(Washington, D.C. – September 3, 2019) Many senior living providers struggle to engage residents in a person-centered way which leads to lower quality of life, higher costs of care and lower satisfaction. According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, there are currently 5.8 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. That number is projected to reach nearly 14 million by 2050. This means that providers will need to find ways to improve their resident engagement to address a growth in residents needing support.

Resident engagement innovations are making breakthroughs in the field. Linked Senior, a resident engagement platform provider, was the subject of a recent study, to be published in the Seniors Housing & Care Journal in September 2019, that suggests that meaningfully engaging residents in senior living is associated with positive clinical and financial outcomes. 256 residents in three communities were observed over a 12-month period. The research data showed that increased use of the Linked Senior platform was associated with decreased cognitive dysfunction, decreased aggressive behavior and increased social engagement.

This groundbreaking study was conducted in partnership with the Responsive Group, a provider of senior living and long-term care services and independent academic researchers from Western Oregon University. The research was funded by a grant from the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, Canada.

In response to these results, Marion Godoy, RN, BScN, Senior Nurse Consultant at Responsive Health Management Inc., stated that, “The positive outcomes of this study provide evidence that person-centered, non-pharmaceutical interventions can make a difference in the quality of life of our residents. It was inspiring how the simple technology was embraced by young and old. We have since expanded our use of this platform in all of our communities.”

Linked Senior CEO Charles de Vilmorin adds that, “These outcomes represent only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to increasing quality of life for residents and family satisfaction, our findings also indicate there is a positive return on investment for providers. We’re excited about the upcoming publication of these excellent results and are eager to share the findings in September during the National Investment Center (NIC) conference in Chicago.”

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.

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