129. Technology's Growing Role in Resident Engagement with Kelly Stranburg

In this episode of Raising Tech, Matt sits down with Kelly Stranburg, Vice President of Healthy Aging and Longevity at Westminster Communities of Florida, to talk about how resident engagement has evolved and why technology is playing a bigger role than ever.

Kelly shares her journey into senior living, why truly knowing residents matters, and how technology is helping communities create more personalized experiences. From fitness equipment packed with data insights to AI-powered engagement tools, the conversation explores the opportunities, challenges, and learning curves that come with innovation.

They also discuss the impact of COVID on technology adoption, how communities can evaluate ROI through both financial returns and resident impact, and why technology skills are becoming essential across every department in senior living.

Tune in for an honest conversation about resident engagement, innovation, and the future of technology in aging services.

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn.

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Transcript

Matt Reiners: [00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of Raising Tech. Today, I am joined by the one and only Kelly Stranburg, who is the vice president of healthy aging and longevity with Westminster Communities of Florida. I've known Kelly for what, Kelly? Seven, eight years by now, something like that? Um- 

Kelly Stranburg: Even longer. I think we're going back, like, 12, 13 years, Matt.

Matt Reiners: I've, I've only been in the industry since 2016, so I mean- 

Kelly Stranburg: Okay, so 10 years. We'll say 10 or 11 years. Yeah. Then I met you your first year. 

Matt Reiners: You met me my first year. I mean, it could've gone a lot longer 'cause you were almost my high school gym teacher, which is another story for another day. Um, but Kelly has just [00:01:00] become one of my, my best friends in the industry.

Her passion for older adults, technology, everything and anything, uh, the Bills too. It's just been awesome, awesome to see, and it's people like Kelly that really push this industry forward. So I'm excited to kinda jump into some stuff with you here, Kelly, today, my friend. 

Kelly Stranburg: Thank you for having me, and I'm excited to talk about this topic, Matt.

Matt Reiners: Awesome. So Kelly, before we jump into that topic, uh, can you share a little bit about your story and how you ended up to where you are today? 

Kelly Stranburg: Sure. Well, I, I'm an exercise physiologist by educational background, and I was doing corporate wellness for, wait for it, Philip Morris. So yes, people made cigarettes all day long and then came over to the gym to work out.

Um, but you know, manufacturing was going overseas and I, I had plenty of time before I had to find a new job, and went out on [00:02:00] one of the job sites and, and found a wellness director role for a senior living provider based in Charlotte, North Carolina. And I was like, "Oh, I, I might be able to do this." And I've always gravitated towards an aging adult, even in my fitness and exercise science career.

And I applied on Memorial Day, I'll never forget this, and they called me immediately. And I was like, "Y'all are working on Memorial Day?" Lesson number one in senior living, we are 24/7, 365. And, um, got hired just six weeks later. And funny, I got hired to go in and do fitness programming for this portfolio of life plan communities.

And four months later, my chief operating officer, who I reported to, I was telling her a story about how I had been in memory care and a resident was telling me all [00:03:00] about how much he missed his sailboat and sailing, and our activities team had him coloring a picture of a duck. And it just... it didn't sit well with me.

So I went back to the office and I told her that story. I go, "That doesn't seem dignified. I think we should be doing better," and I know I'm talking about stuff I don't know about. She goes, "Nope, you're fine. You get it organically." She goes, "By the way, you will now be over all level of care programming, and we're gonna throw in transportation, the concierges, and salon and spa."

And my exact statement back to her was, "Have you lost your mind?" And that was almost 20 years ago, and here I am. Still, still, you know, doing the good charge forward and making sure that programming really meets people where they're at in the most dignified, appropriate ways, while still engaging them from an interest level and making sure it's challenging.

Matt Reiners: I love that. Wow. Talk about, [00:04:00] uh, you know, other duties as assigned there. Uh, no, that's so interesting, uh, too, and I, I know you care so much, and it's just been really awesome to see the impact that you've had, Kelly. And, you know, as someone who's kinda been in resident engagement, I'm curious, like when you think about like resident engagement today, how has that definition evolved from simply offering, you know, those simple activities like, you know, coloring a duck, let's say, to supporting a resident's overall sense of purpose, wellness, and longevity?

