When you work in a service-related industry, focusing only on ROI isn't always the best to measure a project's success , says Scott Ranson, vice president and CIO at Brookdale Senior Living.
"Sometimes you just have to go out on a limb for what you know is the right thing," he says. "Connected Living was one of those things: We're making a difference in folks' lives every single day. It's hard to put a price tag on that."
With a capacity to house 69,000 seniors nationwide, Brookdale is one of the largest owners and operators of senior living communities in the U.S. Its facilities encompass independent living, assisted living, Alzheimer's and dementia care, and skilled nursing centers.
Sara Tery, vice president of Optimum Life at Brookdale, says the company is always looking for new ways its residents can live more meaningful lives.
Senior Living Meets Social Media
In 2009, at an industry conference, Ranson was introduced to Connected Living, a social networking startup for senior citizens. Acknowledging the rise of social media and the impact it's had on others, Brookdale considered bringing this technology to its senior citizen residents.
Because Connected Living was a young company, Ranson worked with it for more than a year both to further develop the product with the specific features and enhancements Brookdale wanted and to negotiate a contract. At the end of 2010, Brookdale piloted Connected Living in a handful of its Chicago communities.
The pilot, which lasted a year, was a basic implementation with little capital investment, Ranson says. They looked for underutilized rooms in Brookdale's community areas and set up a few desks with computers. They made "ambassadors" available to seniors who wanted to learn about computers and taught them how to use the dashboard.
The Connected Living platform, which is cloud-based, features an interface with access to the Internet, email, video chat, photos, a library, games and a social networking component. Residents fill out a profile with information about their family, hobbies and interests. Family members, too, can securely log in to keep in touch.
[ The How-To Guide for Social Business]
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Senior Living Communities Connect With Social Networking