Radio Shows turns seniors into DJs to keep them engaged during the pandemic

“Isolation is really a hard thing for seniors in the best of times. Now they can’t even get together and see each other for meals”, is how Mitch Bennet explains the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has on the elderly living in nursing homes and assisted care facilites, who were left feeling very isolated.

Mitch Bennet is the chief creative director officer at Luckie, a marketing company that for years has worked with Bridge Senior Living, the enterprise that owns several retirement homes. Working together, they wanted to come up with a solution that provided a sense of community for theses isolated seniors. So they decided to launch Radio Recliner, an online radio show that turns the residents into DJ’s,

Listeners can send song requests and call in with dedications for their family and friends. "For this generation, radio was the original social media. Dedicating a song to someone you love, and having them hear it along with everyone else, is a special way of connecting. It's a great time to bring that feeling back", Bennet explains.

The DJ’s record the shows at the phone, from the comfort of their own room, and then professional producers insert the song and put together the shows. 88-year-old Bob Coleman starts his show off with an upbeat greating: "Hello everybody, it's a bright day in Franklin, Tennessee. This is Bob Coleman, better known as the 'Karaoke Cowboy,' coming to you from Room 3325. ... Let's just jump right into it." And Marion Murray, who goes by DJ M&M, tells her listeners ““We don’t have time to be sad, not at our age. We got to keep moving. It’s too important to just sit in a chair and fall asleep.”

The show has been a success, not only for the residents but also for their family and loved-ones, who have not been able to visit and see the show as another way to keep connected.

Adapted from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-elderly-radio-reclin...
https://eu.tennessean.com/story/news/2020/05/13/radio-recliner-senior-ci...

Listen to Radio Recliner: https://radiorecliner.com/