Payment solutions can encourage the move to senior living or commitment to senior care, especially during challenging economic times.   Today, there are a number of payment options available to both seniors and their families to help them access senior living option, even if their house hasn’t sold or benefits have yet to arrive. 

Families and seniors, however, often do not know that these options even exist. This is why as providers of senior housing and care, as advocates whose job is to serve as a resource of available options, it is important we are well aware of the options and providers who can help a family obtain the help they need as quickly and simply as possible.  Serving as a resource for such information to seniors and their families brings relief and gratitude that can have long lasting effects, not to mention, a move-in &/or longer stay in your community, or a satisfied client if you run a home care agency!

Some options include:

1.      Senior Living Line of Credit – for seniors and their families who seek a move into communities that charge rent on a monthly basis;

2.      Financial Concierge Programs – for independent seniors who need to fund their entry fees while they work on selling their home or stock. Such programs can help seniors leverage their “trapped” equity in order to lock in a move to a CCRC;

3.      Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits – wartime veterans and surviving spouses can receive between $900 and $1,800 in monthly benefits for senior housing and care;

4.      Life Assurance Benefits and Life Settlements – there are options for families to convert one’s life insurance into a paying benefit;

5.      Credit and Debit Card acceptance – one more payment option for seniors & their families. Is a small fee worth a move in?

Providers have done the math and realize that providing payment solutions to a senior and their family can have a noticeable impact on move-ins and decrease in Lost Revenue Days. Many providers today cover interest for families and seniors who take out financing; helping ensure little cost to the senior and family on the VA Benefit, or have recognized the decrease in lost revenue days associated with accepting credit cards at least for the initial deposit and first month’s move-in and related fees.

Join us for a webinar on Wed., 9/14, led by Elias Papasavvas CEO and Bridgette Duber Ph.D, Vice President of Education and Outreach for Elderlife Financial Services, who will discuss each of these options, the pros and cons, and the math related to the bottom line benefits of senior housing and care providers who are contemplating not only how to offer such solutions, but how to ensure their teams within the communities, are comfortable letting seniors and their families know that a move to a quality senior lifestyle is possible thanks to a variety of payment solutions.

Click here to register – seating is limited!

As we continue to bake to a nice golden brown here in Dallas, our friends on East Coast got a nasty visit from Irene over the weekend.  (Why Irene?  In a few years will the storms get names like Hunter, Taylor, Harper and Britney?)   It looks like advance preparation made it easier for many to get through it, but tragedy did strike, unfortunately.

I was able to read some of the news coming across on Twitter during and after the storm and it sounds like most senior communities made it through with little or no damage although many assisted living communities and nursing homes had to evacuate, which can cause extreme stress on residents and staff and logistical nightmares.  It was refreshing to see stories where almost all staff showed up for work and others covered for those who couldn’t make it in.  Even read one good story of a former ship captain, who as a resident formed a team to go around and make sure all windows were properly latched, as during the last storm leaks had occurred through the windows.

Were there any heroes at your community or in the surrounding community that went above and beyond during Irene?  Any good stories from your community?  We would love to have you share them with the visitors to this blog and recognize their efforts.  Once again, we at New LifeStyles hope that everything went as smooth as possible and things are back to normal quickly!

July/August edition of Leading Age Magazine

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

[Video Replay] Senior Fairs, and Community Events: How to Walk Away with the MOST Leads without Over-Spending

Innovation Starts With Experimentation

Poor Email Tactics Result in Poor Metrics

The Best Way to Measure Home Care Quality

Why Social Media Doesn’t Work In Home Care (or what parts don’t work)

When I was a kid, a boy passed me a note. “Do you like me? Y or N”. I circled Y and passed it back and from then on we were friends.

Now that we’ve grown up, we still want to know the same thing, especially if you own a business. Do your viewers “Like” what you have to offer? Will they be a friend? Are they getting what they need/want from your site/page? Are they interested in the ideas and promotions that you are offering? How can you tell?

If you haven’t already, start with a Facebook page. Then you can get some customer feedback through that page & by adding the Facebook “Like” button to your website. The Like button lets a viewer share your content with friends on Facebook. When the viewer clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in their friends’ News Feed with a link back to your website. They may even add a comment about your site.

Placing the Like button on your site is a convenient plus. There are many vairations of the button, from a small f, to a small Like button, even with a Header and Number count. You can choose the size of the box, color option, whether to show faces, a stream and a header (beware, the more you add, the larger the more real estate it takes up on your home page). For the basics, start here http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box

You can do the same with Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus and more!

These sites have made it pretty easy to add their buttons, so don’t wait!  Start finding out who “Likes” you today. 

