The leaders of the #ActivitiesStrong initiative and Bridge the Gap™ Podcast partner to promote, engage and empower activity, life enrichment directors and senior living executives to continue the conversation surrounding health and wellness in aging adults. The combined efforts of the companies will provide resources and an outlet for conversation to further the mission of combating isolation and encouraging safe, social opportunities for teams and residents.

Due to COVID-19, social isolation has become the single biggest reason for the rapid decline of the cognitive and physical health of residents in senior living communities. Since March 2020, 80% of residents have not had a visit from the outside. Strained activity departments now need to hire an additional 1.2 FTE to deliver the same quality of engagement due to social distancing and isolation measures, with no additional hiring in sight due to slimming of margins most providers have experienced. The activity and life enrichment department is in charge of ensuring every resident can have access to their basic human right of finding purpose every day. Often underfunded and with little communication to executive leadership in their communities, this department has often been left aside and not respected.

The #ActivitiesStrong Initiative led by Linked Senior, is excited to partner with the Bridge The Gap™ podcast as a media partner to enable a constructive dialog with senior living leaders to fight social isolation and collaborate with activity and life enrichment professionals. This will enable the industry to deliver resident engagement that staff want and residents deserve.

Charles de Vilmorin, CEO and Co-founder of Linked Senior, shared that, “The #ActivitiesStrong initiative was born out of the need to acknowledge, educate and empower activity and life enrichment directors. It is now critical to invite senior living executives and thought leadership to the conversation and I couldn’t think of a better partner than Bridge The Gap™ Podcast: their platform is professional, far reaching and they share common values and a deep desire to disrupt our industry towards the goal of advancing quality of life for older adults.”

The partnership will include thought leadership, such as executive focused webinars and roundtables, conversations on the future of resident engagement and innovative approaches to furthering resident quality of life. The educational programming will kick off on Tuesday, December 15th, 2020 at 1pm EST with a webinar featuring Sara Kyle, PhD, Founder and Principal LE3 Solutions and Kelly Stranburg, M.Ed, Principal, LE3 Solutions. Attendees will learn how providers can ensure that their engagement programs are aligned with resident needs and desires.

Bridge The Gap™ Podcast founders and co-hosts Josh Crisp and Lucas McCurdy are honored to be a media partner of #ActivitiesStrong and will use the podcast network platform to inform, educate and influence the senior living industry on this specific need to empower activity and life enrichment directors.

“We close nearly every episode by reminding healthcare workers that they are important, loved and appreciated,” McCurdy said. “Teaming up with #ActivitiesStrong is one tangible way we can show that to the great people in our industry.”

“The team members in the communities are who brings life to residents day in and day out,” Crisp said. “We are honored to support and partner with #ActivitiesStrong to help shed light on the resources and engagement needed for the vital activities and life enrichment directors.”

Linked Senior is an evidence-based resident engagement platform for senior living. The platform optimizes the person-centered experience for residents by empowering staff with digital tools to assess, plan, implement and evaluate engagement for the entire resident population.

The mission of Bridge The Gap™ podcast is to inform, educate and influence the senior housing industry by providing thought leadership and discussion surrounding the most pressing issues in senior care.