Kelly Stranburg: Oh my gosh. I... You know, it's interesting to have seen even just in the last almost 20 years of my tenure here, it's been interesting to see the evolution of resident engagement, programming, lifestyle, whatever word we wanna call it, right? Um- And it really comes down to what is the process that we take to get to know our residents?

Um, and I really think that [00:05:00] resident, if you will, resident profile or the get-to-know-you process, I think that's such a critical piece. And I know in the higher levels of care, you know, that's been mandated in certain ways through an MDS process and even care plan meetings. But I think really what we've learned, especially in these last few years, is we need to be learning our residents on a much deeper level, but how do we go about that?

How do we... what kind of repository do we store all of that powerful, valuable information? And you know, I'm- I work at an organization where we have life plan comm- or they're life planning communities, so we have all levels of care, right? So I'm a big believer in that we wanna learn as much about residents as possible when they move into independent living.

And if they do have to move through the continuum of care, we have all these rich [00:06:00] details about who they are, because that could potentially influence or positively impact how we provide care, you know, in memory support or memory care or long-term care. And, and just that resident story, that resident profile is just one of the most critical pieces.

And when I reflect back, you know, we've always asked kinda surface level questions like, "What do you like? What do you not like?" You know, "What do you do in your free time? Did you serve? Where'd you go to college?" But there's so much more we could be learning about people. But then the conundrum becomes where the heck do we store all that, and who has access to it?

And I laugh even, even when I went into a community to work in the midpoint of my career, which was weird. I was like corporate support, then I went to a community, then I came back out into these corporate support roles. And I laugh at myself, and sometimes I'm ashamed of [00:07:00] myself that I was writing stuff on paper, and I had the, like, most insane Excel spreadsheet on Earth.

But it had all this powerful information that- probably 50, 60, 70, 80 other team members should have had access to, and they didn't. And I'd be like, "Oh, well I know this about so-and-so and so-and-so. It's, uh, in a folder in a cabinet in my office that's in the basement locked." And, and thankfully I can laugh about it, but it also tells me how critical that piece of the puzzle is when it comes to resident engagement, 'cause the more you know your residents, the more you're able to offer and design what matters most to them.

Matt Reiners: Mm. Yeah, I love that, and it's such an important piece of the puzzle, right? Like, getting to know... Like, that's where relationships start. When I think of senior living- Right ... um, you know, it's, it's the emphasis on the living aspect, creating those relationships. How do you create those [00:08:00] relationships between residents, peers, uh, and the staff, and really getting to know each other?

And, and that's how we first connected too, over a dinner. Like, we're- Right ... we mentioned we're, like, kinda the area you were from, and I'd went to, like, a, uh, summer festival there which, uh, those stories will stay locked up forever. But, um, but yeah. No, it's just really interesting to see, and I'm, and I'm wondering, you know, with resident engagement and according to how you've seen it evolve over time, like, what are some of the most exciting or meaningful innovations you're seeing right now?

Um, especially where technology's helping communities to create some more of these personalized experiences that we're talking about. 

Kelly Stranburg: Well, it's funny, um, audience, I, I, I did reach out to Matt and, and expressed to him, man, I am dealing with technology a significant chunk of my work day or work week, however you wanna quantify it, and more than I ever thought I would.

Um, recently we had the good fortune to, [00:09:00] uh, renovate a fitness center at one of our communities, and I was given the amazing opportunity to put all new equipment in. And I'm really, really particular about the kind of products I want based on what I know will help people to age well. And what I did not anticipate, so shame on me but a lesson well learned, was the amount of technology that we were being presented with even in fitness equipment.

So for example, you know, we put in Keiser strength equipment. Well, they have this amazing interface now on every single piece of equipment that tells you your power output, your velocity, what your, what your right limb is doing compared to your left limb, and it... all that data goes into a back office. And so God bless my fitness team at this community.

