Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 9

EDITORIAL

Staying connected
Technology offers vast opportunities to address one of the
greatest challenges in senior living By Jennifer Kovacs Silvis
I was talking with an industry member the other day who
mentioned that every time he visits his mother in the senior
living community where she resides, the beautiful and
likely-not-inexpensive billiard room is always empty. It's a
story you've heard a million times.
The use of amenity spaces as marketing tools and
competitive differentiators is ubiquitous, especially in
higher-end properties. And, in theory, it makes sense.
Any prospective resident touring a campus will likely find
something that appeals to her/him personally, not to mention
the adult children also touring may be seeking spaces that
answer their own interests while visiting.
And so we see the billiard rooms, art studios, sports bars, pottery rooms, pools, clubhouses,
wine cellars, woodshops, spas, and more crop up time and time again.
The irony, though, is that these endless opportunities for social engagement and interaction
tend to have the opposite effect. When the scale is so large, when the environment doesn't
match the size of the resident population to ensure that even a couple of people will be in each of
those spaces during the course of a day, the design ultimately contributes to one of the greatest
challenges for seniors: isolation.
No one really wants to be the first person to walk into a room, to hope that someone may pass
by and be interested in playing a game of chess or sharing a bottle of wine. And so the cycle of
separation from others continues, and loneliness may soon follow.
The good news is that many of you are already aware of this, and I know that conversations
are taking place between design teams and clients on how to better manage square footage
to create lively and useful spaces that might flex throughout the day (a sun room to read the
morning paper becomes a pub in the evening). But beyond that, there's another layer that must
be considered: technology infrastructure.
In this day and age, there's really no excuse for anyone being negatively affected by distance
from loved ones when resources can be provided that help seniors tap into email, video chatting,
social media, and so on. Wi-Fi is a must, and multiple places to plug in throughout a community
will allow seniors to grab their iPads and enjoy time out of their units, all while remaining
connected to the outside world. Perhaps there's a community portal online where meet-ups can
be created-so when residents head for that billiard room, they know a companion will be there.
It's exciting to watch so much happening, and you'll see evidence of that at the next
Environments for Aging Expo & Conference (April 7-10, 2019, Salt Lake City), where for the first
time we'll include a dedicated education track on technology.
The opportunities for technology in senior living are immense and can greatly affect not just
social isolation but safety and security, independence, and overall well-being. EFA

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Lori Alford
Chief Operating Officer
Avanti Senior Living
CC Andrews
President and Chief Strategist
Quantum Age Collaborative
David Banta
Associate
Wiencek + Associates Architects + Planners
Laura Busalacchi
Senior Director of Interior Services
Brookdale Senior Living
Vassar Byrd
Chief Executive Officer
Rose Villa Senior Living
Margaret Calkins
Board Chair
Ideas Institute
Daniel J. Cinelli
Managing Principal and Board Director
Perkins Eastman
Michelle Clark
Senior Associate
Rees
Andy Coelho
Senior Vice President of Facilities, Design,
and Development
Sunrise Senior Living
Alexis Denton
Principal
SmithGroupJJR
Mitch Elliott
Senior Partner
RDG Planning & Design
Lorraine Hiatt
Environmental Gerontologist
Planning, Research and Design Consultation
Steve Lindsey
Chief Executive Officer
Garden Spot Communities
Dean Maddalena
Founder and President
StudioSix5
Eric McRoberts
Partner
RLPS Architects
Robert C. Pfauth
Director of Senior Living Planning
Erdman
Jane Rohde
Principal
JSR Associates Inc.
Jill Schroeder
Senior Planner/Senior Interior Designer
Pope Architects
Rob Simonetti
Senior Associate and Design Director
SWBR

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Environments for Aging - Fall 2018

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