There is something new in the air at Five Star Senior Living’s communities, and it smells like home.
Or, more accurately, it smells like Home, the senior living provider’s new signature scent, which was developed in tandem with Scent Marketing Inc. The scent was recently launched in each of Five Star’s communities.
The EPIC Pillars: A Holistic Approach to Resident Well-Being
Darcy Santos, national director of resident programming for AlerisLife, parent company of Five Star, said the scent was developed to support Five Star’s four pillars of well-being. The pillars – emotional, physical, intellectual and community – form the acronym EPIC and are designed to support “the whole person,” whether they are a resident, team member, family member or visitor to a Five Star community.
“The strongest sense linked to memory and emotion is your smell,” Santos said. “So we want anyone who walks into our communities to feel like they’re at home and they’re with family. A lot of our emotions are generated by what we smell every day. We want everyone’s experience to be fantastic the second you walk in our doors.”
Bringing Hospitality Sensibilities to Senior Living
As part of EPIC, Santos said Five Star has searched for new ways to enhance their environments, including by emphasizing the five senses. Santos previously worked in hospitality for Waldorf Astoria and has “fantastic memories” of the smell that she associates with walking into those hotels. She thought a signature scent for Five Star was a natural way to boost the Five Star environment, and Jeffrey Leer, president and CEO of AlerisLife, agreed.
Five Star interviewed a host of scent companies and their clients before landing on Scent Marketing Inc. for the job. Santos said Five Star worked with SMI to ensure it understood the four pillars and “our company’s values, what’s important to us and what we’re trying to do.” SMI collaborated with master perfumers around the world to provide a host of scents for Five Star to consider.
Ultimately, SMI shipped dozens of scent samples to a core group of Five Star senior leaders who narrowed down the list to a smaller group of favorites. Then the leaders flew to Boston and gathered in a series of rooms with some additional staff in the city and experienced each smell, moving from room to room to ensure that the scents could be experienced in an environment unaffected by rival smells. With the help of SMI staffers, the Five Star contingent reflected on each smell, discussing what feelings and places it conjured, and discussed how well it fit what they were looking for.
The Result: A Scent Called Home
The Five Star team unanimously agreed on a clearcut top choice. The scent was named Home after a company-wide contest. Five Star would eventually share the scent widely with leaders from Five Star communities across the country at the company’s Field Leadership Conference. The feedback was enthusiastic, confirming the decision and setting the stage for the recent wide launch.
Santos said SMI took a science-driven approach to developing a scent that would align with Five Star’s mission and values. The composition of Five Star’s signature scent has 15 different ingredients, such as peach, apple, pineapple, kiwi, fennel, pine and sage. Each element has a purpose. Peach, for instance, is believed to be uplifting and energizing, helping to boost mood and well-being, Santos said, while sage can promote mental clarity, focus and a sense of attentiveness.
“Every single component in our composition has a ‘why’ behind it and a scientifically proven benefit to boost your mood and your sense of feeling a warm sense of connection,” Santos said. “And that’s exactly what we want everyone to feel.”
Where and How the Scent is Used in Communities
The scent will be used most prominently in lobbies, but it also will be diffused in key targeted major areas, such the main shared spaces in memory care units that lack a main entrance. Santos said Five Star hopes to expand the use of the scent in the future.
Santos said Five Star controls the use of the scent with an app, and there are three different diffuser sizes based on square footage and ceiling height – the result is user-friendly. Five Star developed a standard operating procedure to guide the use of the scent and ensure that all team members know their role in the program.
“The communities are each sent three months of oils at a time, and their facilities teams hold these oils until they need to be replenished, and then SMI will auto-ship them more oils every three months,” Santos said. “There’s an app to use, and it’s fantastic. You can set the time of day you want the scent to go. You can say how strong or how faint you like the scent, because for some places, it’s a huge space, and they really need the scent blasting and some it’s a small lobby and so you’ll have it on the smaller setting. We’re setting it from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all of our communities to start with.”
Scent as a Tool for Social Connection and Emotional Health
Santos said Five Star hoped to not only identify a scent that was pleasing to everyone, but they wanted it to help create a sense of energy in its communities and to boost the mood of those in its vicinity. Santos said Five Star also wanted to help strengthen a feeling of connection – in line with the company’s community pillar.
“We wanted to somehow scientifically evoke the feeling that you’re connected here,” Santos said. “I’m really proud of Five Star’s focus on loneliness, social isolation and depression, and so it was really important to us to have ingredients that are scientifically proven to help people feel connected. That’s why people come to senior living.”
Expanding Sensory Wellness: Background Music and More
Home started to be dispersed in late April and was in all Five Star communities by May 1. Santos said the early feedback from residents has been “tremendous.” And, more projects focused on the senses are in the works.
“This is a first step in new ways of enhancing our environments,” Santos said. “We’re also doing a background music pilot right now at several communities because there’s so much power behind music – nothing can boost your mood like music. So, we’re going to ensure there is a presence of ambient music in all our communities. And we’re going to be working on enhancing our environments in many other ways, indoors and outdoors, over the next couple years. We’re very excited about it.”
How Initiatives Like This Improve a Resident’s Experience
Signature programs like Home demonstrate how thoughtful, sensory-focused innovations can elevate daily life in senior living communities. More than just adding a pleasant aroma to the environment, the initiative is grounded in science and designed to spark emotional well-being, trigger positive memories, and promote a sense of calm and belonging. These enhancements are especially impactful for older adults living with cognitive impairments or those experiencing loneliness, providing a meaningful way to create comfort and consistency across Five Star communities.
By aligning initiatives like Home with its EPIC pillars of emotional, physical, intellectual, and community well-being, Five Star is creating immersive, wellness-focused environments that honor the whole person. Sensory-driven programs don’t just make spaces more inviting—they enhance quality of life, encourage positive interactions among residents and staff, and support overall mental and emotional health.
This commitment to elevating the resident experience is gaining momentum across the senior living industry. To further foster best practices, share ideas, and spotlight innovations like Home, Argentum will host the inaugural Resident Experience Roundtable during the upcoming Senior Living Executive Conference. This collaborative forum will bring together professionals who lead resident programming and engagement across the country to discuss how senior living communities can continuously raise the bar on resident satisfaction, personalization, and well-being.
The launch of this roundtable marks an exciting next chapter in the movement to prioritize the lived experience of older adults. From multisensory design enhancements to emotionally intelligent engagement strategies, initiatives like Five Star’s signature scent signal a growing recognition that every detail—big or small—can play a role in making residents feel at home, supported, and truly seen.