The relationship between senior living communities and residents’ families relies on active participation from both sides. Families must trust that the provider will care for their loved ones and keep them updated on any changes or issues. In turn, providers require the support and cooperation of families to provide quality care and ensure residents’ safety and well-being.
Establishing and maintaining a strong community-family relationship hinges on clear and frequent two-way communication. Open dialogue proactively engages families, provides essential updates, allows them to ask questions and more. Communication, however, often is treated as an afterthought, undermining the strength of the relationship.
An emphasis on improving family communication can help senior living communities save time, prevent staff member burnout and enhance their reputation.
Benefit No. 1: Saving time interacting with families
Senior living communities and other long-term care providers are slower to adopt technology than other industries. Without technology, community-family dialogue is limited to traditional communication methods: in-person conversations, phone calls, voicemails, written newsletters and other nondigital forms of communication.
Although those methods are tried and true, they can be slow and inefficient, which can cause frustration for families who want frequent updates and quick responses. For most providers, answering family members’ questions is a disorganized process dependent on work shifts, staff availability and front desk access to residents’ information.
Although many residents aren’t technologically savvy, their children (who often are the primary caretakers outside of community staff members) usually are. Unanswered phone calls and voicemails returned days later are unacceptable to them. Instead, they prefer to communicate via emails, text messages, online portals and other modern channels that enable rapid responses.
Senior living communities can adopt modern technologies to enhance staff member and family interactions and provide swift, unified information sharing. Family engagement portals provide real-time updates and secure messaging so that families can receive instant notifications about their loved ones’ care. Technology reduces the need for endless phone calls and emails while keeping discussions neat, organized and archived for future reference.
The ability to communicate simultaneously with multiple family members and caregivers helps providers avoid receiving information and then disseminating it, perhaps inaccurately, to others. With a modern system, everyone receives the same message at the same time, eliminating confusion so that all parties are on the same page.
Benefit No. 2: Reducing staff burnout
A senior living community’s staff’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality care depends on several factors. Of those factors, none is more important than having sufficient staff members who have enough time to perform their jobs well. Senior living communities, however, often struggle with staffing shortages for reasons including poor pay and benefits and lack of qualified candidates.
A 2023 report from the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living found that assisted living and other long-term care providers have been slower to return to pre-pandemic employment levels than other healthcare sectors. From February 2020 through April 2023, assisted living’s gains were 2.9%, lower than home health, physician’s offices and outpatient care. Nursing home employment had declined by almost 12%.
Working in a senior living community can be physically, emotionally and mentally taxing. Depending on the setting, providing care for older adults often requires around-the-clock attention and a range of services, including medical care, personal care and emotional support. A highly skilled and dedicated workforce is needed for this type of work, but the industry struggles to attract and retain qualified professionals. The result is understaffed and overworked employees.
Overworked employees already are struggling to manage their workloads. Add in time spent fielding multiple calls from family members and other administrative tasks and it’s clear why burnout is a problem for senior living staff. Modern communication outlets, such as a family portal, can help to mitigate burnout and keep teams happy and productive.
Benefit No. 3: Enhancing your community’s reputation
Senior living communities need to demonstrate their commitment to the well-being of residents and their families to stand out among the competition. Word of mouth from happy families is one of the best forms of marketing for providers. Eighty-six percent of customers trust recommendations from family and friends.
The use of modern technology to communicate with residents’ families is one way that facilities can show that they care, build stronger family bonds, and create advocates for the senior living community. When residents’ families are happy, they’re more likely to share with friends and families. Consequently, the senior living facility gets positive exposure and continues to build a positive reputation.
Communication is the nucleus of a solid relationship between senior living facility staff, residents, and their families. While traditional communication channels work, they’re not nearly as effective or efficient as modern technology, such as a family portal. Senior living facilities that choose to enter the modern era of facility-family communication can reap the benefits of streamlining how they keep residents’ relatives informed while keeping their staff happier – a win for both parties.
This article was originally published on McKnights Senior Living on December 5, 2024. You can view the article here.
