This article is part of our ongoing ESG in Senior Living series. Be sure to read our previous articles “5 Reasons ESG Initiatives Should Be In Your Strategic Plan” and “Part 1: Build Transparency & Accountability” for additional background and information. This week, we’re focusing on how senior living leaders can adopt technology and health promotion and disease prevention programs to promote Health Sustainability in their communities.
Medical, research, and senior living leaders agree that pairing technology with evidence-based proactive wellness programs is key to reducing costly acute incidents. Artificial Intelligence (AI), sensor technology, and wearables can act as hyper-sensitive “eyes and ears” for caregivers by detecting subtle changes in acuity that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. Early detection enables proactive intervention resulting in better outcomes for residents, families, and staff alike—potentially adding an estimated 2.5 years to a resident’s life from independent living through memory care.
While technology assists with earlier intervention, health promotion and disease prevention programs work to reduce disease development or injury occurrence. You can view a full list of evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs at the National Council on Aging’s (NCOA) website. Here are three recommended programs recommended by NCOA and operators we work with:
- While technology assists with earlier intervention, health promotion and disease prevention programs work to reduce disease development or injury occurrence. You can view a full list of evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs at the National Council on Aging’s (NCOA) website. Here are three recommended programs recommended by NCOA and operators we work with:
- Cognitive Health: Fit Minds Cognitive Training – Fit Minds is a cognitive stimulation program developed to delay the advancement of cognitive decline and improve quality of life. Fit Minds offers programming for residents of all abilities from independent living to memory care as well as comprehensive training for senior living team members.
- Mental Health: Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS) – PEARLS is a nationally recognized treatment program developed by the University of Washington to reduce symptoms of depression and improve the quality of life among older adults. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reports that a University of Washington study found, “PEARLS participants had a 50% or higher reduction in symptoms of depression, 36% of participants showed complete remission, and many had a significant improvement in the physical and emotional quality of life, resulting in fewer hospitalizations.”
- Falls Prevention & Physical Fitness: Fit & Strong! – Fit & Strong! was developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago and is endorsed by the CDC, National Cancer Institute (NIH), and recommended by the American Physical Therapy Association. This is a group exercise program targeting seniors with Osteoarthritis to help reduce pain, stiffness, and mobility challenges while improving function, strength, mood, and confidence.
As you develop health promotion programming, here’s how Fynn will empower your care team to implement and improve proactive care:
- Behavioral trend analysis and wellbeing scoring utilizing longitudinal data collection to monitor and easily flag changing needs or risks
- Earlier notification of acuity changes for better preventative care, accurate billing, and load balancing
- Simplified data entry and user experience so employees can easily record behaviors, vitals, and tasks in real-time, producing clean and comprehensive data
- Enablement of cost-saving proactive interventional strategies between owners, operators, care teams, and families via transparency of real-time data
- Seamless care coordination through third-party integrations, real-time long-term data collection, and system-directed task management
