Assisted Living Associations Could Do Much to Complement Membership Marketing

Assisted Living Associations Could Do Much to Complement Membership Marketing and Business Development

Michigan, among other states, finds itself in a unique situation as long-term care evolves and matures, especially with the new Affordable Care Act and its Accountable Care Organizations afloat. We are speaking specifically about adult foster care.

As we have discussed in this journal multiple times, a large percentage of the adult foster care community who went into business the last 35 years did so to operate under contracts with various factions of the public mental health apparatus. Over the last 10 years as the push to move these previous group home residents into more independent settings and public dollars for certain entitlements dried up or were shifted to in-home services in the consumer's private residence, many of these well meaning providers ended up leaving the business or severely cutting back. For some the financial adjustments have been devastating.

Some began to shift their attention to serving other populations including the medically fragile who still enjoyed a degree of physical functionality and who did not require life in a nursing home.

For many this has worked out though not without complication.

Others turned their attention to serving the catastrophically injured which for most has been disastrous. First of all most did not accept the rehabilitative concept of residential care this fragile population who often have intense neurological and psychological needs require. Their needs are more complex than that which can be satisfied with day to day supervision, a bed and a meal.

Some agree a more organized system of services is required and often better provided by the Universal Institute type programs operating across America.

The push into services to the elderly, even among those who made the effort to adapt how they do business, has still been a slow and often unsuccessful one for many. Some of this is due to the public's lack of awareness of the many advantages associated with care in smaller settings as opposed to the larger, semi-independent style programs associated with the Sunrise Homes, FoxRun and similar initiatives.

Some believe assisted living associations can do much to enhance the business development among their members. One of the ways to do this is through joint marketing and advertising campaigns which not only draw attention to what small scale assisted living has to offer but also provides a referral mechanism for members.

For example, let's say an assisted living association has 1500 small-scale members and each paid $100.00 per month to participate in the joint advertising campaign which purchased direct mail, television, radio and internet based advertising services. This provides a powerful budget of $1,800,000.00 per year which would result in heightening the awareness of the public regarding options available in assisted living including the variety of program types which exist. A no-brainer right? Why then are so many associations resistant to organizing such efforts?

Mary Shenkel of San Francisco, California who has her hand in assisted living as an educator, consultant and administrator added these comments: "Some associations prefer to keep their business models simple, offering advocacy in the presence of regulators, some education on policy development and updates on regulatory updates. In some instances limited legal support may also be present and some assistance in contract negotiation for members. Others have formed separate insurance firms and offer insurance products and rely upon this vehicle to fund their association which is often more profitable and reliable than membership dues. So their comfort level is not one they wish to disturb.

Others fear association members and joint advertising program participants will have improper expectations regarding how their own business will benefit and drop out of the program prematurely, regardless of legal commitment, creating a financial strain and reducing the program's effectiveness. It's a shame that there cannot be a happy medium since a campaign like this in every state could topple organizations like A Place for Mom and allow real assisted living quality advocates and experts to influence consumer choice."

We echo Mary's sentiments nearly 100%. What a powerful voice associations can be in terms of public education and provider business enhancement. Is your association offering efforts such as what we have described to help your business grow? Real food for thought.

Thanks for allowing us to share.