Online – Bay Haven Care Community

*June is Seniors’ Month! Make sure you Stay Safe, Stay in Touch*

In Ontario, the month of June is considered Seniors’ Month and is a time to reflect and celebrate all seniors from across the province. This year’s theme is “Stay Safe, Stay in Touch” and it focuses on keeping our seniors safe, connected, and engaged at their home during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility Raymond Cho “As we take this opportunity to mark Seniors’ Month, we recognize that these are very challenging times for seniors as they continue to self-isolate due to the risk of COVID-19. Now more than ever, it is important that we come together to support our seniors and recognize and honour the knowledge, experience, and the contributions that seniors have made to build the province that we enjoy today.”

Let us make this month extra special for our seniors by showing them as much support and love as possible. If you have a senior in your life, or if you want to help out voluntarily, please take the time to reach out to them to ensure that they have what they need during this very difficult time. There are plenty of things you can do to stay in touch with seniors, you can give them a call over the phone or through FaceTime or Zoom, you could pick up some groceries for them so they can stock up their refrigerators’ so they have food, or you could safely see them through a window while visiting. Anything that you do to help or connect with a senior will increase their level of happiness, especially since most of them cannot leave their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ontario Government has the highest regard for our seniors and they are committed to protecting and supporting them as much as possible. According to Raymond Cho “We are continuing to invest in almost 300 Seniors Active Living Centres which help seniors remain active and engaged in age-friendly communities.” Cho said that 175 of these programs are currently being offered remotely through teleconference, online videos, and one on one phone calls. These are all critical programs that help seniors stay connection while being at home. The Ontario Government also invested $11 million dollars to implement the Ontario Community Support Program, which is used to help coordinate meals, medicine, and other necessities to seniors across the province. Not only that, but the Ontario government is also developing a comprehensive Seniors’ Strategy which helps seniors remain healthy, active, and socially engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you can see, the Ontario Government is doing a lot to support seniors during this most difficult time, and since June is Seniors’ Month, we should all be doing our part by reaching out to our seniors as well. At Bay Haven Care Community, the Recreation team conducts and designs programs that help stimulate seniors emotional, intellectual, physical, vocational, social, spiritual, and environmental well-beings to benefit the seniors lifestyle. This month, let’s stay safe and stay in touch together as we help our seniors cope through this pandemic lockdown.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

*Modernizing Bay Haven’s Digital Presences*

We are officially in the year 2020, which is a crucial year for many businesses to finally focus on digitizing their business to become up-to-date with the modern world. All types of businesses are digitizing faster than we can comprehend, and it is important for you to not fall behind. Any small town or local business needs to begin planning an online presences of their company, whether focusing on a new modernized website, or adjusting their social media pages to stand out from their competitors, these are the tools that will make your business grow and become better than ever.

1) Phones > Newspapers: To begin, we have to understand the evolution process of human beings and how we receive our information. Simply put, humans do not read newspapers anymore. At one point in history, the newspaper was the only source of news that a person could get. But now, everyone uses their phone or computer to look up whatever they want. If you truly understood how many people use the internet to look things up, wouldn’t you want your website to look better than your competitors? As Bay Haven’s Marketing Specialist, I am planning on updating the website to modernize it for 2020. This is a project that I am excited to work on for the new year.

2) Pictures Speak A Thousand Words: It is simply true; pictures speak a thousand words. We are living in a fast-pace culture where images and pictures stand out a lot more than words. In our new fast-pace culture, people do not have time to read anymore. This is why it is important to post beautiful pictures on your website or social media pages. For Bay Haven, pictures are a very important way for us to communicate with resident’s family members that live far away. This is the most ideal way for family members to see their parents or grandparents living life at Bay Haven. This is why we try to post as many pictures and videos as we can on our Facebook page.

3) Social Media Interaction: For 2020, I plan on creating new social media pages for Bay Haven Care Community. I would like to create a Bay Haven Twitter, Instagram, and a TikTok account. I believe it is important for Bay Haven to communicate with all major social media platforms, because it is a way to express Bay Haven’s culture to families. Even though Facebook is the most used social media page for Bay Haven, I would like to expand Bay Haven’s horizons by interacting with members through other popular social media pages. This is important to do for any kind of business.

4) Website Representation: To make your business stand out from your competitors, it is important to show a good representation of your company through your website. Having a clean, fresh, and new look of your company through your website can really create an amazing image for your company. Here at Bay Haven, we want people to know that we are strive for the best possible care for our residents, and that our core values of respect, quality, staff, and community is positively represented over our website. The first thing that people do when they look up a retirement or nursing home for their loved ones, they search the company through Google. Having a great representation through our website is an amazing way to promote the excellence that comes from Bay Haven.

As a Marketing Specialist, I can confidentially say that these are four important first steps to bring your company into the online world. I am excited to work on Bay Haven’s marketing plan for 2020, so please continue to follow us as you venture on a journey with us to see new modern changes coming to Bay Haven’s online presences.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant