Covid-19 Archives ⋆ Cathy Cress

Is Your Marketing Plan 4 Your Business Updated For COVID?

October 9, 2020

Do You Have a GCM Marketing Plan During COVID

Marketing plans have to be updated regularly when changes occur in your market – like the COVID pandemic. When it comes to distinguishing an aging life care management business, nothing compares to a solid and well-thought-out constantly updated marketing plan. A strategic and successfully executed marketing plan has the power to shape an aging life care management business and how it is to be perceived by current and potential customers. But have you updated it for COVID?

What Does a GCM ALCA Marketing Plan Do?

It forces you to define that new audience. Your targets are now not only for direct services, but also a larger audience of targets: managed care companies, and others that are creating models using value-based payment as a method to reduce costs in post-acute care.

2. It forces the Aging Life or Geriatric Care Managers to take the time to define the values and unique benefits they offer and to develop various, affordable (time and money) ways to communicate those things to a specifically defined target audience.

3.Understanding who is the new target audience will allow the Aging Life and Geriatric Care Managers to create that critical market plan.

4. It forces you to update your marketing plan to overcome new barriers in your market like a pandemic

DURING COVID YOU NEED TO ADJUST YOUR MARKETING PLAN

Your new audience during COVID is everyone that wants to know that it is safe to use your services. So, how are you going to add that to your marketing plan? Will you have clearly defined COVID -safe policies on the front page of your web site like Lifespan, a geriatric care management agency in

Santa Cruz Ca. Will you use very videos from your staff to show your agency’s commitment to COVID safety? How will you adjust your marketing plan to make clients choose you over your

competition in your area? Will you add a new COVID -19 Coaching service to help local and long-distance families understand how to keep their elders safe from COVID while sheltering in place, recovering from COVID at Home or going into the hospital and recovering after hospitalization

Join me for my new free Webinar

MARKET LIKE YOUR BUSINESS DEPENDED ON IT DURING COVID

October 22 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm PST

As you are approaching the busiest season for care manager’s the holidays when families visit for the holiday and seeing their elderly parents skating on very thin aging ice

Learn care management marketing that works at all time but especially during COVID so you can:

Consult with and help client’s during COVID and post COVID

Convert Consultation into regular clients

Understand branding

Develop a positioning strategy so the caller chooses you

Understand lead generation in care management

Understand how to do an e-newsletter

Get the best marketing software

Understand Public Relations Press, TV-Radio, Social Media Coverage

Understand Zoom Webinars

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How Do Long Distance Families Cope with Elders Threatened by COVID-19

July 19, 2020

Caring for COVID-19 Risk From a Distance

Long-Distance Family caregivers are trying to get a handle of the new reality COVID 19 has on their lives. as caregivers, at a distance. For many families, the number one concern is the seniors in their family. As a Long-Distance Care provider, finding the balance between safety and well -being for seniors during the COVID 19 pandemic can be a new challenge added to the many overwhelming challenges that long-distance families face daily. Care managers can now overcome the distance with telehealth and Hipaa certified telehealth platforms.

Long-Distance Care Providers Already offer the Most Expensive Care and Now COVID-Care $

They already live far away from their loved one, a national average of 450 miles, and travel an average of 4-7 hours to give care. Long-distance caregivers have the highest annual expenses (about $8,728) compared to co-resident caregivers (about $5,885) or those who care for a loved one nearby.

The experience of a long-distance caregiver is much different from and more complicated than that of a caregiver who lives in the same town. It’s important to know the local resources and services. Long-distance care providers are either not familiar or have vague memories of stores and resources that have changed since they moved away.

Long-Distance Caregivers Suffer Depression, Anxiety and Now Fear of COVID

The crunch of caregiver demands frequently leads to depression, anxiety, and a feeling of helplessness. Caregiver overload is especially common among the long-distance sandwich generation, or those caring for their distant aging parents along with their own children and many times grandchildren. Long-distance caregivers are more likely to report emotional distress (47%) than caregivers either residing with their care recipient (43%) or residing less than one hour away (28%).

Neglecting Everyone in the family

When the long-distance caregiver tends to ailing parents, they feel they are neglecting their own family and work responsibilities. Yet when they tend to their family, spouse, or job, they feel they are neglecting their parents. They live in a double bind.

Keeping seniors safe yet socially connected

For most families, keeping senior loved ones safe coronavirus infection is their number one priority as it is with families that live locally. But Long Distance Families must do this remotely which means forgoing in-person visits and finding other ways to create a connection. These families their number one concern is the safety of the seniors among their families or friends. It is important to find a balance between safety to avoid contracting coronavirus and being able to maintain happiness through social interactions with family and friends.