They have embraced that learning curve, but it is [00:10:00] a lot. Well, that's just one piece of the puzzle. I put in this awesome, you know, neuro gym by DVDOT. There was education around that. A lot of our cardio has interactive dual tasking games like the CyberCycle, and even NuSteps now have these awesome rides.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, that's just one piece of resident engagement, resident programming. That's just a fitness center. And I, I had a learning curve. I'm not working in a fitness center day to day anymore. And plus my fitness team had a significant learning curve 'cause they have to now be able to educate all the residents on all this equipment so that they're using the equipment safely, that they're leveraging it to get the maximum benefits out of all these systems.

I mean, it's amazing, and I know in my heart of hearts we're gonna make the biggest difference in overall quality of life for those individuals that engage with it, but it's just like, oh my gosh, I just, I just didn't anticipate [00:11:00] that. And that's just in that realm. But even when I think about- Some of the other technology-based tools that have come on the scene for resident engagement, you know, I'm sure some people have heard of the Tobii-Tobii table , um, or the Tobii-Tobii system that is often used in a memory care setting.

That thing's awesome. Personally, I could sit there and play with it all day long. Um, they don't pay me to do that, and I wish I c- I could be paid to do that. But again, there's a bit of a learning curve, and there's a learning curve for all the staff who need to engage with it. And I love these solutions that are coming to the table.

Residents like them. Team members are drawn to them, which helps with the education piece. But it's the how do you, how do you present that education? How do you kind of QA that team members fully understand it, embrace it, and are going to then utilize it to execute to get the benefits that you want for your residents?

And so I think we're in this [00:12:00] unique crossroads right now because I think for so long, and you know this, Matt, like tech has always been viewed as all our computers, phones, you know, platforms, platforms you're using for HR and accounting, right? But really, and I, and I probably have a biased opinion, I, I will admit that, but I never thought I would contend with as much technology and interfaces and back offices and all that good stuff.

And of course, I've learned from many wonderful colleagues in the space like yourself, like, do they integrate? If they do integrate, where's it going? What kind of data do you collect? Can you act on that data? And so, you know, there's all these additional conversations that I'm having now. However, what I do like about all this, even though I would never have said a few years ago, "Hey, I'm super tech-forward"

I'm being forced to get there. Um, but it's forcing me [00:13:00] to really start to look at things a little bit different, and I'm getting this amazing opportunity at Westminister to really showcase the business case around just how powerful resident engagement is, and I'm able to do that because of technology.

Matt Reiners: Yeah, it's such an interesting thing. Uh, and I know that's how we... It was kinda like started this episode, you had reached out and talk about how all this time is being spent towards technology. And I'm even reflecting in my own life, uh, with resident engagement since I spend so much time there. Like, it was surprising when something came out that wasn't had some component of technology in it.

Right. And now, you know, with the reporting capabilities that we're seeing from some of these other platforms out there, it's just become the expectation with resident engagement. And to your point, I find a lot of people are able to kind of help make those asks for the budgetary dollars because they have technology to help support that overall story versus where I think in the past resident engagement used to be those just, like, one-off feelgood stories that we all see every single day that I think draws and [00:14:00] keeps so many of us in the industry.

But technology is one of those things now that can help craft that narrative and really understand who's attending what, what is longevity, quality of life, all that stuff for. And, uh, technology really helps to enable that. And, and I'm wondering, Kelly, like at what point, if you had to date, I don't know, probably too much to ask for a date, but at what point did resident engagement really just become so technology-driven?

And what do you think senior living communities really gain from that or maybe even risked in losing in that shift? 

Kelly Stranburg: Mm-hmm. I, and I think you'll agree with me, I think, you know, during the pandemic we had to embrace a lot of technology-based solutions. You know, when, when we were doing all that social and physical distancing.

You know, for lack of better words, we were almost forced to embrace a lot of technology in a way we had never done before from in-house [00:15:00] TV channels to Eversound. Um, you know, Matt and I worked a lot on using Eversound to help with that. Um, IN2L Systems. I mean, you name it. There was just so much that we, we weren't leveraging these tech-based solutions prior to that.

