John McDonald is a resident at Covenant Village in Gastonia, North Carolina. One of the reasons John found success as a salesman is his outgoing personality. But when he first joined the community last year, it was hard meeting so many new people. “When you’re a new person showing up to a retirement community, your first job is to figure out names and faces and that’s difficult,” John said. “You pass people in the hall and don’t know if they were doctors or lawyers… you don’t know what their previous life was before showing up here.”
Wellzesta Life
When Wellzesta Life launched at Covenant Village this year, John served as a Wellzesta Ambassador. He became one of the first residents to learn the software so he could support others as they learned. Over the past few weeks, John has helped many in his building update their profiles with a picture and some information. “Wellzesta has been a big help,” to those newer residents still putting names to faces. John also liked how Life changed everyday things like activities and dining. “You used to have to walk down to the Craft Room and sign up on a sign-up sheet… and they used to send out paper menus. Now we just use Wellzesta to figure that out.”
Life in Quarantine
One of the most important changes is how updates related to COVID-19 are shared with residents. Life makes it possible to send and receive instant updates on cases and quarantine measures as soon as guidelines change. Every week, some of this information - along with other important announcements - is reiterated in a message from Covenant Village’s CEO. Prior to Wellzesta, this weekly video update was shared through an in-house television channel that John usually couldn’t watch. “I could never quite get my memory and my schedule in sync to watch it. And then it was gone. Now, it’s posted on Wellzesta and I can watch it at my leisure." Beyond these critical updates, the pandemic has reminded us all how important it is to stay connected with our various communities. Here too John has found his groove: “Wellzesta Life is a good way to keep in touch with my new friends here.”
