Retirement Living App Case Study: Vasey Communities
The Company
Kokoda Residences is a retirement living community located in Sydney's North Shore, under the management of Vasey Communities, a not-for-profit organization. The building comprises 117 apartments, offering one, two, and three-bedroom options. The first residents moved in August 2022. Vasey Communities operates 5 retirement communities in Sydney NSW. Allison Prusina is the Resident Support Manager at Vasey Communities
The Challenge
The primary challenge faced by the Kokoda Residences team was streamlining communication with their residents. With a large number of apartments, the team needed a more efficient way to share updates, alerts, activity schedules, and maintenance requests with the residents. Furthermore, they were keen on fostering a sense of community among the residents and providing an avenue for residents to connect and interact with each other. “We wanted to streamline communication with our residents, we wanted to provide options for the residents, to be able to create a community,” said Alison Prusina
The Solution
The solution came in the form of a retirement village app built on the Pluss Communities platform. From the onset, the Kokoda Residences team emphasised the use of the app to their residents. As part of the onboarding process, each resident was given a thorough rundown of the app, and the team continued to provide ongoing training as required. The app served multiple purposes, from communicating urgent and non-urgent posts to facilitating maintenance requests. It also featured sections for different types of posts, allowing the team to share a variety of content, including welcome messages for new residents, activity schedules, cafe menus, and more. Furthermore, the app enabled direct messaging between residents, fostering connections within the community.
“This is what the app did for us. It provided options for us to customise the app to fit our needs. It’s a platform that allows our residents to become part of the community. And to be informed of everything that goes on and Kokoda Residences. This was the biggest thing for us. We wanted to create a beautiful community at Kokoda Residences, and this is exactly what the app did for us and also the app is extremely easy to use for the residents and for the team”
The Impact
The introduction of the community app had a transformative effect on the Kokoda Residences community. It not only streamlined communication but also played a significant role in building a strong sense of community in less than a year. The app's daily updates kept the residents engaged and informed, and the maintenance request feature improved the efficiency of the facility management team. The team was able to go paperless, supporting environmental sustainability while improving efficiency in content creation and sharing. The high level of resident engagement, with over 85% regularly using the app, stands as a testament to the app's success in enhancing community engagement at Kokoda Residences. You can get more insights from Alison about how to build a great community and streamline communications with your own retirement village app.
