The Leaders' Board

In this episode, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with Dan Rexford, Vice President of Senior Living, Builders Design, about the importance of model residences in senior living communities. For additional insights and information about Builders Design, please visit their website. Subscribe to the Leaders’ Board podcast today! If you would like to collaborate with Love & Company […] The post Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! appeared first on Love & Company.

In this episode, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with Laila Zemrani, CEO of Fitnescity, about how data-driven personal wellness can impact the lives of seniors. For additional insights and information about Fitnescity, please visit their website. Subscribe to the Leaders’ Board podcast today! If you would like to collaborate with Love & Company on a […] The post Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! appeared first on Love & Company.

Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! This is the third episode of a three-part podcast series about what senior living executives can learn about leadership from the Battle of Gettysburg. In this episode, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with John Franklin, Managing Director and Group Head of BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, about leadership preparation versus leadership identification. For additional insights and information about BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, or to get a copy of John’s white paper, “Leadership Lessons From the Battle of Gettysburg,” please visit the BB&T Capital Markets website. Subscribe to the Leaders’ Board podcast today! If you would like to collaborate with Love & Company on a podcast, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801. The post Lessons from Gettysburg: Leadership Preparation vs Leadership Identification appeared first on Love & Company.

Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! This is the second episode of a three-part podcast series about what senior living executives can learn from the Battle of Gettysburg. In this episode, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with John Franklin, Managing Director and Group Head of BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, about how to resolve executive disagreement. For additional insights and information about BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, or to get a copy of John’s white paper, “Leadership Lessons From the Battle of Gettysburg,” please visit the BB&T Capital Markets website. Subscribe to the Leaders’ Board podcast today! You won’t want to miss the next–and final–episode of the series, in which Chris and John will discuss leadership preparation vs. leadership identification. If you would like to collaborate with Love & Company on a podcast, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801. The post Lessons from Gettysburg: Resolving Executive Disagreement appeared first on Love & Company.

Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! This is the first episode of a three-part podcast series about what senior living executives can learn from the Battle of Gettysburg. In this episode, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with John Franklin, Managing Director and Group Head of BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, about group alignment and leader intent. For additional insights and information about BB&T Capital Markets’ Healthcare Finance Group, or to get a copy of John’s white paper, “Leadership Lessons From the Battle of Gettysburg,” please visit the BB&T Capital Markets website. Subscribe to the Leaders’ Board podcast today! You won’t want to miss the next episode, where Chris and John will discuss executive disagreement. If you would like to collaborate with Love & Company on a podcast, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801. The post Lessons from Gettysburg: Group Alignment and Leader Intent appeared first on Love & Company.

In this podcast, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, discusses the many benefits to the Green House Project’s innovative care model with Susan Ryan, Senior Director of The Green House Project. To learn more about the benefits to our healthcare marketing services, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801.  The Green House Project has over 10 years of experience transforming long-term care across the country to create an environment of person-centered care. For more information about The Green House Project, please visit their website or “like” them on Facebook! The post The Benefits of the Green House Model of Care appeared first on Love & Company.

Listen to the latest Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast! In this podcast, Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, talks with Maryann Timon, Vice President of Post-Acute Care Strategies at PMD Advisory Services, about the evolving landscape of the post-acute care market and the impact of this on post-acute care providers. Click here to learn more about our healthcare assessment. To learn more about how our health services marketing can help increase occupancy in your community’s assisted living, skilled nursing, rehab and memory care, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801.  For more information about PMD Advisory Services, please visit their website or “like” them on Facebook! The post The Evolving Landscape of Post-Acute Care Markets appeared first on Love & Company.

