#Selfie! Creating Social Capital for Communities with Share-Worthy Moments
Recently, Senior Living Foresight published ‘Free Photos — a Shameless Lesson From Disney,’ which stated, “One of the reasons Disney is so successful is virtually every single visitor becomes a micro marketing agency for Disney. They take photos of themselves, things of interest, and their friends, and they share those photos on social media. This happens hundreds of thousands of times (maybe millions of times) every single year.”
The article goes on to suggest senior living communities could:
Provide digital cameras for use by staff, residents, and visitors
Set up a photo booth
At ADage, the #ExperienceExperts have a somewhat different spin on that. What if your entire community was a fun, photo-worthy experience? Here are some examples to get you started!
Experience Matters.
eKPI is an abbreviation for Environmental Key Performance Indicator. Since ‘environment’ is not welcome in the senior living vernacular, and because we’re talking about it's more than just the physical building, it shall forevermore be known as Experiential Key Performance Indicators. Most senior living organizations are not prepared to do what it takes to manage the components of EXPERIENCE – and continue to underestimate the importance of getting it right.
It is time to put down the cape and break out the pencils.
You don’t need superpowers to harness eKPI. This is a job for ADage’s Human First Philosophy.
Start by applying the human gaze to organizations – which are, conveniently, composed of people. Take a moment to evaluate the stakeholders at the value negotiation table:
Residents
Families
Staff
Leadership
Referral Partners
Supporting Vendors
Both current AND prospective! What is their first impression?
The #disruptors at ADage aren’t alone in considering this approach as crucial to cultivating communities of the future. The co-founder of Art Against Ageism, Meg LaPorte, believes that senior living communities are perfect environments for creating and displaying art that advances positive age beliefs. “Aging services environments can be incubators for, and inadvertent promoters of, ageist attitudes. This can take the form of believing that all older adults like boring, milquetoast decor,” LaPorte says. The counter to this, she says, is creating environments that promote positive age beliefs in senior living communities through activist art that includes colorful imagery, dramatic play workshops, or aesthetic messaging that serves to both provoke social change and make safe spaces. “This can look like an interactive art installation in the lobby, placemaking murals inside or outside buildings, or ‘Instagrammable’ photo booths that project age-positive messages.”
Art Against Ageism seeks to make senior living buildings beautiful spaces that draw attention to the people who live and work inside and around them, LaPorte adds. “We want to use art and artistry to make the invisible visible, which helps to reduce ‘othering’ and create better communities for everyone. In the process, it will improve the quality of life for residents, which is really the best marketing strategy.”
The group holds monthly alliance meetings to discuss their work, learn what others are doing to tackle ageism through art, and to brainstorm about creative projects. Check out their work and join their alliance here.
An (Aging Is) Living Tree interactive art installation brightens the lobby of Keswick nursing home in Baltimore. Inspired by Yoko Ono’s Wish Trees, it asks participants to answer questions about aging and hang them on the tree. This infographic offers a step-by-step guide to creating an (Aging Is) Living Tree in your community.
A five-week dramatic play workshop, held at Keswick’s community center, culminated in an event with poems, spoken word, and storytelling using the prompt “What is Aging Is to Me?” Participants reported feeling very positive about the workshop and the experience of “performing” their responses.