Messages of empowerment and independence resonate most with seniors. So does a focus on including the baby boomer market. Because seniors face an increasingly complex healthcare jigsaw puzzle, the best way to get their attention and earn their loyalty is with straight-forward, dignified dialogue.
Reaching this powerful market, which will swell to 76 million by the year 2000, is the focus of this issue.
By far, the ideal scenario for seniors is to remain self-reliant and in their own homes. This is the goal of at least three social HMOs that coordinate acute and long-term care services for seniors with community resources so they can remain healthy and independent at home. These plans include Elderplan in Brooklyn, N.Y., Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Ore., and SCAN in Long Beach, Calif.
So far, more than 125,000 people are benefitting from this federally supported program directly or indirectly and at least 80,000 are current members.
SCAN, California's only health plan under contract with Medicare to offer a combination of healthcare and personal care services, has kept more than 10,000 seniors out of nursing homes. This is music to the ears of seniors and their caregivers. SCAN leverages this powerful message in its marketing materials, first by directly targeting the mature market, then embracing baby boomers, says Paul Kenkel, SCAN's director of PR.
Positioning itself as "more than just a health plan," SCAN coordinates community-based services and arranges varying levels of support from walking and bathing to money management and other social assessments.
SCAN recently expanded its marketing messages to include the important role that family plays with senior independence. Its latest advertising copy reads: "I live near my grandchildren. I live exactly as I choose. I live an independent life."
This cross-generational approach is one way SCAN is expanding its messages beyond its core senior target to include baby boomers.
Bridging the Gap
Another organization taking a closer look at the influence baby boomers have on senior-focused healthcare decisions is the National Hospice Foundation (NHO) in Arlington, Va. Its recent research found that baby boomers and their elderly parents are experiencing a communications breakdown over discussing death. Ironically, Americans are more likely to talk to their children about safe sex and drugs than to their terminally ill parents about choices in care as they become older.
Hospitals can play a pivotal role in helping to bridge this communications void with educational seminars and community-based outreach that addresses the awkward issues of discussing hospice care with seniors and baby boomers, says Robert O'Connor, NHO's VP of marketing communications, which helped coordinate the research.
Doctors, for instance, are considered the No. 1 referral resource for elder care, and hospices create alliances with hospitals more than any other community facility, says O'Connor. Of the nation's 3,100 hospices, 27 percent have divisions in hospitals.
The research points to the need to promote more candid discussions about critical healthcare issue among baby boomers and their parents. Consider these findings:
- 50 percent of Americans say they would rely on family and friends to carry out their long-term care wishes, yet 75 percent have never taken the time to clearly articulate the type of care they want.
- The top priorities among those surveyed are having a choice about the services that are available, emotional and spiritual support, pain control tailored to the patient's wishes and the option to die at home, instead of in a nursing home.
- Despite ongoing improvements in end-of-life care over the last 20 years, almost one-third of Americans say they have no idea who they would contact to get the best care for a terminally ill family member orclose friend.
To fill this communication gap, NHO is in the process of planning a public affairs campaign that will launch this fall targeting baby boomers and seniors. It is eager to work with hospitals and other providers on local grassroots initiatives.
(SCAN, Paul Kenkel, 562/989-5100; NHO, Robert O'Connor, 703/294-4415, http://www.nho.org)
Senior Fast Facts
- 40 million seniors are living in the U.S.; that number is expected to double to 80 million in the next 30 years;
- Nearly 40 percent of seniors rely on a working-age son or daughter for caregiving.
- 41 percent of seniors live alone, 35 percent live with a spouse and the remainder are living with other family members or in nursing homes.
Source: SCAN