Listen to Love & Company’s latest podcast or read the transcription below! Join Chris Carruthers, VP of Health Services Marketing as she discusses the importance of wellness in marketing Life Plan Communities with Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA). CC: Thank you for joining us today for the Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast on the importance of marketing wellness in Life Plan Communities. I am Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing and I am privileged to have Colin Milner with me today. Colin is the CEO of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) and a founder of the active-aging Industry in North America. He is also a leading authority on the health and well-being of the older adult, and for the past six years, the World Economic Forum has invited him to serve on its Network of Global Agenda Councils, recognizing him as one of “the most innovative and influential minds” in the world on aging-related topics. Welcome, Colin, thank you. Would you like to take a few minutes to talk about the ICAA, please? CM: Sure, the International Council on Active Aging, or ICAA, is a professional association that is now celebrating 15-and-a-half years of being in business. We have a very simple goal, and that is: how do we help change the way we age? Now, of course, changing the way we age then incorporates everything, so it then moves from a simple goal to a very complex, systematic format to do that. What we do, is we provide education, information, resources and tools to help people age well, and at the heart of that is our wellness model, our seven dimensions of wellness that enable us to provide that education to help people to do a better job in their communities. I’m glad that we’re speaking about Life Plan Communities today because they are actually the most active group within the ICAA. CC: Perfect! Let’s talk a little bit about why wellness is important, and why it’s important now. CM: Well, wellness is a process by which people are able to make more informed decisions about their health and well-being, and to be one with themselves. And why is it important now and why is it important in these communities is really because on a local level, we have come to the realization that we’re unable to sustain our healthcare given the current format and the way that society is structured around, and that the responsibility is becoming more and more that of the individual to take care of themselves. Wellness is, of course, one of the ways of being able to live a better quality life and a more engaged life, and as society begins to put the onus in you instead of government, in respect of the politicians out there, and as healthcare costs continue to rise and we look to try and minimize those, we see a greater emphasis on wellness on a societal level. We’ve actually seen over the last 10 years, the level of engagement within the senior living communities and Life Plan Communities skyrocket–and I mean skyrocket–especially in the last five years. CC: I love that. I love the comment you made about a more engaged life, because people living in their homes sometimes do not have that potential anymore and that relates to how someone in marketing or a salesperson can relate what they have to offer as to what they might have enjoyed in their home and can no longer be part of. Can you tell me how the adoption of wellness changes over the years, and are we there yet? CM: You know, the adoption of wellness has changed significantly over the years. 30 years ago, when I first started about 35 years ago, I was run out of communities that I was coming in and telling about fitness, and I was almost looked at as the anti-Christ because people would say that fitness would kill their residents, where the reality is that it’s completely the opposite. Inactivity is what leads to many unfortunate deaths year in and year out. Now, from that time to today, where over 90 percent of CEOs that ICAA has surveyed look at wellness now as a key strategy for their business growth moving forward. It’s night and day, completely different. The other thing that we have seen over the last five years, especially, is a lot of stand-alone wellness centers being developed on properties. Years ago it used to be that you had donated equipment in a small apartment–and you still do in some communities that aren’t completely committed to the wellness area–and then it went from not being donated equipment to purchased equipment, and how exciting was that? And then all of a sudden, they knocked down one wall and it was two apartments, three apartments and then it became an actual center, and now the standalone center. So it has completely morphed over the last ten years, but more so the last five. Now it is basically standard fare as they say. CC: So, Colin, when you mentioned standalone, are you meaning that this is standalone from the building or standalone within the walls of a Life Plan Community? CM: So, it’s basically part of the overall Life Plan Community, but it is its own building, or its own center. Now, that center may be connected by a long hallway because of weather, but it is literally its own entity. CC: Right. With the strategy behind it, I like that. So, I know how you’re going to answer this question, but I think I’d like to hear you explain, how important is wellness to a community’s success? CM: You know, that’s a really good question because we get asked that all the time. There’s two ways of really looking at that. There’s looking at the return on investment, and there’s looking at basically just simply being a community that someone wants to move into and that someone feels that it is vibrant and full of life, where they want to live. So, from a return on investment standpoint, the ICAA, who has done wellness benchmarks for the last few years and the numbers are