Chasing the spark

A state-of-the-art interactive projector. A centralized employee platform. A bicycle built for three. A digital kiosk. A school partnership. A creative workshop. A maintenance portal. A cooking show.

If you’re wondering what these things have in common, you’re not alone. This seemingly random list is just a small sample of submissions to United Active Living’s second annual employee Innovation Fair. Employees from all departments are encouraged to submit ideas to improve United’s operations and resident experience—and nothing is off the table. The more than two dozen submissions ranged from the practical: creating cross-department workflow integration; to the playful: connecting junior high school students to residents for a storytelling project; to the cutting edge: immersive projectors and specially developed bicycles to engage residents in new and exciting ways, and everything in between.

The Garrison Green community was buzzing with excitement for the event—residents, team members, community members, and friends gathered to peruse the top 10 finalist submissions, and chat with judges before they headed into the final deliberation.

“It’s clear that we are a company who loves to collaborate,” says Kera Redlack, United’s Vice President Wellness and Employee Engagement and Innovation Fair committee member. “In fact, all of the submissions were centered around collaboration in one way or another—in a community like ours, it’s essential for teams to all be on the same page—and they have brought some excellent proposals forward for consideration.”

The judges certainly had their work cut out for them. This year, the panel included Calgary Elbow MLA Samir Kayande, Mount Royal University Faculty Member and Chair in Older Adult Health, Jocelyn Rempel, Alzheimer Calgary Executive Director Barb Ferguson, and United Active Living President & CEO, Kim O’Brien.

With the tallies added up, the third-place winners, from the United Cares team at Garrison Green, Jeanette Rentino, HCA, and Andrea Adsuara, LPN, proudly introduced their idea for a “Resident & Visitor Kiosk”. This technology enhancement would not only track who enters and exits our community, but also has the potential to flag residents who may be at risk for social isolation by noting how long it’s been since they’ve been out of the community or received visitors.

Second place was claimed by housekeeping leads, Emely Aglabtin and Martha Brinson, along with their teams, for developing the idea for “POC for Housekeeping”. This concept builds on last year’s winning innovation, incorporating United’s unobtrusive monitoring system’s morning flasher checks into United’s Point of Care system. The result? Greater efficiency for our team members, reduced paper usage, improved record tracking, fewer errors, and more personalized services for United residents.

The top prize was awarded to Hunter Young, Sous Chef at Fish Creek, and Angela Elia, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, for their Culinary Showcase project—an online video series where a resident will team up with Hunter to prepare a dish together.

Angela says of their submission: “Hunter and I came up with the idea after a resident asked for the recipe for her favourite soup—the food at United is excellent, but there’s no doubt the residents can hold their own in the kitchen. Why not pair residents with the Culinary Team to share their favourite recipes and have some fun while we’re at it?”

Hunter is no stranger to the world of cooking onscreen, “I was enrolled in SAIT’s Culinary program during the pandemic,” says Hunter. “We had to submit our assignments by video to our instructors. They were pretty specific about what we needed to demonstrate to pass our assignments—I think my experience during school will help us to create a show that will be engaging and informative to the viewer,” Hunter laughs, “I’m looking forward to getting schooled by the residents!”

Jamie Fewchuk, Director Innovation in Aging at United, created the Innovation Fair in collaboration with Kathy Cleary, Vice President Strategic Projects, as a platform for team members to submit their ideas, and put them in front of their fellow team members and residents.

“While many older adult communities share similar ingredients, it’s often how these things are combined that’s the key difference. The adage 'the proof is in the pudding' resonates strongly with us, particularly in light of the outstanding submissions we received for this year’s innovation fair,” says Jamie. “Each submission was a testament to the dedication and creativity of our team. These proposals weren’t just innovative—they were crafted with a deep understanding of the type of community we work to build every day. Each submission underscored United’s commitment to our core values: cultivating a community where collaboration flourishes and genuine relationships are at the heart of everything we do.”

As for the culinary showcase, plans are in the works for a 2025 debut. Stay tuned!

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