Many people have a general idea of what all they think the senior living industry entails. They picture bingo nights, community volunteer events, and sleepy days. While yes, bingo nights are often quite popular, residents love when local volunteers come in to provide entertainment, and afternoon naps are always a great option, there is much more to senior living than meets the eye! New professionals in the industry often have little to no prior understanding of what all senior living actually entails. That’s why Solinity Leadership created its first program: Senior Living Bootcamp.
What is Senior Living Bootcamp?
Senior Living Bootcamp is a program that allows industry professionals to fully immerse themselves in the senior living atmosphere. For an entire week, team members are able to live and work in a fully-operational community. While there, they will experience a predetermined agenda that allows them to go behind the scenes and truly experience what it’s like to live and work in a community. They will be treated like a resident, participating in activities and interacting with residents as if they lived in the community. Participants will also gain an understanding of daily operations while assisting the team, from CNAs to the front office, execute daily activities, and most importantly, eat, sleep, and live in the community for the entire week. This fully immersive experience allows senior living professionals to go behind the scenes like never before. To truly put themselves in the shoes of frontline workers and residents. To observe, assist and understand the who and why we serve this industry.
Toby’s Experience at Senior Living Bootcamp
When hospitality developer Snehil Bhatnagar, aka Toby, decided to venture into the senior living industry after over two decades in the hotel space, he knew he needed an insider's perspective. After attending Bridge The Gap’s 2022 VIP Ignite Experience senior living professional’s event in Nashville, Toby connected with Solinity Founder and CEO Josh Crisp and conversations held between the two sparked an interest in Solinity Leadership’s Senior Living Bootcamp. Toby wanted first hand experience into what made up a senior living community, and he signed up to become a bootcamp participant.
Toby’s bootcamp experience began in Cleveland, Tennessee at Remember Me Senior Care, a beautiful and intentionally-designed memory care neighborhood owned by two brothers whose own mother journeyed through twelve years of fighting Alzheimer’s.
Take a look at insights and experiences Toby gained while at Senior Living Bootcamp in September 2023.
Day 1: Marketing & Maintenance
On day one, Toby shadowed Remember Me’s Maintenance and Marketing departments. Toby was able to shadow the maintenance director, Matt. Along with a new hire, Toby learned about the community's safety devices, plumbing, laundry, chemical storage, and extreme weather protocols. He was also able to shadow the Marketing department as the team gave a tour to prospective residents.
When asked if anything from the day stuck out to him, he said: I was surprised to learn about the move-in process and that, often, the people bringing residents to the community are not even direct family members of the resident. I assumed it would mostly be the adult son or daughter involved in the admission process, but that is not always the case.” Right off the bat, Toby learned a new fact about the industry and a way to approach the move-in process.
Day 2: Clinical
On day two, Toby shadowed the Clinical department. He worked with the care team to care for the twelve lovely residents in house one. From assisting with breakfast, lunch, and dinner to helping keep the residents entertained with puzzles, to physical exercises and therapies, Toby was able to experience all facets of a care team member's position throughout the day. Apart from actually caring for the residents, he also experienced all the prep, medical requirements, cleaning, and other daily tasks that are on the clinical departments plates.
Day 3: Nutrition & Dietary
On day three, Toby shadowed the Nutrition and Dietary departments. While shadowing the dining department, Toby met the Dining Director, Kim. At Remember Me Senior Care, the dining services are a little bit different than a normal community. Their neighborhood style community means that each house experiences family dining for every meal. A beautiful and large open kitchen allows for residents to come and enjoy each other’s company while the cook for that house interacts with them and prepares their meals. During the day, Toby learned about the logistics of food planning for residents, understanding their dietary needs and restrictions, while also staying conscious of budget, preparation time, and relative holiday meal planning.
When asked what value the food department brings to the senior living industry, Toby said that “The position of Dining Director holds great value in the senior living industry. It is the one of the most important divisions that can make or break a community. Controlling the cost, ordering enough food to make sure nothing runs out, making sure that menu planning is in line with the health requirements… The work which Kim puts in to run the food department is amazing.”
Day 4: Activities & Life Enrichment
On day four, Toby shadowed the Activities and Life Enrichment department. He spent the day assisting Activities Director, Heather, as they executed the day's events. First up was a Hawaiian themed lunch for the residents including decor, photos, and delicious foods and drinks. Quickly following that was a volunteer group coming in for a music session. After the music session, residents were invited to join the team in a biblical reading before dinner. Toby’s busy day showcased the many attributes activity directors have to juggle at one time, and when asked what the most challenging part of the position is he stated that “The most challenging part for Heather is to determine activities that can stimulate physical, cognitive, environmental state of the residents. She has to find something for everyone, if it's music, arranging pets visit, doing gardening, feeding animals, it has to be something that can help trigger their mind and help them to be more engaged with each other and be happy.”
Day 5: Administration
On day five, Toby shadowed the Administration department. During his final day, Toby was able to accompany Owner Tracy, Executive Director Ashley and Nursing Director Hailey to visit a resident who had fallen and needed additional care at a separate healthcare space. The purpose of the visit was to check in on the resident, see her healing progress, and establish a plan for integrating her safely and happily back into the community.
Through Senior Living Bootcamp, Toby was able to experience every aspect of an operating senior living community first-hand! He spent time with residents, learned from employees, had impactful conversations and gathered key information for his transition from the hospitality industry to the senior living industry.
Learn more about Toby’s experience in this interview with Bridge the Gap Podcast.
Are you interested in participating? Learn how you can get involved today: https://www.solinityleadership.com/