And so I think the pandemic forced us to, but we learned a lot of valuable lessons out of that. And I would say- It's probably, I'd say 2023. That's just kind of where my head goes to. It's like we suddenly saw a catapult in tech-based solutions, point solutions, I mean, you name it, that were all targeting resident engagement.

Because I think people outside of the industry were like, "Oh, look at how senior living is solving to engage the residents, to try and prevent isolation, prevent loneliness." And like all these startups kind of, you know, showed up in the industry and [00:16:00] we were all like, "Whoa, where'd y'all come from?" And I'd say that was around '22, '23.

And then it was like, well, wait, time out. Do you understand our operating budgets? Do you understand, you know, you might tell us, "Hey, our solution's only 100 bucks. You're gonna engage your residents." And it's like, well, I'm also being confronted with about 85 solutions that are only 100 bucks a month. And so, you know, it is, it has really forced us to pause and think about what is the impact we wanna make?

What is the impact we want on our residents? Um, I know as part of our prep, we were talking about ROI, and ROI in the business world, you know, return on investment, and I agree with that, but I also equate ROI to return on impact. Because I kind of look at it twofold, like what will my return on investment be, but also what's the return on impact?

What does... If I go down this path [00:17:00] of a certain spend, what's gonna happen to my residents? And will I be able to prove that this investment has given the impact that I intended? And, and so, you know, every day I think I'm confronted with new solutions. My LinkedIn just blows up with, "Hey, I got something for you."

And I'm like, "No, you don't. I have enough." You probably do too, Matt. 

Matt Reiners: Uh, it def- I love the people that reach out to me and say, "Hey, I'm in Manhattan if you wanna grab a coffee." And I'm like, I live five hours away from there. So, uh, yeah That's always my, my favorite one. But no, I think it's, it's a, it's a great point.

And I think to your kinda like 2022, 2023, I do think before that with COVID, um, really just money was being thrown out there, so people were more willing to invest in some of these quality of life resident engagement stuff. Like I had a... I remember during COVID an SVP of resident engagement reached out to me, and at that point we were working with like 30 out of...

three out of their 60 buildings. And she had said, [00:18:00] "Matt, one of the silver linings is, is we've- can finally get the money to support some of the stuff we've been wanting to do from the technology side." And then I think in 2022, 2023, that's when after these reports came around social isolation and the impact that it has on one's quality of life from like some pretty reputable places.

And to your point, that's where we... I saw a lot of companies come in, you know, sales pitch, we're under 100 bucks per month. Why wouldn't someone do this? And to your point, you guys are getting hit and bombarded all the time with some of that stuff, um, you know, to, to get some of these opportunities or things to, to kinda do and kind of filtering through all of that noise.

Um, and I love how you think about the ROI. I know I have another question about ROI we'll get here in a m- in a minute, but, um, actually, uh... So, and, and I'm wondering from like a technology standpoint, Kelly, like how is that changing the way that you and your teams plan, staff, onboard, and really execute programming across the senior living community?

Kelly Stranburg: Uh, I'm glad you brought up the word [00:19:00] onboarding. And, and interestingly enough, um, I'm getting ready to do some rewrites of the job descriptions of the individuals I support out at our communities because I feel strongly that one of the, the bullets that's missing in a lot of these job descriptions is something related to a level of comfort with technology, willingness to embrace new technology, and that includes, but it's not limited to apps and streaming services and AV.

Um, I think it's critical that we start incorporating that into all types of resident engagement roles. Um, so you're, you're pr- you know, promoting that in a role, you're interviewing to that, and then you have to onboard to that. And so I've rewritten our onboarding checklist about, hey, you have to go through this platform, this platform, this solution.

It needs to be part of onboarding. So, [00:20:00] you know, my whole thing is I don't want anybody caught off guard, hired, and then like, "What? I have to deal with all this technology stuff?" And I- I'm very upfront about it in interviews. And so, you know, I think it's an opportunity right now for the industry to really start to think about are we being upfront with the fact...

