We know wellness is valuable to our senior living communities. It can increase resident satisfaction, keeps them active and engaged, and keeps them healthier for longer. In addition, providing wellness keeps your residents aging in place and therefore increases length of stay and prevents hospital admissions. Providing a comprehensive wellness program also helps to complete the care continuum between therapy and health care and gives residents a “next step” after meeting their goals on skilled services.
But, as with all good things, this comes at a price. Whether you choose to go in-house and hire your own wellness coordinator, or you choose to contract with an outside company, you will incur costs. It will also take time to get a program up and running, and participation generally takes several months to develop.
Knowing there are costs and time involved and being aware of the staffing challenges we are facing right now, adding a wellness program may seem like a big undertaking. But there is also a big payoff. So, what is the return on investment in a wellness program?
The greatest returns on a wellness program occur when the program is structured around the seven dimensions of wellness and supported by a full-time, qualified leader, and integrated with all the other services and departments within a community.[1] The seven dimensions include social, emotional, physical, environmental, vocational, spiritual, and intellectual. These dimensions overlap and work together to provide a rich environment for our seniors.[2]
While it may not be immediate, there are certainly long-term financial benefits of adding wellness to your community. These benefits include an increase or stabilization of occupancy, increased length of stay, revenue and cost savings, referrals to and from therapy, reduced health care costs, and a reduced risk of falls, need for ADL support, and cognitive decline.
Depending on how the program is structured, wellness can create a direct revenue stream from membership fees, specialty classes, and personal training services. Wellness programming also creates indirect revenue through increased length of stay, because a participation in fitness and wellness programming helps residents maintain their independence. By helping residents stay as independent as possible for as long as possible, we also enhance their quality of life. A recent survey found that residents reported higher levels of satisfaction when they were functionally independent, compared to residents who needed help with activities of daily living.[3]
Census and occupied units are critical metrics for senior living organizations, so increasing length of stay is imperative. Communities that have higher rates of occupancy have revenue to support their operations, while empty units add costs for refurbishment, cleaning, and marketing to refill them. One estimate stated that refurbishing an assisted living apartment can cost upwards of $8,000. By keeping residents in their homes for longer, the need to search for new residents to move in, and pay to refurbish an apartment, decreases.
In addition, by partnering with therapy services, wellness and therapy can work together to keep residents within the care continuum. When residents are discharged from therapy, they can continue with a wellness program and maintain the goals they achieved during skilled services. On the flip side, if a resident has a decline, the wellness coordinator identifies that change in function and can make the appropriate referral before the decline leads to something more serious, like a major fall or hospital stay.
Whether you are considering adding wellness to your community or looking to enhance your services, although there are costs involved, there is a substantial return on investment. As the residents we see are getting younger and younger, having a well-rounded and multi-dimensional wellness program will be imperative. Without one, you may be losing your future residents to the community down the road.
[1] Ryan, P. The Business Case for Wellness Programs in Senior Living. International Council on Active Aging. 2018.
[2] International Council on Active Aging. 2001-2022. https://www.icaa.cc/activeagingandwellness/wellness.htm.
[3] Brod, K. Insights into Independent Living Residents Today. Ziegler Capital Markets. Z-News, May 1, 2009.