How Mather, Aspenwood, Benchmark Senior Living Create ‘Yes, And’ Moments in Resident Engagement

In 2025, senior living operators are personalizing programming to improve engagement in communities, with an eye on creativity for a new incoming group of residents.

To meet their preferences, operators including Benchmark Senior Living, The Aspenwood Company and Mather are creating feedback channels for quality control and pairing lifestyle and wellness amenities to wow the boomers.

This is all in the name of improving the overall resident experience by adding new programming, creating custom programming for specific communities and residents’ shared interests, while also involving residents directly in giving feedback to life enrichment teams in charge of building better calendars of events.

‘Yes, and’ programming to improve engagement

Senior living operators are juggling multiple generations of senior living residents in their communities, making programming needs more specific by care type and catering to a specific community’s residents’ interests and lifestyles.

Evanston, Illinois-based Mather has undergone a strategic “reframing” of programming and resident engagement to focus on wellness and improving resident quality of life. Mather achieves this through customized programming and niche offerings that cater to residents seeking active lifestyles, learning new skills and making new social connections, according to Mather Associate Vice President of Resident Engagement Caroline Edasis.

Using a term that stems from the world of improv, Mather applies a “yes, and” approach to programming and adapts this mentality for senior living.

“We really do that through training ‘yes and’ thinking that we keep the story moving by being able to hold multiple things at once and saying, ‘yes’,” Edasis said. “More ideas in programming equals more good ideas for our organization and the people we serve.”

This mindset shift changes Mather’s programming approach to reframe what Edasis sees as an “inherited industry reflex” to decline making dramatic changes to programming due to expenses, potential risks, or resident capabilities.

This “can’t do” mentality is holding back senior living operators from creating more robust programming for residents, and Colorado-based The Aspenwood Company has reimagined programming through personality assessments of residents and focusing on “micro success” of programming.

In the past, staff may have scrapped a sparsely attended event due to poor engagement. But now, Aspenwood measures success more so in creating new experiences for residents, according to Aspenwood Vice President of Resident Experience Amber McDaniel. That means even if a club only has three participants, Aspenwood still sees value in offering niche programming for residents rather than standardizing events.

“We have a habit of working with seniors and where we get stuck into what they can’t do by getting into those stereotypes,” McDaniel said. “What are those types of programs that an introvert will be interested in doing, or maybe we do something that is a larger group program, but you can still engage by being a little bit on the sideline.”

At Mather communities, especially at its new, wellness-focused The Mather development in Tysons, Virginia, this approach is playing out for residents to have a larger role in guiding programming. That takes the form of “resident-led clubs” being the “foundation” combined with wellness staff to add wellness experiences that take residents “beyond what they could self-organize,” Edasis said.

“We need experiences that transport people to something they couldn’t have expected or designed or facilitated on their own,” Edasis added.

For example, Mather uses programming like creative arts or mindfulness exercises and meditation, while also incorporating nature and outdoor activities where possible, Edasis said.

Balancing standards, staff efficiency with personalization

Operators have had their hands full managing myriad staffing challenges in the last five years. This has taken a toll on programming development and engagement if staff turnover consistently impacts a community’s roster.

To improve engagement, Massachusetts-based Benchmark Senior Living has “guiding pillars” that have defined changes in resident programming around wellness, according to Benchmark Senior Living Senior Director of Community Engagement and Programming Melanie Barbieri.

“I really think it’s about balancing standards and efficiency with personalization of programming where possible,” Barbieri said. “Wellness is the foundation across communities and we don’t want to see copy paste types of programming.”

This is evident in the company’s high acuity segment, Barbieri said. Benchmark programming and resident lifestyle staff collect and pull data tracking resident participation, along with how residents participated in programming. That’s allowed staff to better adapt programming for residents with higher acuity needs to make programming more accessible for those experiencing cognitive changes.

By giving programming and engagement staff autonomy to make changes to resident programming at each community and adapt staff training using data to better improve engagement and resident satisfaction, Barbieri said.

Engagement efforts must also adapt across acuity levels, from independent living to memory care. All three companies said that they can achieve this by using specific language in describing programming at each care level or adapting programming for the continuum in ways to make engagement possible at all levels.

This removes “islands” of programming across the continuum, Edasis said, and at Mather communities a director oversees resident experience that can combine clinical and care delivery insights into shaping programming from independent living, assisted living and memory care, Edasis noted.

For example, programming at the The Mather CCRC in Tysons features mindful art classes such as Kintsugi — the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold — and the creation of detailed circular mandalas. Residents can enjoy a “symphony swim” in the heated saltwater pool, illuminated by candlelight and accompanied by a live cellist, or unwind in the infrared sauna and “breath lounge.”

“Just inviting someone to an event is not inclusive,” Edasis said. “We need to design amenities that appeal to everyone.”

Having amenities in high-acuity settings like assisted living and memory care helps adapt programming and engagement, while meeting the needs of a community’s entire resident population and removes “silos” in programming. In independent living, Mather looks at design elements like demonstration kitchens for mixology classes, music recording and a “story archive studio” for residents to share memories with family and friends.

Certain amenities like a ceramic studio are accessible to residents at higher acuity to be inclusive and bring unique programming to all residents, Edasis added.

By showing families different amenities that offer programming across the continuum, this helps facilitate transitions of residents as they age in place and destigmatizes the transition process that many residents often view as a daunting and scary time for a resident. For example, in some Aspenwood communities, programming includes residents in independent living to teach memory care residents how to play a certain game and offers “mentorship” opportunities through programming like card games, chess or choir participation, McDaniel said.

Intergenerational programming can also improve resident engagement. At Benchmark communities, intergenerational programming that involves families, pet programming, food-related events and music programs can all be ways operators can involve the entire continuum in lifestyle activities, Barbieri said. At Benchmark properties, the company’s “Connections Companion” program pairs new residents with long-time residents over the course of a new resident’s first 30 days to build social bonds and include residents in daily programming.

Improving resident engagement also extends to prospective residents, with “pre-move-in” invitations to events, community-specific welcome committees of residents and staff to acclimate residents into a community’s daily rhythm, Barbieri added.

Using technology to improve engagement

Operators have made tough decisions in recent years shuffling the right technology partners in their organizations to provide deeper insights into resident care delivery, care coordination, and this also extends to programming efforts.

Operators must consider new tech platforms that can provide data analysis and trends to identify resident programming gaps or changes to a resident’s participation. This notifies care staff that can make changes to a resident’s care plan prior to health or social isolation issues negatively impacting a resident’s quality of life, Barbieri said.

Benchmark weighs whether a tech platform can provide attendance and participation insights, along with the ability to automate data entry and analysis to provide staff with more time to spend with residents in daily events, Barbieri added.

Mather uses a multi-modal technology platform that combines a smartphone application with Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Alexa voice-assisted device to create calendars and notify residents of programming changes or unique events in their community, Edasis said.

“Residents can use their phone app or Alexa to request a wide range of services — from booking transportation and ordering flowers for a friend to scheduling grocery delivery straight to their fridge,” Edasis said. “They can even get tech assistance or borrow items like an electric guitar and amp so their grandson can enjoy playing music during his visit.”

This seamlessly pairs programming and resident experience, while also allowing residents to have autonomy over their events and social interactions, Edasis stressed.

To support programming engagement, Aspenwood staff use a transcription technology partner to track attendance. This saves time “on the back end” for staff and automates aspects of resident engagement that give more time back for staff to spend with residents, McDaniel said.

“It gives us back about an hour of our day each day,” McDaniel added.

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