And this isn't even specific to even resident engagement. Look at, look at what dining and culinary departments are dealing with. They've got point of sale solutions. They've got even the, you know, the cool touchscreen things that, you know, a server's at your table and do, do, do, do, do. And no different than you and me going to a restaurant and you pay tableside, or maybe in our case, you, you swipe your fob tableside.

Like, they're being confronted with technology. Clinical most certainly is being confronted with technology. Even maintenance and housekeeping and, "Oh, we got a, a robot that cleans carpets," or in dining, "We have a robot that will, you know, bring out your salads." Like it's... And I think [00:21:00] that is kinda... You know, I've been thinking about this a lot the last couple months, and I'm like, we are just in this place where it's here to stay, and so we have to figure out how to embrace it, but we also have to be, I think, really transparent when it comes to hiring and onboarding But I think a piece that often gets missed, and this is, this is not specific to anywhere, it's just I think we miss often why we have these solutions.

And I think if you take the time to also educate team members, whether long-time tenured or brand new, here's why we have these solutions. Here's why these solutions will impact our residents, but also here's how these solutions can help you to do your job more efficiently, more effectively, more timely, whatever.

But I think that's always been a miss historically when embracing a new solution. It's like, oh yeah, team members, here's this training, where [00:22:00] you need to really be mindful to get in front of it and educate them on why we wanna embrace this, and here's what this means for you so that there's early buy-in.

And I think that early buy-in is the most critical piece to the success of utilizing almost any sort of technology solution. 

Matt Reiners: Yeah, and I love how you guys are thinking about your job descriptions, onboarding and stuff differently because I... W- whenever I've gone to the communities, I've seen life enrichment as kind of the, you know, if there's not an IT manager on site, uh, kind of the default help with not even just the AV or IT equipment around the community, but also the resident stuff as well.

Um, which, you know, that's just pulling away from other job responsibilities and duties. And, you know, I know we've talked about this in the past, Kelly, that, like, life enrichment, there's not a lot of great resources out there to, like, help them become, I'll say tech literate. Maybe, like, the opposite of tech phobic.

I have seen a lot of people be scared of technology at times, but, like, how can we just kinda teach some of those [00:23:00] core basics? 'Cause it is such a pivotal piece in what a day-to-day in the life looks like today. Like, and I remember talking... And making life easy too from the tech vendor side. I remember doing a presentation once, life enrichment professional raised her hand.

She says, "Matt, I've got 13 apps on my phone all required to do my job, and none of them talk to one another." So it's just like, ooh, that's not fun. Um, and, and I'm wondering from your perspective, we talked about ROI. I love how you think about a return on impact, and I remember talking to another provider.

They're like, "Matt, if I had R- all the ROI that was promised to me, we would have millions of dollars right now," which just is never the case. Right. But when, when you and Westminster start evaluating, like, a new technology-based solution, you know, what does that ROI conversation look like beyond the initial cost or the implementation effort?

Like, do you find the r- return on impact is kind of a- adopted a- across your organization? Or, like, how are other people thinking about that there? 

Kelly Stranburg: I [00:24:00] think, I, I think when you put on, like, just an operations hat, of course they're thinking, "Okay, these are the dollars going out. What does this mean for the bottom line?

What does that mean for margins? What does that mean for, you know, potential changes in resident monthly fees?" 'Cause let's be real, what, what are we really dealing with, you know, in senior living? We're dealing with resident dollars, right? It's their investment. It's their trust in, in our communities. And so, you know, I take that very seriously, and I think it's why I will be rather staunch at times on spend.

Um, and so... And I know I'm not alone in that. You know, you put on that operations hat and you're like, "Okay, what is this going to mean?" But then, you know, put on, "Okay, but I also have a responsibility to really make sure my residents have the resources, the tools, the programs to live the best quality of life possible and to live life on their terms."