pretty straight-forward in that, if you invest in your wellness centers on your properties or wellness on your properties, you’re going to get a great return on investment. You’re going to have residents–let’s use as an example, independent living–that will actually stay independent and living on the property and more engaged for two years longer than your average resident. So, the numbers are pretty straightforward. If I’m in a rental property and I have a person who is paying four thousand dollars a month and that’s 48,000-98,000 dollars every two years, and I have a 10 percent turn over and I can prevent that for two years, then that’s an awful lot of potential revenue. Now, that’s just one side of the equation. The other side is that we’re in the process of going through a morphing process in society where people realize that today they have much more potential within them than they have ever had before, and they’re looking for how they are actually going to fulfill that potential. If your property is not one that is helping to fulfill it, you may just not be of interest to them. There’s always going to be a need for care, but there is a much greater need for people to who just simply want to live and live life to the fullest. So, we tend to serve a very small segment of the market, and it’s becoming older and older and more frail and acute where the issues are coming in for a shorter period of time as opposed to addressing the larger segment of the market who’s just simply wanting to embrace that newly found potential out there. That’s what wellness can do for a community. CC: I like that because all the communities that we typically work with want that younger senior in their building, and this gives them a reason to really want to move. But again, I can see how it can also benefit that more older, frail, older seniors too because it doesn’t mean that just because they’re older they can’t benefit from a lot of your wellness opportunities as well. CM: You know, there are people who are running marathons at the age of 100. There are people who are running triathlons in their 80s. Now, those are extreme examples and people say, “Well, I’m not going to be like that” well no, you’re probably not–in fact, young you’re probably not like that either–but what it shows you is what our potential actually is; what we’re physically capable of. Then the question is where from where you are now compared to that extreme do you want to sit? And what do you have to do to get there, and how is that going to then impact their life course, the choices they make, the opportunities that they have to live the best life possible? That’s really where we’re at today in society; we ask, “How do I make the most out of my remaining years? CC: Wonderful! You’re inspiring me already to just get up and run outside right now! CM: Well that’s good–go! CC: (chuckles) I’ll be right back! So, I’m going to switch gears a little bit, so before we talk about how we can market wellness in Life Plan Communities, we should discuss how communities should develop the programs so that they can market, right? So, Colin, can you suggest a starting point? CM: Yes I can. I always wanted to do that–just stop right there and let you think about that. So, here’s the very simple starting point, and we’ve heard it for years and we will probably continue to hear it for quite a while, and that is the first place to start is: how do you perceive aging? The reason for that is, if you were trying to create a new model with an old way of thinking, you’re going to struggle with that, but if you were trying to create a new dynamic, energetic model with a new way of thinking–and that is that the world is full of possibilities as opposed to the world is full diminished living–then the kind of programs, the services, and everything that you begin to look at is completely different. I’m sure that many folks listening to this, one of the challenges they have is staffing and the attitudes of staff towards aging–even staff themselves are very ageist. I’ve been into now maybe about 1,500

Online reviews are an important and inevitable aspect of any community’s digital presence today. Learn how to combat negative reviews and encourage positive reviews in this week’s Leaders’ Board podcast. Listen to Love & Company’s latest podcast or read the transcription below! Chris Carruthers, VP of Health Services Marketing discusses how to overcome negative reviews with Kayla Caw, PR and integrated media manager. CC: Thank you for joining us today for the Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast on overcoming negative reviews. I’m Chris Carruthers, vice president of health services marketing, and today, I will be talking with Kayla Caw, our PR and integrated media manager here at Love & Company. Kayla is a three-year veteran at Love & Company, with six total years in the digital communications realm, and holds a master’s in leadership and communication. Thank you, Kayla, for talking with us about negative reviews today. Let me start by asking you, why is there such an emphasis placed on online reviews today–particularly for senior living communities? KC: Great question. So, we’ve heard a lot about online reviews and they’re really important because, often, it’s the first interaction someone may have. They go online, they’re looking for retirement communities, senior living communities, and they see these results pop up. Then they see these little gold stars, and some communities have five stars and some have three and others have one. The star rating system is pretty universal–everyone knows at first glance that, “oh five stars is better than one star”–so that initial first impression can be based solely on these online reviews. If they see a lot of negative reviews, they’re going to be less likely to want to check out your community–especially if the negative