The Economic Effect of Life Enrichment Programs in Retirement Communities

As an independent activities professional working with life engagement directors, I see that activities division budgets in retirement communities are very tight and happen to be slashed in recent years. At times my applications have already been cancelled or downsized as a consequence of these painful spending budget cuts.

The senior housing business weathered this economic downturn surprisingly properly but ongoing spending budget cuts are straight linked for the lagging national economy, enhanced competitors in the senior housing sector and reduce occupancy levels. The soft genuine estate market and monetary meltdown a handful of years ago severely affected many senior citizens' retirement portfolios and their capability to move to a retirement neighborhood as soon as initially planned.

Reduced activity budgets limit the quantity and high-quality of enrichment activities that may be provided to residents living in these communities. And communities which offer you richer experiences for their residents are substantially much easier to sell to potential residents when pricing, place and solutions are equal in their client's eyes.

As an experienced sales and marketing and advertising veteran - and now as an independent contractor not connected to any 1 community- I bring a distinctive perspective to this ongoing concern. From my own knowledge as a salesperson I know the sales and marketing and advertising group of just about every neighborhood is challenged each and every day to meet sales goals to enhance occupancy levels. It is obvious that an active and engaging life enrichment calendar can positively effect the potential of your sales staff to influence prospective residents and their families to select their property because the retiree's new house. It is equally clear that occupancy levels affect the level of revenue a property can invest on activities and other amenities.

It can be challenging for activities directors to come up with unique and meaningful activities day-in and day-out for their residents. It can be a job nearly not possible to achieve with no outside contractors who give live musical entertainment, enrichment classes, exercising classes and more for the community's life enrichment system. An activities division with a single or two individuals just can't do it all!

Working with a number of the largest and most revolutionary businesses within this market I see how firms differ in their method to delivering excellent activities to residents. I've observed that communities offering calendars complete of enrichment activities possess the highest occupancy levels and residents seem to be incredibly happy with their selection of living arrangements.

Conversely, the communities that continue to cut their activities budgets seem to shed residents additional typically and existing residents comment negatively about the high quality of their experiences at their community and want they could move simply because they do not have something engaging to accomplish. It appears counter-intuitive to cut the activities price range even within a "down" economy for the reason that communities hurt themselves within the lengthy run by harming the quality of their applications and their reputation within the neighborhood community. But this practice continues each day and there is no simple answer to this daunting dilemma. So what are some doable solutions?

1. Possess the marketing and advertising and activities departments share the price of some events and parties and use photos and videos of those activities in promotional components, on the corporate web site and Facebook web page.
2. Take money from landscaping contracts and use these funds for raised bed gardens for residents. Have residents plant decorative containers, accessible courtyards or gardens as an ongoing horticultural therapy system. By operating with nearby master gardeners, nurseries and major box stores considerably from the supplies for a gardening program is often donated. An ongoing horticultural therapy plan is often a worthwhile therapeutic enrichment program that could be promoted as a particular benefit of living in the community.
3. Supply activities directors monetary incentives to keep inside budget to produce positive they may be careful about how their income is spent- give them a bonus at year end if they have supplied high quality activities even though staying on spending budget every month. It'll encourage getting in bulk, planning ahead, taking benefit of sales and seeking donations from nearby churches, organizations and firms.
4. Finally- when selecting amongst refurnishing the sitting area since the sofa is really a small outdated and supplying high-quality activities- by all means- put off that new furniture even when the neighborhood down the road just remodeled. At the end from the day, the good quality in the "experience" is going to be significantly much more essential to future residents than the upholstery on the sofas.

It's a tough issue without the need of effortless answers. But communities who choose to face this dilemma head-on now and make it a priority to improve their resident's knowledge will be the large winners when the economy turns around. The boomer generation will probably be taking a look at "quality of life" once they are finally ready to make a move and can have greater expectations than any previous generation when entering retirement communities in the subsequent couple of years.