Serenity Harmonizes Care Across Teams at The Gardens at St. Elizabeth
By Katherine Wells, CEO and founder of Serenity, and Jane Woloson, Executive Director of The Gardens at St Elizabeth ~
The Gardens at St. Elizabeth is a CHI Living Community within CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic and second-largest nonprofit healthcare system in the United States.
The senior living community provides comprehensive care in a variety of living options, including independent and assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care, and rehabilitation services.
Located in historic north Denver, The Gardens welcomes older adults of all denominations and offers care that focuses on body, mind, and spirit. They are known for encouraging resident activities that promote holistic well-being and provide ample opportunity to foster deep relationships throughout the community.
An older adult’s family considers “home is here” at the Gardens for their loved one because of its inviting and inclusive culture. The community is a strong believer in independence. They always aim to meet aging-in-place needs and are dedicated to preserving a balance between personal freedom and compassionate care.
Improving Communication to Support Independence
A common myth when moving an aging adult into senior care is that everything is taken care of. Unfortunately, loved ones are often left tying loose ends of communication together as the staff is spread thin and healthcare providers are accommodating several patients at a time.
The Gardens at St. Elizabeth knew there was scope for improvement to elevate their level of care and started the process to connect all touchpoints—care providers, senior communities, older adults, and their families.
Providing that connectedness between families, providers, and staff members was becoming more difficult for the Gardens, especially at a time when the community was experiencing exponential growth.
At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, residents were also isolated more than ever, which drove the need for improved communication mediums that would keep everyone in the know. Helping residents help themselves was always top of mind, however, antiquated communication methods were making it difficult to provide high-reliability care during this time.
Residents needed to be cared for but not care-dependent. Enter Serenity.
Controlling the Day-to-Day with Serenity
Knowing the communication gaps at hand, The Gardens at St. Elizabeth teamed up with Serenity to revolutionize the way information is exchanged across the senior care ecosystem.
The partnership led to the first-ever use of smart display technology at the Gardens, powered by Serenity’s Amazon Alexa. By engaging with the voice-enabled app, older adults have more control of their day in addition to taking the pressure off the front desk with phone calls to answer questions about the day’s meals, what movie is playing, what services are being done to the building, plus much more.
Maintenance Updates
The Garden’s Maintenance Director was trained on Serenity to better communicate with residents. He can send a direct message to notify if there is a package delivery, power or internet outage, an elevator down, or water being shut off.
Marketing the Community
Marketing Director, Melissa Santistevan, uses an Alexa device to market the community by setting a station up in the lobby during tours. The families are blown away at the convenience, response time, and efficiency the care teams and residents have by communicating this way.
Guiding Through the Healthcare Journey
When a resident is having ongoing doctor appointments, or therapy sessions, or needs prescription refills, the community staff and families have little oversight into the interchange of communication.
Serenity helps to bridge those transitions of care between healthcare providers and the rest of the resident’s care team. Family is given immediate feedback to know whether their loved one had physical therapy, was transported to an appointment, or had their prescription refilled. Furthermore, Serenity’s referral channel streamlines the transition to a new primary care doctor so new residents, in-state or out, can get established more quickly and with ease.
The Serenity Impact
By marrying Amazon’s Alexa voice AI and video technology with Serenity’s platform, Serenity serves as a personalized, digital concierge to bring simplicity and connection to an otherwise complex system.
Serenity’s best-in-class technology reduces staff burden while increasing resident engagement and vital family connectedness. With smart coordination and integrated, consolidated communication, Serenity’s Alexa integration meets providers, care teams, families, and most importantly, older adults, where they are.