reviews have no resolution, or if they’ve just kind of been left out there with no return comments from the community’s team. Beyond that, too, positive online reviews can help boost the placement of your community’s search ads. So, there are a lot of things that go into what search engines choose to put onto the first page of the search results, which is where you want to be. Part of that, at least with Google, is the location section. So, when you search retirement communities in a specific area, you’ll have some ads and then usually you have Google Places, and typically the places that rank higher are places with positive reviews. CC: Well that certainly makes a lot of sense. Good, so, because online reviews can have a tangible effect on a community’s reputation, and even sales, overcoming negative online reviews can seem like an impossible task. How should communities react to a negative review? KC: So, the first thing to keep in mind with these negative reviews is that whether they’re happening online or whether they’re happening person-to-person, people are talking with each other about their experiences and what is being said about your community is going to be said. The real benefit that I see is that when people are saying it on online review websites, you have the opportunity to respond in a way that you don’t if one of your residents is at dinner with someone else. It’s so important to acknowledge the positive, but also acknowledge the negative. I mean, if you reframe the way that you’re thinking about it, [you can] look at negative reviews and the opportunity to respond to them as an extension of your brand. I’m sure every person who works at a retirement communtiy that’s listening to this, you know, you want to be known for taking your residents and their feedback seriously, and making things better and for being responsive when someone’s not happy. So this just gives you the opportunity to provide that same excellent customer service that you provide in-person, in the digital sphere. The first thing is to monitor; to know what’s out there and know what’s being said. Then create a policy; be prepared. So, know that if you get a negative review, here’s how you’re going to respond. Having that policy in place kind of allows you to take what can be a little intimidating at first–you know, this awful thing that was said about your community–and come up with a way to respond to it quickly and efficiently and effectively. CC: Okay! So what should a community’s response be to a negative review include, Kayla? KC: The first thing that you want to do is acknowledge that they had a bad experience, because whether you believe that your community right or wrong, the fact is that if they’re posting, in their eyes, they had a bad experience. You need to be sincere, you need to apologize for their bad experience, you need to give them someone to talk to in person, because ideally, you’ll try to resolve this personally, on the phone or in-person and not digitally. So, our typical suggested response is to say something along the lines of, “Dear Chris, I’m so sorry had this experience at our retirement community. The experience that you had is not acceptable, so please reach out to our patient advocate (or executive director, or whoever the person in your community may be) so they can resolve this with you personally.” CC: Right, I think people are really looking for acknowledgement, and just want to make sure that their voice is heard, so that’s a good point. Ignoring a negative response is only feeding their anger, so you have to just take the steps necessary to confront the situation, make sure it’s resolved, make sure they get satisfaction because, you know, that’s word-of-mouth marketing that you can’t afford to have if it’s negative word-of-mouth.  KC: Right, and it’s the same thing as if someone were to come into your main office and say, “Hey, I’m having this bad experience.” Treat the people online with the same amount of respect that you would treat someone face-to-face. CC: Exactly, good point. Now, what about reviews that are completely and utterly false or inflammatory? Should communities respond to those? And if so, how should they respond? KC: These are a little bit different than your typical “I had a bad experience” [review]. There are some people that we call “professional bad reviewers,” and if you go to their profile that they left the reivew with, you’ll just see negative after negative after negative across the board on what feels like close to every business they’ve ever interacted with. So the best thing you can do, though, is still treat them with kindness. Respond calmly, don’t use inflammatory words or response. Outline how you’ve remedied their concerns, or provide them an outlet for continuing the conversation offline. If this person is being vulgar, if they are being defamatory, if they are using fowl language or inappropriate language, if they are attacking a certain individual, it is possible that you could report their review to whatever review site they’re on–whether it’s Google or Yelp or whoever, and a lot of them have policies regarding vulgarity and things like that, so you might actually be able to get it taken down if that is the case. So another thing that you can do is, once you respond, there are some people who will just kind of let it be at that point; they have said their piece, you have acknowledged it, you’ve given them an opportunity to reach out and connect off of line, and for some people that’s enough. Often, I find that people don’t take the time to call, but responding is still the right thing to do. But then there are the people who you respond, and then they come back possibly even more upset. So in that case, I would recommend responding one more time–so a maximum of two responses–and then if they keep continuing to come back, you can cease to