The which means of the phrase “independence” actually shines by way of at some senior residing amenities.
The need to satisfy lifelong desires doesn’t finish on the doorways of a nursing dwelling — or some other kind of residence geared towards older individuals — as evidenced by the residents of StoryPoint Senior Living, which runs a series of impartial, assisted-living and memory-care amenities. One of these amenities, Independence Village Waukee in Waukee, Iowa, was highlighted in a TikTok advert in the course of the third Republican presidential debate this month.
“A lot of people think, in independent and assisted living, this is where they go to die,” stated Kristen Dillard, senior advertising chief at StoryPoint Group. Staff members throughout the corporate’s places, lots of whom are often called “life-enrichment directors,” are striving to show that concept flawed. They ask residents what they wish to do, or what they hope to do, after which they “take it up a notch,” Dillard stated.
The aim, she stated, is to make the most of each minute of daily to complement residents’ lives, together with by serving to them do what they might suppose they’ll by no means be capable to do — or what “society says you’re too old to do.”
One of StoryPoint’s pinned movies on TikTok exhibits a bunch of residents, one wearing crimson and the remaining in white, dancing to a Rihanna track. It has garnered greater than 441,000 views and even acquired a remark from Rihanna’s lingerie firm, Savage X Fenty.
The firm’s residences are largely positioned within the Midwest, though there are some exterior of that space, together with in Connecticut and Tennessee.
More than 810,000 individuals within the U.S. reside in assisted-living amenities, in line with Consumer Affairs. That’s just one class of senior residing: Another 1.35 million individuals reside in nursing properties. These residences have been linked with unfavourable experiences, together with in the course of the pandemic.
Older Americans, together with individuals in senior residing preparations, are at a better danger of affected by loneliness, with a couple of in three older individuals in assisted-living amenities dealing with “adverse health outcomes” that stemmed from loneliness, in line with a 2019 report printed within the National Library of Medicine.
Residents of StoryPoint Senior Living are documenting their desires on TikTok, together with getting tattoos, flying in a hot-air balloon and visiting their fiftieth state.
MarketWatch spoke with Dillard concerning the TikTok highlight and about utilizing social media to advertise a brand new notion of growing older. This interview was edited for size and readability.
MarketWatch: What kinds of cool issues do you do with residents to share on TikTok?
Dillard: Our life-enrichment group’s aim daily is to have residents have one thing to look ahead to. One of our residents, they’ve been to 49 states and the one one lacking was Maine, so the life-enrichment director found out tips on how to take our resident to Maine, to Acadia National Park. One of our residents of their late 90s needed to get a tattoo, so the resident and life-enrichment director bought matching tattoos. One of our memory-care residents used to fly planes, so the life-enrichment director bought them in a airplane with a pilot to fly once more.
MarketWatch: How do the residents react to creating content material, or collaborating in it, on a platform like TikTok?
Dillard: They like it. They’ve been interviewed on the Australian model of “Good Morning America,” and so they like it. No one is ever compelled to be in a TikTok or social-media . It’s simply cool to point out household those that go viral. They say, “Can you believe it? We’re famous!”
MarketWatch: Why is it vital to showcase these kinds of movies on a platform like TikTok, or to most people?
Dillard: It is one other option to present that senior residing doesn’t need to be unfavourable. Society tells us, don’t age, you’re solely lovely should you’re younger. We’re attempting to fight that messaging. Your hopes and desires don’t have to finish while you go to a senior residing facility. You can flourish.
Especially on TikTok — it’s a youthful demographic, [and] they will see it and may also help encourage their grandparent or a cherished one to do cool stuff.
Aging doesn’t need to be a foul factor. You can nonetheless be wonderful at 95 years previous.
Now learn: A brand new senior-housing venture will sort out the ‘middle ground’ between residing alone and needing a nursing dwelling
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
