh herbs are delivered monthly with unique ‘Herb of the Month’ recipes and activities. As you would expect, monthly content for subscribers is always new, and fresh! 

• ResHub is the world's first Resident Experience Platform that enhances the daily experience for residents while opening new revenue streams for operators! They got their start in Ireland and have since grown their customer base in England, Australia. Their platform maps to three interconnected indicators of wellness – Biological, Psychological, and Social. The solution maintains a focus on the resident, enabling staff to deliver a personalized experience that is based on each resident’s experiences, wellbeing, needs and feelings.

• Discover Live is exactly that…live, in real time! People of all ages find joy traveling the world in a virtual manner. This is not just about exploration, but also about ancestry, history, lineage, legacy and future hopes and dreams. Long before Covid - 2018 to be exact, Discover Live has been virtually transporting people to amazing destinations and events, offering private, customized experiences. You walk the streets of Paris, Buenos Aires, or Tokyo, sail the River Nile, experience Lunar New Year in China, hike the volcano trail in Costa Rica, or learn about street art in Rio de Janeiro. With certified, licensed tour guides and outstanding locations & content, the focus is on delivering a premium experience like no other.

New Pyramid Approach

Not all things are created equal. The old design did not distinguish between where to start, how to build upon, or the best use of limited dollars. Just as you would never start with installing new railing on a staircase, renovating a bathroom or putting in new floors knowing the foundation of the home is compromised, we must address the “unsexy”, fundamental components in senior living as it relates to successfully delivering upon community experience and engagement. You need infrastructure, an integrated platform, reliable and consistent connectivity, hardware, and a detailed plan. 

Choosing Wisely Based on Building Design and Staff Skill Sets

The decision process to select a partner vendor should take into account many factors:

1. What are the limitations of your space and amenities?

2. What offerings are easy to offer and implement based on physical plant?

3. What is your staffing structure? Where are the gaps (skills, experience, evenings, weekends, etc.)?

4. What is not readily available or accessible to residents in the nearby community?

5. What is your resident population mix?

6. What are internal programming strengths you can rely on to meet various interests and needs?

7. Is the internally designed environment creating an atmosphere and sanctuary for engagement and socialization?

Pay and outsource for what you cannot internally fulfill with staff, families, volunteers or existing space. 

The goal is not to have a ton of offerings, but to choose the right mix of a few, high quality offerings that match resident and customer needs, desires and interests. This may mean that a national brand reconsiders doing only enterprise wide selections of one solution if the demographics, care level, staffing structure and monthly rent rate vary from location to location. Conversely, if a solution wants enterprise level accounts, they need to be able to offer products and pricing that match the variety of a portfolio. 

Cheers to 2023 and making time, space and dollars to research and implement offerings that will transform engagement beyond the traditional homogenous, group approach to one rooted in individuality and customer-directed experiences regarding well-being and social connectivity.