Tackling loneliness isn’t just for do-gooders. Yes, residents will be happier, but it’s also good for your bottom line.
Loneliness shortens your life. And not trivially.
Older adults who are sometimes or often lonely in their 60’s live about 5.4 years less than their well-connected neighbors!
And, in terms of healthy life expectancy, the toll can be six years shorter. Keep in mind that 35%+ of independent and assisted living residents are sometimes or often lonely.
That's a lot of lost life. And living with loneliness, as you might expect, is no picnic.
It doubles the risk of dementia
It increases the risk of stroke by 32%
It heightens the risk of a heart attack by 29%
It’s enough to make you depressed.
That’s why persistently lonely residents have such a large impact on length of stay. Lonely residents pass away sooner or are more likely to need a specialized facility – where skilled nursing or memory care are available. In either case they are leaving your community. We have seen the impact over the last several years as the loneliness epidemic has grown and length of stay in independent and assisted living has decreased.
The science is clear. Less loneliness means more healthy life expectancy, resulting in longer length of stay and increased income for those communities. Revenues generated from increased length of stay can, in turn, be used to increase staff compensation and improve other aspects of community life, driving even better results.
So how do you reduce loneliness?
Klaatch believes it starts with identifying who is lonely and using proven principles designed to bring lonely residents back to community. We always ask about how a community onboards residents and how they create programming to address the negative behaviors of loneliness.
Do you measure the effectiveness of your programming in building community? Did you know that if a resident knows 6 neighbors, the likelihood they will be persistently lonely almost disappears? What do you do to make it easy for residents to create meaningful relationships with their neighbors?
Senior Living operators don’t have to rely on luck to make these relationships happen. Empowering staff with effective tools, measuring results of their initiatives and using proven principals will reduce loneliness and strengthen your community.
So, more social connection means more length of stay, which means more revenue, which results in more community connection. A virtuous cycle!
Length of Stay * (Δ Social Quotient) = Δ NOI
Want to know more about how to address loneliness?
Reach out and find out about our free workshop, The Habits of Loneliness, Finding Solutions, Measuring Success. This is a hands-on workshop to help you understand loneliness and how you can use your existing resources to build a better community.
Adam Greene, Klaatch CEO and Founder
Adam has 20+ years of experience as an entrepreneur, senior executive in public and private companies and investment banking with expertise in corporate finance, M&A, management, team building and corporate strategy. It was the conversation with his father’s healthcare coordinator about the role that loneliness seemed to be playing in his father’s deteriorating health that was Adam’s tipping point for founding Klaatch.