And so I [00:25:00] do think there's a lot of, it's a lot of back and forth. It's a lot of weighing. Do we have an exact process? Not necessarily. Um, or at least I don't from, in my world. I, I c- I don't wanna speak for my peers in other capacities. Um,

but I really will look at, okay, where are we today with spend? And if I embrace a new tech-based solution, am I able to come in at the same price point? That's always my first thing, right? And if it is gonna be a little more, how can I justify that? And then I start poking around, you know, does this solution exist elsewhere in the org and I just don't know it?

Does, um- What's a, uh, another example would be... Oh, sorry. Um, do we have redundancy in technology solutions? So kinda like you're saying, like, that, that person shared with you 13 [00:26:00] different apps and none of them spoke to each other. I also start to dig into do we have redundancies in technology or solutions that we've embraced?

And maybe it's a redundancy in something in my world and something in a completely different world you would never think would have that same feature, right? And then it's like, well, wait a second. Do we need to eliminate some solutions so that there is the ability to have more dollars to spend? 'Cause I really strive to try and not increase my current spend.

I know that's probably me living in a, you know, utopian Strandberg world. But I really strive to try and keep, you know, our fixed costs pretty comparable year over year. But that means really digging in and figuring out where do all these dollars go, and then what does it mean for my residents? Matt, I am floored when I hear from a sales leader, "Hey, we had a prospect come in.

They wanted to know what resident engagement platform we [00:27:00] use." And I'm like, "I'm sorry, what?" Like, who even knows that vernacular- Yeah ... outside of our world, right? And, you know, residents are starting to come in. They're like, oh, like let's say, let's say you're a community that has, you know, declining balance.

They wanna know, how will I be able to see that? Like, they're... Our consumer walking in the door is probably more educated than ever because of the internet and what they're able to go and learn before ever stepping foot in the door. Plus, I think there is a significant, you know, chunk of the industry where the residents who choose, especially in my world, a life plan community that has an entrance fee model, they've probably been pretty successful in their careers.

They've probably traveled. Maybe they've been members of certain types of golf clubs, country clubs. So they've been exposed to a lot of these, um, types of services and solutions from a, in the hospitality world. And so they walk into [00:28:00] our settings and they're like, "Do you have, do you have an app where I can see what I've been spending?

Do you have an app where I can learn what's going on all day?" It's, it's starting to become, uh, a must-have over the nice to have. And so I think you also have to take that into consideration when you're weighing out, how do I wanna invest certain dollars or spend budgetary dollars? 

Matt Reiners: Mm. I love that. Yeah, it's, it's so true when you, like, even peel back the layers and look at some of the stuff of, like, what that could actually, uh, be.

And yeah, it's- It's really interesting of where technology's going. And, and I'm wondering from, like, the resident engagement side, 'cause we were kinda talking about, like, you know, technology and tracking and reporting and all that looks like. And, you know, from my point of view, participation's probably the easiest thing to measure, right?

Did someone show up to an event? Um, but of course it doesn't tell the full story. And I'm wondering from, like, your perspective, what other metrics help you understand whether technology is, like, [00:29:00] truly improving resident engagement, wellbeing, quality of life? I know you tend to talk about return on impact, but, like- Right

what does impact look like to you? 

Kelly Stranburg: Uh, I'll, I'll lean into the fitness stuff for a second, only 'cause that's my easy place to go. But, you know, that is an area where we can immediately, in, in as short as eight weeks, if somebody stays committed to that program three times a week for eight weeks, we can move the needle on strength, and I can measure that, and I can see that.

So I can have this amazing new, um, interface can tell me that. It will tell me, "Matt got a little bit better each workout." It will also tell me, "Hmm, Matt did not get better," and that should tell me as a, an exercise professional, "Whoa, what's going on? Why is Matt not progressing? What has happened? Is he sick?

Does he have an injury?" There's so many other, um, thoughtful then follow-ups to, to do that. So I [00:30:00] think, you know, on the physical side of wellbeing, those metrics are so simple to capture, and you can look at it on an individual level, but then you can also look at aggregate data. And when you look at the aggregate data, if you're finding, hey, we are...

we're not moving the needle in people's balance, okay, maybe we need to go back, evaluate our program. Do we have enough proactive offerings that really truly impact balance? And I I'm saying how, like, a decade ago, you know, I was putting everything on paper in Excel. I was doing all this in an old-school way, and I did see, wow, we never moved the needle at all when it came to resident flexibility.

