Approximately 184,000 Australians – around 5.7% of the over 65s population – live in retirement communities of one kind or another. It’s a figure that’s expected to grow in the coming years. One of the major reasons for this is a better quality of life.
Residents of retirement villages and communities have higher levels of physical and mental wellbeing. If admitted to hospital, they’re often discharged earlier and they need less frequent visits to their GPs. Many of those benefits are down to the excellent management of retirement communities. Community managers not only take care of the built environment but also the engagement of community members. It’s not a job for the faint of heart!
BuildingLink’s community management core features serve retirement communities just as well as the large multi-family buildings that it was first designed for more than two decades ago.
Improving retirement community resident’s quality of life
One of BuildingLink’s greatest strengths is the communication features for residents and community managers. We know that communication works like glue for holding vibrant and active communities together.
Community bulletin boards make announcements and community schedules visible, keep people up to date with community events and encourage people to participate. These boards are perfect for retirement villages as they can be placed in key locations throughout the complex to ensure activities are easily and unobtrusively advertised. Group exercise sessions, book clubs and continuing education classes are just some of the activities that gain better attendance through passively advertising them to community members.
Local offers and services, specifically for community members, can be negotiated and passed onto community members via BuildingLink’s resident portal. These deals create a sense of belonging, exclusivity and encourage participation with the wider community. Discounts and two-for-one deals also create links between retirement villages and businesses in the area.
BuildingLink’s resident portal gives people direct access to everything they need to manage their life in a residential community. From booking amenities to sending instructions to the front desk about visitors – full control is placed at residents’ fingertips. This is ideal for active retirees who need to log a maintenance issue quickly before heading out for a game of golf or residents who wish to celebrate a milestone anniversary by booking a function room for their celebration.
Making community management easier
There’s not a lot of time to spare when you’re managing a retirement community! There are activities to arrange, building maintenance issues to stay on top of, and reports to be created. Streamlining some or all of these responsibilities makes for easier management and lower costs.
BuildingLink’s maintenance module ensures regular maintenance and ad hoc requests are easy to stay on top of. Requests can be received, swiftly turned into contractor work orders and tracked through to completion. Everything is automatically saved – and time-stamped – to ensure fastidious record keeping is a cinch. This function is superb for retirement community managers with hundreds of units to take care of. It keeps days focused without losing time tracing requests back to specific apartments.
Automated messages and tailored templates are a core feature of BuildingLink’s communication modules. These functions enable pre-defined messages to be sent when triggered by a resident’s behaviour or other events. For example, booking confirmation emails after residents schedule a tennis court session or emergency procedure reminders at the beginning of bushfire season. Not only does this save time, it also ensures smooth relations and easily keeps everyone up to date.
Feedback from community members can help with future planning. The survey feature of BuildingLink’s system enables brief but concise feedback to be requested and received. Answers can be produced as a report or reviewed for granular detail to help understand what’s working and the areas for community improvement.
BuildingLink makes managing a vibrant and varied community easier and more efficient so management teams have time to focus on the tasks that really matter. Our free tailored demonstration will show you how our essential service can boost your community’s wellbeing – book a demo today.