March 2021

When it comes to family engagement, some of these you may know to some extent and maybe applying as well. Some you probably know but are not dedicating the time to implement. And lastly, some may be completely new.

Family Engagement Via Social Media

Or you know, for the kids these days. The 20, 30… 40 somethings that are looking for a place for their grandparent, parent, relatives or maybe elderly acquaintances. This demographic will also soon be the main demographic. And you are doing yourself a disservice by not addressing them. And unlike a billboard on the freeway, a social media account is not enough to drive people to your door. Be it to signup, or keep in touch with their loved ones who may be residing within your facility to engage families online you need to do more the just exist in that world.

That being seen, consider finding that one social media savvy individual among your staff or even a trusted volunteer and tasking them for 1 to 2 hours a week to play the trumpet on the socials. Have them sing how great your home is! What amazing things you, your staff, and your residents are doing!

This will also give gentle reminders to the families of your residents to keep up to date with events. But more importantly, prompt family engagement and participation in whatever capacity they can.

If you’re thinking that you don’t know where to start, fear not though, your voluntold gets some support. An online marketing wizard has already thought about you. She has made this some 6 years ago and it has aged very well. The advice is sound and you don’t need to implement all the strategies presented. Check it out here, you don’t need to learn how to speak Emoji.

Events for Families

You’re doing this already, please don’t say you’re not doing this already. You do have an activities coordinator, they are doing this? If they’re not, get a new activities coordinator. Under the assumption that the events are happening, COVID permitting, there are probably some flyers or some odd way of communicating this to the families. This would make a great synergy with the social media person who should always be hungry for things to present to the digital audience. In a previous article about phone buddies, we mentioned Virtual Companions, which offer virtual symphonic concerts for SNFs and similar facilities, as a potential event for your residents.

Get Them Involved In The Process

Again, this is something you should be doing already to some extent if families are not forcing themselves in already. One would argue that this is where you want them to be all the time, even though your staff may disagree. This may sound trite, I’m sorry, a study from 2007, building on previous similar studies, has shown that working with families as opposed to competing with families or flat out dismissing them is to the detriment of your staff in the long term. Combatative relationships create negative feedback loops that reinforce each other.

Having family members come in and assist your caregivers, CNAs or RNs is the ideal scenario for any home. The burden on the staff is lessened, the anxiety families feel is reduced, if families are given the ability to engage in the care process. One would That’s why it’s important to work with the family. The study can be found here.

Training staff on intrapersonal skills will create positive or neutral at worst feedback loops. Thus improving the relationship with the family. A good place to start is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s module on family engagement, which can be found here.

Engage Families with TelePresence

The one lesson everyone had to learn because of the Pandemic. A forced adaptation to the concept of visitations, the Zoom call or Face-Time. If you are fortunate enough to work in a retirement home as opposed to an SNF of LTC, this may not have been such a shock as the residents may be in a position where they can do all this themselves on their own personal devices. But unfortunately for the staff of LTCs and SNFs, the pandemic requires brought about a new set of challenges and costs in time and technology.

This should not discourage. As we move away from, ugh, paper, caregivers will benefit from instant access to digital tools. The initial investment in even 1 tablet can significantly improve the quality of care your residents receive and the sense of connection families feel. This will also allow more engagement from the families who are normally too far for regular visits.

Of note, is that only half of the people in America own an iPhone or an iPad. The other half is not. That means that not everyone else can use Face-Time. A more agnostic platform such as Zoom, or Skype should be considered.

CareStory – Video Messaging

Lastly, if you don’t have the staff to spare to run around with the tablets at set times in order to facilitate the virtual visits, an alternative is asynchronous video communication. The Pandemic prompted us to develop this add-on feature in order to reduce the number of e-visits and give staff more flexibility. This became useful, especially when things have to be shifted to accommodate the unexpected. At the same time, giving families the possibility to upload videos for the resident as well as viewing videos that staff may record, keeps the family engaged and up to date with minimal input from staff. It’s as easy as scanning a QR code and pressing play.

To learn more about asynchronous video communication, visit our Addons page.

Learn More

Guest Writer Laura Steuer

You say you’re lonely. You work from home, see only a few people at a time, go online to connect. Now, just imagine you’ve been confined for 6 months to your room – no, not your house, your room. You are elderly, or ill, and COVID restrictions in your nursing home have meant that everything has changed. So no group meals, no social activities, no friends and family allowed to visit (or perhaps, worse, you don’t have any friends or family at all).