And so I made a conscious decision to be like, "All right. We gotta be more mindful of how we're warming people up. We need more opportunities for stretching and range of motion and..." And we, then we saw a difference in the next [00:31:00] six months. So, you know, for me it was like, wow. And, and that wasn't even my goal of collecting aggregate data.

I had not hypothesized that it would help me actually design programming. So that's just, like, one piece of it. Um, I think the technology piece, you know, when you, when you think about, say, resident engagement platforms, I think the value of those and how they influence how residents spend their days. I mean, you have the communication piece, right?

So they need to know what's going on every day, and sometimes things change. And when I think back to our paper calendar days, and we still have paper calendars, but you think about, oh- Our distinguished speaker, Matt Reiners, you know, he got delayed in his travel. Um, he'll be here, but he can't speak at 2:00 PM.

We're gonna push it to 3:00 PM. I think back to the amount of work it took to make an [00:32:00] operational change like that, and now it's like, do, do, do, here's this change, whoop, and everybody gets that information, right? And so I just think from an awareness of what you offer, I think how you even spread education on why different programs and opportunities and events will add value to their life.

And, and it's all been simplified through technology. Is it everyone's favorite go-to? No. I'll say, I'll say we still have some residents who are like, "I don't wanna have to look at an app." Totally fair, totally get it. Some days I don't wanna look at apps. But we do. And so, you know, when I look at data beyond, um, the physical stuff, I think we're starting to get more into those true, you know, satisfaction scores.

So whether you use the Holleran survey or you use an internal tool or whatever, I really think technology [00:33:00] will be a driver behind some of those satisfaction scores. And I'll be surprised if, if, you know-

In the future, maybe, maybe something as structured as, say, the Holleran Survey, they might even start to ask about technology. Um, which wouldn't surprise me because it's... Everybody, everybody's starting to embrace that on some form or level. And so, you know, I think when we start to look at other facets of wellbeing, you know, here we, we talk a lot about purpose.

Purpose is in our mission statement. Still fine-tuning how we really want to truly assess. You know, if somebody feels they, "Yes, I have purpose," that, that's a, that's a highly personal, um, metric to, to gauge. But we're gonna figure it out because I do think that matters, and I do think the best way for me to go about that is to figure out how to [00:34:00] embrace a technology solution to help me with that process.

Because it's great I get the physical metrics, right? Gotta keep people able-body, functional, go live life on their terms, live autonomously, do whatever it is they wanna do. But then how does that feed into all these other things that bring them happiness and, and really make sure they're living their life with purpose day in and day out?

Matt Reiners: Mm. Yeah, I love that. And yeah, I think... And from what I've seen, technology adoption amongst residents is only up and to the right. I mean, even if you look at the number of devices people are bringing into communities now. Um, and what I think technology's so interesting from a life enrichment side, 'cause, like, really before tech-enabled solutions, it was always what's happening within these four walls, right?

What's happening in this activity room? But with technology- Right ... it's really opening up the entire world and, like, you know, doing all these such cool things that you couldn't even imagine was a, a thing before. So how do we, like, [00:35:00] use technology, understand technology, get comfortable with technology, find the money for technology to really just, like, bring this entire vision to life?

Um, and- Looking ahead, Kelly, I want you to look in your crystal ball here. My last question here for you. Okay. You know, how do you see technology supporting healthy aging and longevity while still keeping human connection at the center of the resident experience? 

Kelly Stranburg: Uh-huh. I like that question because it's, it's funny.

I... As I've been noodling around, like, man, I'm dealing with tech a lot because anybody who knows me knows I'm, I'm a people person. It's, it's what I excel at. It's, it's when I walk into a building, like I, I love meeting residents. I love meeting team members. It's, it's my happy place. I like to connect with people.

