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In March 2009, I started blogging for myself. I had been a writer most of my life. I had been blogging for years for others. Attending the Blissdom conference gave me that last little...
More and more Americans are retiring each year. Many retirees experience continued good health and want living accommodations that offer amenities that they can enjoy. Retirement homes for active seniors include common areas and community activities for the residents. The retirees in the 21st century are primarily baby boomers. The boomers have more money in retirement than the previous generation, and they want to spend it on retirement homes that offer amenities and provide entertainment. We hope that you find these Modern Trends in Senior Living useful.
Today’s seniors want to live in an environment that promotes social interaction. Retirement homes are no longer places where seniors stay in their rooms alone all day until the end. New retirement homes are places where seniors can be independent and have fun while knowing that there is staff available if they need them. To ensure that retirees are kept up to date on the latest happenings in their community, the modern retirement home TV viewing package usually has a channel for community events and news integrated into it. Seniors can find out what is on the menu for dinner or the next day’s swimming schedule on this channel. The information is at their fingertips with the touch of a remote.
Today’s seniors want to be connected with a sense of community. The community channel provided to each senior keeps them connected. The staff can change the content of the community channel to show events, schedules of activities, and resident news. This information can be changed with very little effort on the part of the staff.
Watching television is still the number one source of entertainment for seniors. Television viewing packages are available to the retirement home and are offered to the residents to have in their rooms. Providing television service to the residents through the retirement home keeps the cost down and makes it affordable for all of the residents. The same programming can be made available on the TVs in the common areas of the retirement home, making it easy to have a movie night for those who want to attend. The staff can also play a movie through a DVD player that comes with the service giving the residents more choices in viewing.
One trend in television viewing for seniors centers around food recipes and preparation. The baby boomer generation is a generation of restaurant diners. They expect dining choices at the retirement home and take an interest in the preparation and ingredients that go into the meals. The community channel can be used to provide in-room video cooking classes if they want them. Being able to create dishes on their own also lends to their feeling of independence.
A sense of independence is important to the baby boomer retirees. They want the availability of choice in their social activities. They get this independence of choice through the use of the community channel. Seniors can remain independent and still be connected to the retirement home community and their families by adding telephone systems and internet connections in their rooms. They can call the staff or their family, or they can contact their family through their computer or tablet.
Technology that is user-friendly for a senior allows them ease of interaction even if they are alone in their room. The seniors’ TVs can be turned into a complete interactive platform to provide ways to allow the seniors maximum independence while making sure that their social and health needs are met. With television, internet, and voice service coming as one package, they can be more easily monitored for security so that their personal information does not fall into the wrong hands. The safety and well-being of the seniors can also be monitored by the staff and the seniors’ families with the technology available today.
These infotainment technology suites allow non-intrusive ways to make sure the senior is doing well and that any needs are met with little to no invasion of the senior’s privacy, allowing the senior to live with maximum independence and control over his or her own life. We hope that you find this Modern Trends in Senior Living post inspiring. Good luck!
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