By Vicki Fields, guest author/New LifeStyles Client Web Content Manager

Have you noticed the new look to our search resuls & client pages on our site?

We’ve made it less boxy, enlarged the graphic, brought attention to those with slide shows by showing the first image, and highlighted the Featured Advertisers.

Do you have other suggestions for us? What else would you like to see, or rather not see on the search results pages? What about your company’s page on our site?

Do a search and let us know what you like &/or what you want to change or add. You can also now sign-up for our quarterly industry newsletter at http://www.newlifestyles.com/clients/newsletters.aspx

We appreciate your feedback!

Its back to school for a lot of students next week, so to honor these scholars, here are some educational and informative articles from the world of retirement and independent living, assisted living, nursing and dementia care, home care and many other ports of call:

A little good news on the financial front:

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/76-cents-worth-of-good-news/

Make sure you are selling the “community” benefits of your community:

http://tinyurl.com/3eztxtx

Social Proof, a great principle when marketing your community or services:

http://trmann.com/wordpress/2011/08/social-proof/

Some answers to the always perplexing question of measuring Social Media return:

http://tinyurl.com/44nomnp

Have a great weekend!  If you have extra rain, send it our way, df

Recently, my mother, who lives in a local assisted living community, and I were discussing possibly looking at some other options in the area.  So, I sent in four requests for information, using both community web sites and the information request forms on the New Lifestyles’ site.  I got prompt responses from…………..Zero.  Waited a week or two, Zero.  Pretty shocking and dissappointing.  Leads and visitors are the future of retirement and assisted living communities, nursing and memory care providers and home care companies.  To let them fall through the cracks is inexusable.

Is this happening at your community?  Make sure to occasional test the technology and personnel involved with running with leads and following up with calls or visitors.  Have mystery shoppers test your web site information request forms and make calls requesting information.  It only takes a few minutes a month and you never know if a link on your site has gone bad, an e-mail address is missing a letter or a voicemail box is going unchecked!

Don’t waste your marketing and technology investments.  Hopefully, I didn’t try and contact you for information.

Cheers, df

We all have our favorite web sites.  In most cases, we all gasp in horror when the web site changes dramatically, in both look and functionality.  All of a sudden, the comforting aqua color scheme has become a harsh and intimidating fuchsia.  Maybe the menu is no longer along the top and easy access to the most recent recipes for exotic vanilla pudding has become a three click nightmare.  But, over time you adjust, you start enjoying the new look and new features.  You get a warm feeling when the dancing gorilla greets you with the joke of the day and a great discount coupon for that local ballroom dancing class that you’ve yearned for.

The bottom line?  You must keep your site fresh.  Continually add new content and keep giving the user a reason to come back.  This doesn’t necessarily mean an annual complete overhaul, but every two-three years, you should be prepared to make significant updates or a redesign to keep up with your competitors and address new technologies and demands from your current and prospective customers.

Need help in this process?  New LifeStyles will provide a free analysis of your site and give you advice on changes to make to keep your site fresh, relevant and technologically current.  Contact us today to get the process started.  We can send you examples of changes or new designs that can really change the way people view your retirement or assisted living community, nursing/dementia care center, home care company or any other business.

Every Friday, we try to bring you worthwhile articles related to retirement, assisted living, nursing or dementia care, home care and other related topics:

Just recently, during a website walk through, a young client said to me, “Sure, I understand how to check the site. I’m 23 years old. Not like the 50 year olds who can’t even use the computer.” My 40 year-old mouth fell open as I listened over the phone. Of all the nerve! But providing good customer service kept me from exploding.

Computers and the internet are being widely used by many. Not just the youngsters who think they own the world. Business owners, website owners and those looking for information online come in all ages, shapes and sizes.

Age may play a role in how individuals use the Internet but is no longer a key in if an individual uses the Internet. It is now very common for seniors to check their email on a regular basis and use social networking tools, accessing Twitter and Facebook. Seniors are now using the internet just as much as any other person. It has become even easier for them with brightly colored keyboards and zoom technology for easier reading.

According to the Internet and American Life – the 2010 Generations Report – age as a determining factor  seems to be losing significance. Accessing health-related information online is now the third most popular online activity for all Internet users regardless of age.

Wireless net access is also increasing among the mid to older generation. People aged 46-55 access websites or other digital media or services via a laptop, cell phone, or other internet-connected mobile device. That figure drops to 46% for people aged 56-64, and 33% for people aged 65-73. 

Business owners need to understand and incorporate new technologies. Reach out to the senior audience online. Otherwise you are distancing yourself from more and more potential clients, because website usage and social media are continuing to grow. Still think you should wait to get your website up and running? I think not!

By guest author,

Vicki Fields, Client Web Content Manager for New LifeStyles