respond after the second time. At that point, part of the reason that you respond is so that when others see this negative review, they see that the community has responded and takes these things seriously, but for pretty much everyone looking at them, they recognize the difference between when a community is honestly trying to rectify a situation and when someone is just trying to cause more mayhem by repeatedly saying the same things and not allowing the next steps to be taken. So it is kind of key to respond, respond politely, professionally and with empathy, but don’t respond more than twice because it’s kind of dimininshing returns at that point. The other really important thing that you should do is to encourage people who have had good experiences, [like] residents that are really happy with your community, and ask them to leave reviews if they’re willing to. Tell them what review sites you are looking for help on and show them how and where they can go to leave a review, if they so choose. You know, the more positive reviews you have, the less impact the negative reviews will have on your overall star rating, and then they also provide a nice balance so that the only reviews that people are seeing are not people who are unhappy with your community. CC: All right. So I know you mentioned malicious or profane comments, but if a community does encounter such a malicious or false review or comment, is there any benefit to reaching out to that person directly? KC: You know, you can. I think it’s always good to respond at least once, and say, “We’ve flagged this for removal. It violates our social media policies. If you would like to discuss this, please reach out to us offline.” In my experience, someone who’s profane, [isn’t] always looking for an actual solution, but once again, this is about perception and about how others see your community, so responding to the inflammatory posts and the negative posts with kindness and empathy helps build your reputation for others who see this. Because even if you flag it for removal, it’s possible that it won’t get removed. You know, Google may not agree that it violates policy or violates standards, so having your kind and considerate response up there is definitely the way to go. CC: Yeah, it’s hard to keep being m

Crisis communication plans are essential for today’s senior living communities. Listen to Love & Company’s latest podcast or read the transcription below! Chris Carruthers, VP of Health Services Marketing discusses crisis communications with Kayla Caw, PR and integrated media manager. CC: Thank you for joining us today for the Love & Company Leaders’ Board podcast. I’m Chris Carruthers, Vice President of Health Services Marketing, and today I will be talking with Kayla Caw, our PR and integrated media manager here at Love & Company. Kayla is a three-year veteran at Love & Company, with six total years in the digital communications realm and holds a masters in leadership and communication, during which she focused on crisis communications, which just so happens to be today’s topic of discussion. Kayla, could you give us a brief introduction to your background in crisis communication and why preparing for a crisis is an important task for senior living communities today? KC: Sure, thanks for talking with me today, Chris. So, I did my undergraduate degree in communications with a PR concentration. During my senior year, I studied how Johnson & Johnson handled the tampered Tylenol recall in 1982, which really kind of sparked my interest and passion in crisis communication. My first post-college job was at a health system, where I also served on the emergency management committee and helped create crisis communications plans–especially as they related to the social media presence that I was building. Then, when I went back for my master’s, I chose to use my capstone project to create a guide for ethical crisis communication on social media. It’s been a real passion of mine for quite some time, and I get really excited when I talk about it, so I’m looking forward to this. So, why is preparing for a crisis an important task for senior living communities today? You know, really, it comes down to the fact that a crisis can emerge at any time, and in today’s social and digital world, it can go from zero to 150 in no time at all. So, without a proper plan in place, you’re going to be behind the ball when it’s time to respond. CC: So true! Good points, Kayla. What are some of the trends, issues and strategies for effective crisis management today? And can you tell us a little bit about how all these apply to the senior living industry, please? KC: Sure. So, as far as trends go: we’re seeing crises unfold on social media, which is not always ideal. Information, whether it’s right or wrong, spreads in an instant and people who have never heard of your brand or company will villify it based on one post, one video or one photo that’s being shared on social. There also seems to be a trend of people sharing the negative in the moment, but not sharing the positive or the resolution–particularly if the resolution comes after the very short news cycle has passed. So, for example, do you remember the outrage after a video was sent to TMZ allegedly showing the animals in the movie “A Dog’s Purpose” were treated poorly and were forced to do tricks that they didn’t want to and stuff like that? CC: Yes, I do. KC: So, with that, the outrage was so great that the movie premiere was actually cancelled. They still released it, but the event around it was cancelled. And it’s a really good chance that if you have a Facebook account that you saw that video in that week leading up to the premiere. But even if you saw that video, chances are good that you did not see the follow-up report by American Humane, which is the company that runs and monitors that no animals were