Loneliness and social isolation have been clearly linked to impaired mental and physical health, even a reduction in lifespan. For instance, social scientists know this; senior caregiversknow this, and familiesknow this. Here is a link to an online search for “lonelinessepidemic” – you’ll find an unsettlingly immense number of articles.

COVID solutions for our country – not simple or quick. Loneliness solutions for our elderly – immediate and easy ways to make a difference:

Friendly Voices phone buddies

A program dedicated to seniors living in care facilities. Friendly Voices provides weekly phone companionship and conversation by trained, compassionate volunteers. Thus, each senior is matched with his/her own volunteer phone buddy to maintain consistency and ongoing personal connection. HIPAA compliant; multi-lingual volunteers; completely free. Staff or family can easily sign up their loved ones for a phone buddy through our website.

“We listen if the senior wants to talk. We talk if the senior wants to listen.”

Friendship Line, Institute on Aging

The Friendship Line is a crisis intervention hotline as well as a warmline for non-emergency emotional support calls. Founded in 1973 by Dr. Patrick Arbore, Director of IOA’s Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention. On top of that, the organization is accredited by the American Association of Suicidology. Because of this, Friendship Line provides round-the-clock crisis support services.

AARP Community Connections phone calls

AARP Friendly Voice program exists to help those living in isolation. To elaborate, it provides people with a phone line where they can request a callback from one of the trained, caring, volunteers standing by ready to chat, listen, or just say hello.

Phone-a-Friend

This Indiana-based, student-started, United Way featured, started as a COVID support system for the elderly in the state. During the initial phases of the pandemic in the state, they were also offering to help seniors with tasks if there were volunteers in the local community. However, the scope of the service has extended beyond the initial county into the nearby states. As of writing, tasks are no longer a service they provide due to COVID concerns and local restrictions. On the other hand, they started a monthly book club to offer communality in the discussion between seniors and volunteers.

Calls of Care

Created in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic Calls of Care is a non-profit foundation. A mother and two daughters with the mission of organizing and creating a connection between college and high school students to senior living provider residents via phone calls. In addition to it’s activity in it’s home state of California, Calls of Care is active all across the East coast as well. You can view participating high schools, colleges, and universities here.

Forget Me Not phone calls

The Forget Me Not-Friendly Phone Call Program is an intergenerational non-profit organization based in San Jose. Established in 2019, it aims to connect compassionate high school volunteers to the local aging community. It does this by forming stronger social bonds and long-lasting friendships through weekly telephone calls.

Virtual Companions

Virtual Companions is a non-profit working to foster acts of kindness and meaningful companionships between generations through conversation, community, and the arts. They are working to combat loneliness and ageism by fostering genuine connections. To do this, they empower socially isolated individuals to connect, create, and collaborate. It does all this through four outreach pillars: virtual concerts, cards and crafts, pen-pals, and phone pals. Virtual Companions brings joy through music, service, and the arts to those who need it most.

Meals on Wheels phone buddies

This service is part of the larger Senior Life Resources non-profit based in Richland Washington. Meals on Wheels provides nutritional support to the elderly within the tri-city area. The onset of COVID prompted a shift to connect the isolated seniors being served by the program. Seniors have the possibility to opt-in; with the drivers or other willing volunteers.

A Friendly Voice phone line

Started by the Rural Ottawa South Support Services (ROSSS) and supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, this Canadian initiative in the province of Ontario helps isolated seniors. Dedicated to the aging and isolated rural residents of Ontario, ROSSS offers a hotline for older adults (55+) to reach out to if they feel lonely and need someone to talk to.

Catholic Community Services phone buddies – King County

With its roots in the Cristian teachings, the CCS offers support to all those individuals, children, families, and communities struggling with poverty and the effects of intolerance and racism. As of 2016, the scope of their aid to the elderly in the region has extended to a phone buddy system. Of note, as of writing, the support for seniors has been limited to transportation services only for medical purposes or grocery shopping on the seniors’ behalf, with the hope that these services will be extended back to regular operations once the COVID-19 has been dealt with.

Are you are looking to bring joy into someone’s life? Do you have some time to spare? Consider joining a phone buddy program and see if it works for you. However, if you are currently working in a nursing home, retirement home, or long-term care home? These organizations may be able to help you with those ~30% of residents who may not have someone to talk to anymore. And lastly, if you are working within this environment or have loved ones away in a care facility see how CareStory helps families, caregivers, and home operators work together to better the lives of residents.