Nicole Will

May 26, 20215 min read

Building Community as a Culture

Building Community as a Culture with Sara Kyle, Ph.D. & Kelly Stranburg, M.Ed. Principles at LE3 Solutions

When families and caregivers are searching for the "right" community for their loved ones, the activity and life engagement program is one of the most important factors in that search. How will mom or dad be able to live out their joys and interests? Are they building community and fostering growth in relationships wherever they live? How is the community building relationships to better engage residents and provide care?

In the last year we've seen how imperative a vibrant life enrichment program is, but most importantly how vital connection, community and relationships are.

These two women are deeply passionate, have extensive experience, and carry the belief that engagement matters for our older adults. Thank you, Sara and Kelly, for the great interview! I look forward to having more important conversations about life engagement for our older adults. You two are the best of the best- so thankful for all you are doing to educate and encourage us.

Sara and Kelly offer insight into:

How can families determine their loved ones life enrichment needs? Why is that important?
What should families look for in a valuable life enrichment/engagement program when choosing a senior living community? What does a great life engagement program look like?
If they have their loved one in a community and they want to see change in the program, how would you suggest they go about that?
Where has the profession been and where is it going?
What role should executives and other departments play in a life engagement?
Where can life enrichment professionals go to find helpful information?
What language have we used to describe life enrichment and what do you recommend we use now?
What encouragement can you give families, Life enrichment professionals and the senior community on the future landscape of life engagement for older adults?

They offer customized mentorship and consulting for life engagement professionals, senior living communities, and businesses. LE3 provides resources, tools, and content for all things life engagement!

LE3 Solutions Company Overview

"At LE3 Solutions we bring a combined 25 years of experience in the resident engagement and

well-being space. Our combined history has focused on programming philosophy creation,

program design and implementation, identification of metrics connected to organizational

objectives to measure within resident engagement to quantify success and financial asks,

significant focus around physical wellness offerings, and collaboration with marketing, dining,

and nursing. The value proposition we provide a community or a system of communities is an

outside, forward thinking perspective. We break down what residents want, staff abilities and

resources, and the current marketing message to create a step-by-step process to take your

resident engagement program to the next level. Interested in increasing physical offerings to

keep residents more mobile and independent? Wondering how to capture resident interests

effectively and then actually apply them? Not sure if a resident portal platform is the right

investment for your community? LE3 Solutions can help every step of the way to ensure

residents are highly engaged and staff loves coming to work each day. At LE3 Solutions we aim

to link arms and be partner alongside each of our clients.

You may visit https://www.le3solutions.com/what-we-do to get to know the partnership of LE3

Solutions better.

Sara Kyle, Founder and Principal at LE3 Solutions

Sara Kyle, Ph.D. has spent the last 13 years researching, designing, writing, and implementing

resident well-being programs across the continuum of care. From leading and overseeing

programming across 108 skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care communities to

overseeing the charge for Holiday Retirement to transform their resident program in 260

communities, Sara thrives in challenging settings. She is relentless when it comes to urging

individual point solutions to integrate and share resident data in one location. While best

intentions and knowledge at the corporate level craft well-suited programs, the most effective

programs originate from research and collaboration with residents, staff, families, and future

prospects.

When staff and residents are involved in creating a program or approach; interest, adoption

and sustainability are remarkably higher. Successful programming is not just about a

satisfaction score, rather quality of life beyond the basics of food, shelter and an expected level

of care. If data collection is aimed to note participation of categorized activities, this is only one

piece of the puzzle behind effectively measuring engagement.

Sara is widely known and respected in the senior living industry. She presents at national

conferences, pens articles in notable publications, and serves on various advisory boards.

Furthermore, she is fervent and highly skilled at building morale, delivering education, and

bridging the gap between the executive team, community management staff and front-line

workers when it comes to who is responsible for resident programming.

Kelly Stranburg, Principal at LE3 Solutions

Kelly Stranburg, M.Ed. has worked with aging adults for over 20 years, with 13 of those specific

to the senior living industry. Over the years Ms. Stranburg has supported many CCRCs and

AL/MC communities. Her most successful roles have been new positions she has created from

the ground up which has enabled her to come in to analyze and identify needs and gaps and

then create and implement solutions for the greater good of the residents which in turn

supports the operators' objectives.

In a time of increasing competition for senior living communities as well as a necessary time to

breakdown stigmas and stereotypes associated with communal senior living, comprehensive

wellness programs can help organizations remain financially fit by enhancing resident health

and happiness and strengthening staff enjoyment. In addition, the need to simply connect with

others, as we have seen to be of even greater importance during the pandemic, can be

facilitated in safe and effective manners via an effective wellness program with technology

enhancements and effective staff training.

Ms. Stranburg is the creator of award-winning Argentum Best of the Best Wellness Program for

2010, 2011, and 2012. She has been a featured author in the Journal on Active Aging and

been a selected speaker at national senior living and active aging conferences.

Ms. Stranburg’s involvement in a panel discussion on engagement at home during the time of

Covid-19 was featured on Forbes.com. Ms. Stranburg holds many certifications and credentials

in fitness, wellness, dementia, resident engagement, and at one point held her Assisted Living

Administrator’s license in North Carolina. Ms. Stranburg is an innovative leader and emphasizes

wellness incorporated into all aspects of an organization to truly exude wellness and well-being

for both residents and employees."

We are not medical professionals and are not providing any medical advice. If you have any medical questions, we recommend that you talk with a medical professional of your choice. willGather has taken care in selecting its speakers but the opinions of our speakers are theirs alone. Thank you for your continued interest in our podcasts.