harmed in the making of this film or show. Their investigation, which was done by a well-respected third party, found that no animals were harmed, that there were numerous preventative safety measures in place, and that the video that had been released was deliberately edited to mislead the public and to stoke outrage. So, the problem with these crises unfolding on social is that that investigation took time, and so the team couldn’t respond right away, and that meant that the news cycle had passed and people’s lasting impression was that “this thing happened and it was really bad” and a lot of people don’t get to see the resolution at the end. So that’s kind of a trend that we’re seeing that’s not really great and not good news, but still something we have to keep in mind so we can figure out ways to battle that. A big issue that I’m seeing right now from a communications perspective–and I’m not saying that this is an issue in every company, but I’m seeing it more often than I would like to see–is leaders not taking responsibility when something goes wrong. So last year when it was revealed that Wells Fargo had been fined for employees opening up to two million fake accounts, their CEO, instead of taking ownership, placed the blame on lower-level employees. And it wasn’t until after it came to light that this practice was deeply rooted in the company culture, a massive change in culture had to happen. That CEO ended up leaving Wells Fargo, but he didn’t really take any ownership and he didn’t even apologize until he was in front of the Senate talking about what happened. So that’s an issue that’s going to plague Wells Fargo for a long time. They’ve had to spend a lot of money in creative and in marketing to try and talk about what they’re doing to fix it, but the damage to their reputation has been great and probably will be for a long time. Another recent example is from back in April, I think, when the passenger was dragged off the United flight, the CEO did respond quickly, but he responded with what I would consider a non-apology. He placed the blame on the passenger, called the passenger disruptive and belligerent, and it really comes down to whether or not United was within it’s rights to remove the passenger. A perception crisis is still a crisis that can and will impact business. So the video that was being shared of this bloody passenger being pulled off a flight to make room for a United employee is not a good visual, and here the CEO could’ve simply said from the beginning that the treatment of this customer was unacceptable, that an investigation into the incident would be initiated, and that an any underlying issues would be corrected. But his lack of responsibility of responsibility and ownership made this even worse. He did then have to go back the next day and issue a better apology because the first one wasn’t really an apology to start with. So as far as strategies go, the top strategies for managing a crisis really boil down to telling the truth, telling it in a human way and then telling it as quickly as possible. Corporations don’t exist without humans, policies don’t write themselves; somewhere a human was involved. And if you’re among the higher ranking staff in a corporation in a crisis, you can’t pass the blame. You have to take enough ownership of the problem to find a solution, even if you didn’t cause it. You also have to interact and speak with and to people like they are people, and not just a figure in your budget or your ledger. Few things will raise people’s ire on social media more than seeing what they believe is someone being treated without compassion or empathy by a company. So, tying this all back to senior living: the principles are all still there, but the stakes are even maybe a little bit higher. Your residents and their families put their trust in you and your company to take care of them. Seniors are often perceived as a vulnerable population and if your organization or company isn’t treating them with enough respect, or you aren’t taking ownership, or if there’s a perception that you’re trying to pass the blame, it’s not going to end well for you. When your business is caring for people, you have to live that mission out in all that you do–especially in times of crisis. The residents really have to be top priority, and that really has to be evident in the way that you handle your crisis. CC: I really liked that you talked about perception, Kayla, because perception is reality, and I think we all can relate to how we all feel when something like the United incident, for example, tries to brush it off and place blame and just isn’t taking responsibility or ownership for what happens. I can certainly see how that would relate to someone’s life. You know, there are people living in these communities, and their adult children are always making sure that they’re safe and they’re enjoying their life–so that makes total sense, I like the analogy there. KC: Yeah, it’s just so key. You know, technically United was within their guidelines and their policies, but even if it’s within your policies is it the right thing to do? And that’s I think the bar that we need to hold ourselves to–especially in senior living. Regardless of the policy, what is the right thing to do in that moment for that resident? CC: Exactly. So that brings us to our next question, what’s the right thing to do and what should be the first step that communities take to create an effective crisis communication plan, then? KC: One of the first steps that I would say you should do is sit down and think about who are your audiences? In a crisis, you’re going to have to talk to a variety of groups of people: employees and residents, those are going to be your most obvious groups, but think a little beyond that. So what crises would involve the families of residents? What about neighboring businesses or individuals? Could the public be involved in the crisis? Could your board of directors be involved? Create a list of any audiences that you can think of and what types of crises they could be impacted by, and then think about how you’re going to communicate to them. For employees, maybe you have an internal email list–how are you going to get things out to residents? How are you going to communicate publicly? That helps you identify how; how will you get your message out? Make

