When Families Show Up: How Union Villa Used Engage⁺ to Drive Engagement

Introduction

Union Villa is a 160-bed long-term care home located in Markham, Ontario, operated by Unionville Home Society. The home serves a diverse resident population and is known for its active, wide-ranging recreation program, which includes cultural events, themed dinners, music, seasonal celebrations, and community outings.

Lindsay Bailey, Manager of Recreation Services, leads a team of recreational therapists who run programming for all 160 residents. Her guiding philosophy is straightforward: "If you're not having fun, they're not having fun." For Lindsay, recreation isn't just activity programming. It's a way for families to spend meaningful time with their loved ones, especially when conversation has become harder.

The Challenge

Before Engage⁺, getting the word out about events at Union Villa required a multi-channel effort that still left gaps. Lindsay and her team relied on printed monthly activity calendars posted in each resident's room (a Ministry-mandated requirement), posters throughout the building, newsletters, and word of mouth.

The problem was reached. Families who weren't regularly in the building simply didn't know what was happening.

Lindsay recalls:

Calling 160 families individually wasn't realistic. Even a brief call per family would consume hours, and each call often turned into a longer conversation. Communication by email outside a dedicated platform introduced its own stress: Lindsay described the anxiety of double-checking blind copy fields every time, knowing that a mistake could expose family members' contact information to one another.

Their existing internal recreation management software included a family portal, but it was limited to the recreation team. It wasn't a home-wide communication solution, and the team opted to hold off on activating it once broader platform conversations were underway.

The result was inconsistent attendance, families missing events their loved ones would have enjoyed, and a recreation team spending more time on communication logistics than on residents.

The Implementation

When Evoke Health was introduced to Union Villa's leadership team as part of a broader initiative to improve family communication, Lindsay was immediately enthusiastic. What resonated most from the demo was the idea of equity in access. Lindsay recalls:

When Union Villa first went live on Engage+, Lindsay initially promoted events through the mass messaging feature rather than the calendar. Looking back, she attributes this partly to habit and partly to the natural learning curve of a new platform.

Her early anxiety centered on two things: getting the details right before hitting send, and the underlying concern about confidentiality that had followed her from earlier experiences with mass email. With support from the Evoke team, she worked through it.

The Result

The shift in family attendance was immediate and unmistakable.

The first event Lindsay posted on the calendar was the November 1st Fall Fest, a full-day event featuring a spice workshop and a petting zoo.

At the December Holiday Breakfast, the response was tremendous and spots were filled very quickly. Cookies with Santa on Christmas morning, posted without an RSVP requirement, drew the largest crowd the team had ever seen.

Most significantly, at the upcoming Spring Gala dinner, Lindsay reviewed the RSVP list and noticed something she hadn't before: many of the sign-ups weren't regular attendees. Their loved ones typically had lower participation levels.

The impact also extended to resident participation. Even families who couldn't attend began requesting that staff bring their loved ones to specific events. Karaoke, which had previously seen Lindsay and her team sing most of the songs themselves to keep the energy up, now fills with family members who get up to perform.

Lindsay also uses the RSVP data operationally.

Time Back for What Matters

Before Engage⁺, preparing for a major event meant spending a couple of hours on the phone, confirming details, fielding questions, and tracking down family members. With the calendar, that time has largely been reclaimed

"What are you doing with the extra time?" The answer was immediate:

The nature of incoming communication has also shifted. Rather than fielding repetitive informational questions, Lindsay now hears from families who already have the details and want to offer help or get involved. "They're all willing to help. 'Oh, let me know when you need me. I can be there for the event.'"

How Union Villa Uses Engage⁺

Lindsay typically posts three to four calendar events per month, scaling up in December and June during Seniors' Month. In addition to the calendar, she uses the Bulletin Board to post the monthly activity calendar and other program materials, and Mass Messaging for time-sensitive event reminders. She sent two targeted reminders ahead of Fall Fest and credits them with helping drive attendance.

One feature Lindsay hasn't yet used but is ready to: collecting family consent for offsite outings through the platform. Currently, when organizing a trip such as the upcoming art gallery visit and nature walk, she calls families individually to confirm participation and obtain consent.

What Didn't Go Perfectlyn

Lindsay was candid about the early hiccups. At the Holiday Breakfast, families continued to receive reminders after the event reached capacity, even though they assumed spots were still available. "They just kept getting, 'Oh, I can still come,' but then I'd be like, 'Oh no, sorry.'" Adding RSVP capacity management to the portal resolved this.

She also raised a feature request: the ability to include a meal selection option within the RSVP for events like the Spring Gala. Rather than following up separately to collect dietary preferences, capturing that at the point of RSVP would eliminate an extra round of communication. "Those additional things that we have to ask that we don't have to circle back around to ask, that would be really, really helpful." The Evoke team confirmed this is on the product roadmap.

What's Next

Lindsay sees continued room for growth in Union Villa's use of Engage⁺. She is actively planning to use the platform for off-site trip consent, and is interested in whether recreational progress notes from Activity Pro could eventually surface in the portal for families who want to stay connected to their loved one's daily participation, particularly for residents who can no longer share those moments themselves.

Her aspiration is simple: "I want to see an event where everybody's there, and we can house everybody."

Conclusion

Union Villa's experience with Engage⁺ demonstrates what becomes possible when recreation teams have a reliable way to reach every family, equally and at once. For Lindsay and her team, the calendar feature didn't just improve attendance; it also boosted engagement. It changed who was in the room: families who had never come before, residents with low participation rates, people who simply hadn't known what was happening until now.

The platform has also returned something harder to quantify: time. Hours that once went to phone calls and follow-ups now go to residents.

Interested in learning how Engage⁺ can transform family engagement and reduce communication burden at your facility? Contact us today!