Written on April 29th, 2010 by tasha
#2 in a series on how to boost your presence in a search engine result.
The first, easily overlooked factor in search engine optimization, is to make sure that your website is search-engine-friendly. If you understand how search engines work, then you can tip the scale in your favor to be sure that you are highly visible and easy for them to index.
Google and the other search engines do not have a room full of knowledgeable experts in elder care reviewing and ranking your website based on the actual credibility and professionalism of the content. This is too subjective and would be way too expensive.
Instead, search engines use “spiderbots” to “crawl the web” and index all the pages they come across. These are automated data collectors that follow the links from one page to another, counting and cataloguing all kinds of information. (Computers cannot make judgment calls well, but they can count!) Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: search engine optimization
Posted in Internet Marketing
Written on April 18th, 2010 by tasha
You might wonder what these two have in common. According to geriatrician, Dr. Dennis McCullough, quite a lot. Dr. McCullough is a professor at Dartmouth Medical School and the author of My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing “Slow Medicine.”
The book is full of insights, both from his practice as a family physician, and his experience caring for his ailing mother. Dr. McCullough’s premise is that in this fast food age, we have lost site of quality and the importance of the journey. Just as the “Slow Food” movement embraces high quality food and the joy of cooking and eating, “Slow Medicine” focuses on a compassionate approach to elder care that honors the dignity and unique qualities of aging. (The Slow movement is not about intentionally moving at a snail’s pace. Rather the focus is quality above quantity, moving at the right speed for enjoyable, healthy living.)
In terms of elder care, Dr. McCullough recommends that we look to a small, family-run Italian restaurant, and incorporate its strengths:
- Local ingredients, family recipes. The patient must be treated within the context of the family. Individual values and the dynamics of the group comprise the relationships that are the hallmark of personal meaning in life. I am reminded of the hospice concept that the patient and family are the unit of care. Chalk one up for slow medicine at its finest!
- Simmering on the back burner. Food tastes best when it has had time to meld the flavors into a harmonious soup. So many of our decisions are forced at a pace that is not in harmony with the pace of elders. According to Dr. McCullough, older adults have been shown to make very wise decisions if given the time to mull over the consequences. They do have many years of experience, and therefore many experiences, that indicate to them the profound consequences of watershed decisions. With a longer history than most of the other stakeholders (e.g., doctors and family members), the patient has more to sift through. Whenever possible, allow time for a considered decision, even if it is less efficient. The trust and respect engendered, as well as the wisdom that is allowed to unfold, will be well worth the wait.
- Big table, long meals. Our fragmented health care system, with its bevy of specialists and specialized settings results in exactly the opposite: small tables, short meals. In slow medicine, the focus is on enlarging the support system and sustaining advocacy across the continuum. What is needed is a re-balancing of care that uses time and relationships to create trust, a covenant or a guide (e.g., a geriatric care manager) to help bring the guests together at the table and allow for a meal that is savored and satisfying.
For more information on Slow Medicine, you might want to read the New York times article: For the Elderly, Being Heard About Life’s End. For more information on other Slow movements, check out www.slowplanet.com. Dr. McCullough also recommended the World Institute of Slowness apparently headquartered in Norway. No wonder the children in Lake Wobegon are all above average!
Any thoughts or stories you have concerning slow medicine (or Italian restaurants)?
Tags: Geriatric care managers, Slow medicine
Posted in Elder Care, Family Caregivers, GCM Marketing
Written on April 13th, 2010 by tasha
Check out the new Medicare website. It is very senior-friendly.
What a relief! The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just unveiled the new www.medicare.gov. Most websites are constructed by “Net natives,” young designers who never have known a world without the Internet. They are not aware of the components required to make a website inviting for persons with little Internet experience, never mind those with visual impairments and arthritic hands! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: classic, Medicare, senior-friendly, Usability
Posted in Internet Marketing, Technology
Written on April 7th, 2010 by tasha
Four reliable factors have been identified in a Canadian study to help providers more closely monitor patients at risk for readmissions or death. (Having completed my Masters through the University of Alberta, I confess I’m a tad partial to Canadian studies!)
The LACE study, as it is being referred to, reminds me of the CAGE tool for determining alcohol dependence and addiction. Although there’s a scoring algorithm (not quite as simple as CAGE’s yes/no answers), LACE makes intuitive sense and may be worth investigating as you think in terms of ways to promote your services.
For providers with palliative care programs, this tool certainly offers a quick way to help physicians assess who may in fact be at risk of dying soon, especially among those with less predictable chronic conditions such as CHF and COPD.
For providers seeking to collaborate with doctors and hospitals to reduce readmissions, pointing out this set of factors can help them determine who they should possibly refer to your services for more preventive monitoring. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Lace study
Posted in Collaboration, GCM Marketing, Home Health Marketing, Hospice Marketing
