Eldercare Marketing Blog

Palliative Care Marketing: More than “NOT Hospice”

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…

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Sweet memories of my mother

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…

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Who are your best website viewers?

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…

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Men as Family Caregivers

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…

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Shared Decision Making and Patient Engagement

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…

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Family caregivers reduce readmission rates

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…

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Hospice = Hope: Marketing Ideas

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…

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Reaching family caregivers through Facebook

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…

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Why I’m not a fan of LinkedIn company pages

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…

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How Care Managers Help Home Care’s Bottom Line

A series especially for home care companies In this post I am continuing a series about ways that home care companies can benefit from working more closely with Aging Life Care™ managers. Through my company, Elder Pages Online, I work with both groups. By sharing the results of many interviews I’ve conducted with home care…

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