Listen to Love & Company’s latest podcast! Chris Carruthers, VP of Health Services Marketing discusses the differences of marketing the Household Model with LaVrene Norton, Founder and Executive Leader of Action Pact. The Household Model of care is an innovative approach to long-term senior care. Residents live together in households that have their own kitchen, dining room, living room, and other shared spaces like a den, patio and front porch. Each resident also has their own private apartment attached to the household. The hallmark of this model of care is the “decision-making autonomy” that the residents have within the household, as they are able to dictate their own daily routines, as they have done their whole lives. Action Pact developed the household model of care in 1997. The organization had only been around for a year, but LaVrene’s background in leadership development in long-term care attracted the attention of an administrator of a hospital-owned nursing home in Minnesota. Born out of a personal experience with her own father rejecting the thought of living in a nursing home, this administrator had an idea for a model of long-term senior care that wasn’t institutional and instead featured a home-like setting. Today, the Household Model has been implemented around the world. A Broad Approach to Person-Centered Care Action Pact looks at person-centered care more broadly, thinking of it as “person-directed life.” This perspective looks beyond high quality care, focusing on supporting a resident’s daily life, pleasures, meaning and purpose. Sometimes it can be as simple as providing them with their favorite kind of coffee, so that they retain their sense of self-determination. To truly provide a person-centered household, it must be a sanctuary for those who live there. Just like many of us are thankful to return to our homes after a stressful day, residents should feel like the household is a safe and relaxing space. Instead of focusing on waking residents at a certain time for breakfast and constantly ushering everyone from their rooms to a common space, residents should be able to come and go as they please between their room and shared spaces. This environment encourages laughter, art and music, spirit, creativity and good humor—all things we may think of when thinking of “home.” Innovative Leadership Structure In the Household Model, leadership is considered a characteristic and not a position. Staff teams are self-led, which means faster response times and more efficient decision-making, as well as greater workplace satisfaction. When recruiting staff, LaVrene looks for people who will bring the most to each unique household. In addition to professionals from the health care field, some staff members are teachers, artists or former restaurant chefs. The common thread between them all is that they are looking for a more meaningful career or want to give back. This honors not just the talent and autonomy of residents who live in the households, but it honors the staff as well by empowering staff and residents to work together to create the perfect home environment. Marketing the Household Model Storytelling is an important part of marketing the Household Model. Action Pact shares the stories of the Household Model in video clips on social media, newsletters, and television because people are always moved by watching an inspirational story. Since the ultimate goal of marketing the Household Model is to get people in the door of these innovative facilities, LaVrene notes that they will often share a short clip of a story with an invitation to tour a household to the local TV station to peak their interest. More often than not, reporters will be curious enough to accept the invitation, and once they witness the unique model of care provided, they are motivated to share the story of the community. This tactic creates wonderful word-of-mouth marketing, so that sooner or later, an entire community is sharing the stories of the Household Model. LaVrene is confident that this slightly unconventional way of marketing communities matches the unique care offered. When a prospective resident or an adult child comes to the community for a tour, it is more than just visiting an office off the lobby. Instead, they ring the doorbell of a household and are invited into a real home where they have lunch with the residents. This not only gives prospects a better sense of the community, but also respects the space of the residents. Changing the Culture LaVrene believes that once people hear the stories and have witness the Household Model in person, they are excited about it because they see the benefits of it and want to share the stories with others. With each new person who believes in the power of the Household Model, Action Pact gets one step closer to changing the culture of long-term senior care. As Action Pact’s website explains, “It’s not just a change you can see, it’s a change you feel; a change elders feel as they direct their own lives and staff feel as they are empowered to help them do so.” To learn more about Action Pact and the Household Model of care, please visit their website or like them on Facebook. To learn more about how Love & Company is “always thinking”, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801. The post Telling the Story of the Household Model appeared first on Love & Company.

