Building your Care Circle

Supporting your senior loved ones is a big job. It can take all the energy you can muster to take care of their needs, visit when you can, make tough decisions about their care, and keep all of your family members in the loop. And that’s not even counting all the energy required by your job and home life.

 

With Connected Life, you can support your senior loved ones all day, every day, even when you can’t be there. By building a circle of family, friends, and professionals, you will no longer be the one taking care of everyone while nobody is taking care of you. 

 

We want your Connected Life experience to be great for everyone involved. Contact us any time, whether you need help, advice, or just someone to help you talk things out.

 

Thinking things through

Seniors are happiest when they are connected to a rich circle of friends, family, and caregivers. Connected Life strengthens the care circle by helping people connect whenever they want, anytime, anywhere. When everyone is involved, your loved ones will be happier, and you will get more support too.

 

Your senior loved ones are the key to making the care circle work. If they are engaged, then everyone else will want to engage too. See our Senior Setup Guide for guidance in choosing the right option for your loved one.

 

Your family members and your loved ones’ friends will love the way that Connected Life helps them stay in the loop. Not only can they support your loved ones, but the posts they see in Connected Life will be important to them too. You will want to encourage them to check in and post news often. Luckily, Connected Life makes this easy by helping you send the right messages as they come on board and giving them positive feedback every time they post.

 

The more friends and family are involved the better off you and your loved ones will be. You can invite them by signing in to Connected Life and selecting Manage Care Circle. Some members will be active contributors, while others may simply check in to stay in the loop. That’s okay, too.

 

If your senior has a professional care manager or lives in an extended care facility, you will want to include them in your care circle. You can invite them by signing in to Connected Life and selecting Manage Care Circle.

 

Once you have a plan for setting up Connected Life, it’s time to get everyone else on board. The passion you show for getting others involved will be a key part of making your care circle work. Let others know about your Connected Life care circle. Talk with them often about how the care circle will benefit your loved ones and them. Listen to their feedback and think about how that can help you be more effective in getting the help and support you want from them.

 

Taking the next steps

The first thing you’ll want to do is set up Connected Life for your senior loved ones. Using the Senior Setup Guide, you can customize your loved ones’ setup to meet their needs, preparing them to have a great experience with Connected Life. Please Contact Us if you have questions or need help.

 

While you are getting things set up for your seniors, get your Connected Life care circle going with friends, family, and your professional care managers. You’ll find that they have plenty to talk about with each other and their posts will be ready for your seniors the very first time they view Connected Life.

 

Inviting care circle members is easy. Connected Life does most of the work. Sign in to Connected Life and select Manage Care Circle. Just add people to your care circle, customize the introduction email they will receive, and you are done. Connected Life will let them know of the invitation. Remember to search the professional care manager list to see if your care manager is already using Connected Life. If you don’t see your care manager there, Contact Us and we will help you with next steps.

 

Building habits

Connected Life works best when everyone is in the habit of checking in, sending fun posts, and keeping the calendar up to date. You can be an important part of making this happen and you can use Connected Life to do it.

 

The most important thing you can do is to send Connected Life posts several times a week. This will not only give your senior loved one something to look forward to, it will get everyone else involved too. They will enjoy the fun of seeing your posts and those of other care circle members, and they can take a moment to add comments for everyone to see. Not every care circle member will post frequently but if there are enough new posts to look at, you’ll find everyone checking in often.

 

Take a minute to ask, “How often will I post on Connected Life?” Consider posting about the events in your life that your senior may want to hear about. Think of ways that you can help your senior remember happy times from the past. Keep the calendar up to date with visits, appointments, even favorite TV shows. Get in the habit and everyone else will, too.

 

As you bring your friends and family members on board, ask them to think about how often they will post, too. Give them regular encouragement. The more each member is actively involved, the more you’ll have a vibrant, fun care circle that is really making a difference.

 

Connected Life can make a huge difference

We know that Connected Life can make a huge difference for seniors and their families. We’ve seen it, and it is truly transformational!

 

We also know the importance to get everyone engaged. Keep communicating and you’ll get the results you want.

 

See our Getting Started Checklist to stay organized and on target.