And so, you know, that's something I wanna make sure we, we continue to thrive at and, and that is a big piece of our culture here at [00:36:00] Westminster is, is our human connection piece. But I wanna make sure that that never gets diminished or reduced in any way, and that technology should only help to further foster that.

It's funny timing of that question. I just had a conversation yesterday at a community where they were talking about, you know, this exercise class that they play on a in-house TV channel. And I was like, guys, I go, "I... While I appreciate that," at the same time, the other side of me says, "But that means they're not coming out to class and engaging with others."

Like, at the end of the day, yes, exercise is amazing. Piles of research on why that matters as we age. However, the one thing I've always appreciated about especially exercise classes in senior living is it brings people together. There's such a fun social [00:37:00] connection piece to those type of offerings.

There's banter and there's laughter, and I'm not saying you don't get that in other offerings, but the nature of an exercise class, or even if you're going out for a wa- a group walk, like on a beach or in a neighborhood, is you get to connect. You can gab, right? Even a water aerobics class. You're in the pool, and yeah, you're working out, but you're, you're talking to your neighbor.

You're laughing with the people around you. And a lot of times when we facilitate things where it's a speaker coming in, we go and we're with our friends and our neighbors, right? But we sit and we listen. And so for me, as I look forward, I would want to make sure that tech somehow has that opportunity to make sure people come out and they're together But still able to socially connect through whatever that would be.

And I think that is something I'm always considering. I [00:38:00] remember, I remember my early days in senior living. I don't remember the name of the solution, but I was like, "No." I'm like, "It's too siloed." And it was only... It would only do one resident at a time, what this tech solution was. It was just solo resident use, and you had to, like, make appointments.

And I was like, "No." I was like, "I don't like that." I remember the owner saying to me, "How can you not like this?" And I said, "Because I want people coming out, and I want people to congregate together for the s- social connection piece." And so I think anybody in the tech industry, you know, whether you're platforms or you're point solutions, they need to be thinking about, how does my solution also help bring people together?

Not necessarily, you know, oh, I can impact strength, or I can impact purpose, or whatever. How does it bring people together? And I think, you know, as I reflect even as I'm saying those words out loud, it needs to be [00:39:00] something I keep top of mind, 'cause I never want technology to isolate people. I want it to make people come out and be together.

Because we all know the biggest value add of communal living, like in senior living, is connection. Connectivity and connection in community is the number one lifestyle determinant of how well we age over exercise, over diet, and over sleep. Connection and community is number one. Let me say it again, everybody that was in the back.

And so if your technology, even with the best of intentions, keeps people in their homes, keeps people in their rooms, whatever it might be, senior living or even aging in place at home, if it keeps them in their homes, we're losing a huge, huge benefit to aging well. And so that would be, for me, the biggest thing of how does tech still allow people to come together?

Matt Reiners: [00:40:00] Yeah, I love that. And if I can just add my own thoughts. Where I see, like, technology the huge about people coming together is like how do you gamify some of this stuff, right? Like, how do you gamify the number of social meetups you have? How do you gamify the number of steps you're taking? How do you gamify how many fitness hours?

Mm-hmm. And getting everybody, like, competitive, get the competitive juices flowing, right? Like, that's where I see technology playing, like, a huge opportunity. Of course, you know, some people feel a way about wearables and all that sort of stuff, but, like, that's where I kinda see, like, the biggest opportunity for it.

There you go. Yeah, yeah. All your data is everywhere now, but, uh, what are you gonna do? Yep. Um, cool. Well, Kelly, I really appreciate the conversation. You know, really grateful for our friendship over the years and, uh, just, uh, you know, it's people like you that made me fall in love with this industry. And, uh, so thank you, my friend.

Kelly Stranburg: Aw. Well, I appreciate you, Matt. I appreciate the opportunity to talk. Heck, we should talk again another year 'cause who knows how far we will have evolved and, [00:41:00] and even my own learnings and discoveries and opportunities to just make this part of our business just better and better and better. Mm-hmm. And of course, it really wouldn't be a Matt Reiners, Kelly Stromberg conversation if we didn't end with go Bills.

Matt Reiners: Go Bills. There we go.