Check out our first podcast! Listen to Genie Heer, Senior Sales Advisor, and Chris Carruthers, VP of Health Services Marketing discuss how to create the perfect healthcare tour. Tours are not just a simple walkthrough. They are an opportunity to showcase your community and close a sale, which is why you must be prepared. How do you prepare for a tour of your assisted living, skilled nursing or rehabilitation center? Setting the stage for a good tour starts before the prospective resident and/or their family arrives. Take a ‘white glove tour’ around your healthcare facilities and make sure that everything is in its place. Creating a checklist—that includes items such as ensuring trash is picked up, lights are turned on, open inventory is ready to show, window shades are up, beds are made and the bathroom toilets are flushed—is a simple way to create an organized, standardized process. Preparation is everything It can be incredibly helpful to speak with the guest prior to their tour. When someone calls to schedule a tour, use the call as an opportunity to get as much information as possible about the potential resident and their current situation. This discovery call should include questions that will help save time, plan for the tour, and most importantly, best help the family member and potential resident. By determining the needs of your visitor, you can tailor their visit. If you know that the potential resident has just been discharged from the hospital after a knee surgery, make sure that, if possible, the executive director of nursing or the director of rehab can be introduced. Anytime you can have a person of authority greet your guest, it adds extra credibility and sense of security. When a staff member shows pride in their job, that pride makes an impression on your guest. As for the “tour” aspect of the visit, it’s best to keep this to no more than an hour, taking the first 20 minutes to sit down and get to know each other. Listen to understand their needs, and start building a relationship with the person you’re speaking to so you can help them resolve their concerns—whether that’s needing some type of care after being discharged from a hospital or just not being able to live at home independently anymore. It is at this time when you should outline the community’s services and pricing. Combatting challenges Even with a checklist and well-laid out plan, it can be difficult to manage all the moving pieces in a healthcare center as something can always come up unexpectedly. For example, no community wants to have obstacles like odor problems when they’re walking a guest through, but occasionally, it may happen. In this instance, I recommend that you acknowledge and address the problem directly with your guest. If you ignore the odor on the tour, the prospect and their family might assume that’s how your community addresses every problem. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have your elevator speech ready about fairly common issues that may arise, and how your community responds when it happens. While many assisted living and independent living communities have model residences, it’s difficult to have inventory off the market in long-term care nursing and rehab. Therefore, I recommend a “mobile” or “traveling” model. In this mobile model, you would have a few items ready that will warm up a room but can be easily moved from room to room, based on availability. For example, your mobile model kit could include some throw blankets, a few framed pictures to put at the bedside, and some fresh flowers or a pretty faux floral arrangement to brighten up the room. These small elements can make a huge difference in your guest’s first impression while also being relatively easy to execute. Communication is key During morning or afternoon stand ups, the team should discuss residents and make it clear where the open beds are and which ones have someone already living in the other half. In addition, it is key to having well-established relationships with your residents and provide them with a heads up about a possible tour. It is also important to be open with the visiting guest and their family, so they are aware if there will be a roommate. Another key element to a smooth tour is making sure you are communicating well with your internal team. One simple thing you can do to achieve this is to get to know all of the staff on a first name basis—especially those you work with daily. This way, while you’re taking a visitor on a tour, you will be able to introduce the visitor to other staff members, which not only demonstrates that the staff is friendly, but also makes that staff member feel that they’re part of the community. Next steps At the end of the tour, it is important to sit back down and give a recap. This is your chance to get their first impressions and plan for the next steps. Because it’s hard to run through a bunch of questions in that meeting, it can be helpful to provide a frequently asked questions handout to cover a wide range of topics, such as “Are there visiting hours?,” “How do I reach a nurse or caregiver if I have a question?,” or “How do you bill long-term care insurance?.” Following up with the prospective resident and family members as appropriate, is crucial—especially in long-term care, memory care or assisted living. If your community uses a CRM, you should make sure you have the correct contact information so you know who to call, how to reach them, the best time to reach them, and so you can document what has already been done in the process. Often, the follow up process can be the most challenging, but if you’ve done your best to understand the potential resident’s needs and demonstrate how your welcoming environment can help meet those needs, it can make all the difference. If you would like to learn more about how to conduct the perfect healthcare tour to generate sales, please contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801. The post How to Conduct the Perfect Healthcare Tour appeared first on Love & Company.