A recent article in Forbes, “How Seniors Are Creating An Inclusive Metaverse,” presents five ways that virtual reality is being used to benefit older adults. The five applications share common threads: the ability to “escape” physical limitations and physical locations and the chance to forge new connections with other residents or with family members.

• Travel and bucket list experiences, which offer the chance to virtually experience a new place.
• Community building, through group virtual reality experiences that enable residents to talk together about their powerful shared experiences of virtual reality.
• Connecting with family members, which reduces loneliness and nurtures meaningful relationships.
• Reminiscence therapy, which enables the older adult to relive past experiences and share them with family members.
• Fitness, as virtual reality can lead older adults in physical activities and even allow them to exercise virtually with their friends in other locations.

Upcoming Session: How Technology Can Support Life Enrichment Programming

Find additional ways that technology can enrich your residents’ lives by attending a special educational session. Register today for the upcoming LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO, to be held Oct. 16-19, 2022, in Denver, CO.

How Technology Can Support Life Enrichment Programming (Session 2-B)

Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

Purpose, social connectedness, and spirituality are essential components of a well-lived life because they boost longevity and life satisfaction. This session will explore how that truism played out when Presbyterian Village of Athens, GA, updated its engagement technology model and then began engaging with 92% of its residents every week.

Discover how structured data sets and artificial intelligence supported the organization’s life enrichment programming, elevated residents’ sense of purpose, created meaningful social connections, and facilitated robust resident communications. Hear about the challenges and opportunities associated with creating a more robust engagement model. Learn how technology and personalized wellness programming helped residents learn new things, engage in new ways, and rediscover their passions.

Speakers:

• Cameron Honeycutt, Executive Director, Presbyterian Village Athens
• Gwen Hardy, COO, Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, Inc.
• Kyle Robinson, Director of Business Development, Wellzesta

For more on engagement technology, mark your calendar for this session.

Engagement Technology: A Post-Pandemic Necessity (Session 4-C)

Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022

4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

The pandemic taught providers of aging services that engagement technology, once a novelty in our field, is now a necessity. This session will explore what engagement really means and how technology can be harnessed to connect residents to families, friends, and your organization’s team members.

Representatives of a technology company specializing in engagement software will educate you about technology options that support engagement, identify best practices for introducing technology-enabled engagement programming, and share recent research on the ability of engagement technology to reduce social isolation, loneliness, depression, and anxiety.

Listen as a provider describes the experience of implementing engagement technology in skilled nursing and assisted living settings, including lessons learned during the implementation process and benefits residents enjoyed after the rollout.

Speakers:

• Jack York, Co-Founder/President, TaleGate
• Lydia Nguyen, Lead Researcher, iN2L + LifeLoop
• Michelle Daniel, VP of Leadership Development, Methodist Senior Services

Register today!