One doesn't drop one's cherished branding on a whim. There are clearly pluses and minuses to setting up a separate brand for your palliative care program. But research reveals some pretty compelling pluses! What's in a name? Let’s start with these data from a study done at MC Anderson and published in The Oncologist. As...
Marketing Palliative Care: Do you need a separate brand?
One doesn't drop one's cherished branding on a whim. There are clearly pluses and minuses to setting up a separate brand for your palliative care program. But research reveals some pretty compelling pluses! What's in a name? Let’s start with these data from a study done at MC Anderson and published in The Oncologist. As...
When explaining palliative care, it's tempting to compare and contrast it to hospice. But research from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) indicates that defining palliative care in the context of how it differs from hospice only muddies the waters. Palliative care programs need to stand on their own and define themselves independently. How... 
This was taken two weeks ago, which was two days before she died. She kept wanting to entertain the nurses with her stories but was having trouble tracking her thoughts, so everyone in the room closed our eyes and "took a nap together" so she could rest. We were able to move her back home... 
Elder care is not like e-commerce. We can't look at shopping cart totals and know what worked best. For elder care providers, the best website viewers are those who ultimately pick up the phone. They want to learn more, and hopefully this will lead to an admission or contract. I'll take three visitors who pick... 
It used to be a classic stereotype: The brother "disappears" as Mom and Dad start needing more help. The eldest sister steps in and has to shoulder the entire burden, never mind her other obligations... Thankfully, that's changing, and quickly! Eight years ago, 34% of family caregivers were male. Now that's up to 40%, amounting... 
Everyone strives to be "patient centered," but truthfully, there's been a bit of marketing spin on that, with not a lot of shift in institutional focus. CMS's new regulations for home health really make the patient's goals the meaningful centerpiece of the care plan. I have just returned from the New England Home Care and... 
A study recently released in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society conducted a review (meta-analysis) that looked at the results of discharge interventions that specifically included family caregivers. The studies included in this review were published between 1990 and April 2016. Only randomized clinical trials were included (meaning they all had a treatment group and... 
With spring and the promise that fruit blossoms bring, I am reminded of the importance of hope in the marketing of hospice and palliative care. Certainly we focus on comfort. But if I see one more well-intended photo of a frail hand being gently held by a young robust hand—unless you are literally talking about... 
The graying of Facebook Facebook has matured, literally. According to the Pew Internet Project, Facebook is far and away the most popular of the social networks, with 68% of the entire U.S. adult population engaging in this medium. By age, that breaks down to 36% of persons 65+ use Facebook 61% of persons 50-64 use... 
I find enthusiasm about company pages puzzling. Conventional wisdom has it that you need a personal profile AND a company page on LinkedIn. Company pages can be pretty. But I am not convinced they are effective. I work with about 90 elder care professionals around the country and I am frequently asked to help with... 