Senior living is seeing a brand new wave of hospitality innovations and this is absolutely exciting. The market is shifting dramatically due to the change in the makeup of clientele – the percentage of retirees among the population is growing, and they are getting picky. If you want to choose the best of the best for yourself, here are the latest hospitality innovations in the world of senior living.
Staff engagement
You can make all the design choices in the world to create a welcoming environment, but opulent surroundings are nothing without the staff that is equally hospitable. The elderly are not a burden that needs to be handled, but respectable customers and proud citizens that earned their keep. After a lifetime of hard work and responsibility of raising a family, they deserve every ounce of respect they can get. Thankfully, managers of such facilities seem to be waking up to this fact and basic care is becoming the common standard. Remember: these institutions do not exist unless the entire family is satisfied with the care given.
It is all in the details
Spaces in retirement homes need to fulfill their primary functions, but it isn’t that hard to give them the desperately needed oomph with a few designer details here and there – and make no mistake, details make all the difference in the world. Something as simple as wall color can bring a radical change to the mood of the room and homely paraphernalia added on top of furniture items and supportive elements can transform its appeal. Make no mistake, the impeccable design of luxury retirement homes is becoming a standard, not an exception, and it begins with such details.
A different approach to space
Retirement homes used to be remnants of soulless architecture where retirees were crammed during the final years of their lives. Now, many look forward to moving into retirement communities because hospitality leaders have changed the industry standard and approach to space itself. We are looking at the rising trend of building retirement villages with quaint suburban layouts and enough room for everyone. In such places, the elderly can feel as if they are truly a part of a vibrant community that lives a completely normal life – with an added perk of nearby medical and recreational facilities.
Tech-savvy
More than ever before, technology is moving into retirement homes. On the one hand, the elderly are becoming more tech-savvy. On the other hand, as we are moving deeper and deeper into the twenty-first century, the individuals that have already been accustomed to the cutting-edge tech are starting to retire. In addition, certain inventions are changing the healthcare and revolutionizing the dynamic between seniors and the retirement home staff. For example, wireless pendants will activate the phones of medical staff if the elderly falls over and gets hurt. Wireless health-monitoring devices are adding a sense of spatial and temporal flexibility to the mix.
The mindset of hoteliers
The wave of hospitality innovations has come about because the private sector reigns supreme and through its methods, it has indirectly imposed the standards of the hotel industry onto the world of retirement homes. In other words, the mindset of hoteliers reigns supreme. This explains the balance between beauty and utilitarianism, but it can also inform the future of senior living. For example, it is common practice in the hotel industry that the developer – owner of the land and, potentially, the building – gives a lease to the brand that either plans to create a franchise or has accomplished this already.
Interior design is becoming more humane and accommodating to the elderly. Even the soulless communal spaces that have frequently plagued the nightmares of retirees are getting a makeover. The crucial breaking point for these shifting circumstances came about once the leaders of the hospitality industry, many of them retirees themselves, pointed out the sheer magnitude of the potential that lies in the previously untapped elderly accommodation design.