Senior Living is a huge industry and so is the wellness industry. There are more than 117 million Americans that are 55 and older, and we are on track to hit 157 million by 2050. People are living longer lives, but the discouraging part is that many of those Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease or some form of Dementia. An alarming number of our active aging and senior living population experience a continuous decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills that affect a person’s ability to function physically and independently.
The good news is the senior living is teaming up with the wellness industry. They are emerging with a whole new suite of clinical and nonclinical services that are designed to transform the HealthSpan of the active aging and senior living population. There are studies that show 20% of life span is genetic, while the other 80% is controlled by lifestyle, and environment. Bloomfield, New Jersey Senior Living communities are among one of the communities we found that are adding membership-based services. This will be a catalyst to the ecosystem of programs and services that residents will have access to. Residents will have the option of paying a membership fee on top of their monthly rates to access certain lifestyle benefits and concierge services.
Among those services, there is one single solution that is helping seniors with cognitive and physical performance simultaneously, that solution is SMARTfit. When used consistently SMARTfit can aid in fall prevention while also slowing/preventing the progression to MCI, Dementia, Parkinson, and Alzheimer’s. This program is both effective and fun with a wide range of applications from physical mobility and neurorehabilitation to fitness, sports, tactical training, and gamified entertainment.
SMARTfit Delivers Solutions that Improve Cognitive and Physical Performance Simultaneously
Our engineers and clinicians have created a product that is significantly different than others. This proprietary operating system allows SMARTfit to respond faster than the fastest human. It also adapts seamlessly to allow us to introduce a much wider variety of cognitive games and challenges that get results and keep people coming back for more. There are hundreds of pre-designed activities and programs built into the app, which operates the systems. SMARTfit has developed a gamified training program that engages and challenges the brain and body together (aka dual tasking), which is more like real life, and proven to be more effective than physical or cognitive exercise alone.
We had the opportunity to hear from Rob Winningham, Ph.D.,Neuroscience, Western Oregon University explain how SMARTfit can improve executive function better than physical exercise alone or cognitive alone. He goes on to say that it is all in “dual-tasking”, using SMARTfit and improving executive functioning will maximize independence and quality of life for the senior population. Watch this short video to see what else Dr. Rob Winningham say about using SMARTfit.
Why Senior Living Communities are Choosing SMARTfit
Exercise alone may improve cardiovascular risk, obesity, and agility. By using SMARTfit, you are getting those benefits plus reducing the chance of cognitive decline, increasing hand-eye coordination, maintaining memory, and focus. This may save millions of dollars in long-term healthcare costs overall.
Thought leaders convened at the ICAA Forum June 2022, hosted by the International Council on Active Aging®. Based on the wellness philosophy of a purposeful and engaged life for all residents, customers and staff members, Forum colleagues identified 11 funding sources, 21 wellness metrics and five categories of Key Performance Indicators. The ICAA is a professional association that leads, connects, and defines the active-aging industry and supports professionals who aspire to develop wellness cultures for adults over 50.
ICAA white paper highlights multiple reasons why wellness brings value to the business of senior living.
- Wellness increases length of stay, stabilizing occupancy, increasing revenue.
- Wellness increases resident independence, reducing staff time and staff retention.
- Wellness encourages residents/visitors to plan, lead and guide activities, which free staff time to build partnerships and collaborations.
- Wellness reduces residents’ need for care, opening beds for hospital and physician short-term stay referrals.
- Wellness focuses on prevention, which opens the door to partnership with Medicare Advantage programs and other prevention focused programs.
This support includes creating wellness environments, programs, and services. The association is focused on active aging—an approach to aging that helps older adults live as fully as possible within all dimensions of wellness—and provides its members with education, information, resources, and tools. As an active-aging educator and advocate, ICAA has advised numerous organizations and governmental bodies. View Webpage from June 21, 2022. Using the dimensions of wellness as a foundation, these organizations and leaders’ partner with residents, members, and staff to intentionally create relevant, meaningful opportunities that empower individuals to live better longer. Soon this will be the deciding factor for families when they choose where to send their loved ones for short-term care and long-term care.
