Use of the Touchtown resident engagement platform has exploded during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Over a 30-day period, viewers played YouTube videos more than 26,000 times on the company’s in-room, cloud-managed TV products — up from just 397 videos viewed during the same period last year.
“Better yet, staff are filming and live streaming their own content so residents can still see the faces of their community staff, enjoy sermons from their deacons, and get fitness instruction from the aides they trust,” said Mike Rethage, Touchtown senior vice president and head of senior living. “Community heroes are wielding tech products like swords, with our products and beyond.”
Use of Community Apps — ideal for staff and family communication — is also rising dramatically across communities, with much of that attributed to use of a COVID-19 Updates module. Month-to-date, use of those Community Apps rose by about 300% compared to all of last April.
Much of Touchtown’s increased engagement is linked to free resources the company is offering, including content from One Day U, Eversound, Brilliant Aging, CareGrove and Total Brain Health that does not require use of a Touchtown device. Content is organized into educational, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, professional and environmental buckets.
Touchtown is also offering consultation, free services and support to non-client communities on a case-by-case basis.
“Of course, we wish communities were becoming better acquainted with our products in different circumstances,” Rethage said. “On the bright side, it is our belief that they’ll be able to wield these tools more powerfully once everything goes back to normal to complement and reinforce in-person resident interaction.”