Seniors and their concerned families want to avoid isolation, depressions, and hospitalization with COVID while sheltering in place.

Like any disaster but especially with this pandemic- you may not be prepared and are desperately seeking a plan.

JOIN ME FOR MY NEW FREE WEBINAR

Create 5 Telehealth Products for COVID 19

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

Care Management businesses are struggling with pandemic close-downs.

Support your business bottom line, clients, and their families.

Create 5 COVID-19 products.

Products from sheltering in place through the hospital, recovery at home, discharge from an SNF, or hospital for local and long-distance elders. Increase your bottom

line as COVID spreads throughout the US and more shutdowns loom

Learn Step by Step How to Consult with Aging Families and Seniors to:

Choose the best Hipaa Compliant Telehealth Products to Remotely Consult with Client

Help a Local Family Help a Loved One Safely Shelter in Place

Help a Long-Distance Family Help a Local Loved One Shelter in Place

Help an Aging Family Help a Loved on Hospitalized for Covid-19

Help an Aging Family Help a Loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Nursing Home

Help an Aging Family Help a loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Hospital

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

REGISTER NOW

How Do You Detect COVID–19 Symptoms in Seniors While Living Long Distance?

July 1, 2020

COVID–19 Detecting Symptoms in your loved one from a Distance

We can not always be with our loved ones. Long-Distance Families make approximately 43.5 million caregivers who have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. How can you keep a watchful eye on long-distance older family members for symptoms of COVID-19? First, you will need to know what symptoms to watch and listen to.

Did you know that COVID -19 is known to develop into a severe acute respiratory syndrome and may result in death? The elderly are more susceptible to this contagion simply due to their age. Your job is to become their health detective by paying acute attention to physical symptoms and asking questions when conversing with your loved one.

Symptoms to Listen & Signs to Look for

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 may appear 2-14 days after exposure, commonly referred to as the incubation period. Common signs and symptoms can include:

Fever, cough or tiredness – If your loved one is suddenly not making sense or acting confused when you are talking with them, this could be an indication of having a fever and an infection. Listen for coughing during your conversation and don’t be afraid to ask if they are napping more often or sleeping longer than usual or if they are weaker than usual.

Other symptoms can/may include:

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Muscle Aches
Chills Sore Throat
Loss of taste or smell Headache
Chest pain

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF MEDICAL HISTORY

If your loved one has existing medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, severe obesity, chronic kidney or liver disease, or compromised immune systems they may be at greater risk for contracting COVID-19.

CALL YOUR LOVED ONE’S PCP OR ARRANGE FOR THEM TO BE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY IF MORE THAN ONE OF THESE SYMPTOMS APPEAR.

As your loved one’s health detective – Vigilantly Monitor their Physical Appearance

Call often. Listen for symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, inability to complete sentences without having to take a breath. Are they suddenly confused or confused more than usual?

Use your technology. Face time with your loved one. Look at them. Are they having a hard time breathing? Watch and count how many times their chest raises per minute. Normal breathes per minute in the elderly is 10-30. With COVID-19 the rate will be lower. Look for the appearance of lost sudden weight loss. The virus can decrease their appetite as it affects their sense of smell, making food less appetizing. Look at your loved one’s lips. Are they discolored or have a light blue tint? This is a sign of oxygen deprivation and could potentially be very serious.

If you see any of these signs call your loved one’s PCP immediately and take/arrange for them to be taken to the hospital immediately.

JOIN ME FOR MY NEW FREE WEBINAR

Create 5 Telehealth Products for COVID 19

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

Care Management businesses are struggling with pandemic close-downs.

Support your business bottom line, clients, and their families.

Create 5 COVID-19 products.

Products from sheltering in place through the hospital, recovery at home, discharge from an SNF, or hospital for local and long-distance elders. Increase your bottom

line as COVID spreads throughout the US and more shutdowns loom

Learn Step by Step How to Consult with Aging Families and Seniors to Choose the best Hipaa Compliant Telehealth Products to Remotely Consult with Client

Help a Local Family Assist a Loved One Safely Shelter in Place

Help a Long-Distance Family Guide a Local Loved One Shelter in Place

Help an Aging Family Help a Loved on Hospitalized for Covid-19

Help an Aging Family Care for a Loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Nursing Home

Help an Aging Family Care for a loved one Recover when Discharged from a

Hospital

WHEN. THURSDAY AUGUST 6

TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

REGISTER NOW

Nursing Homes residents in Pandemic -Need Help Today, Mother’s Day& Future

May 10, 2020

MOTHER’S DAY 6 FEET APART AND LONLEY

Nursing home residents, like prisoners, are locked in space “less” than 6 feet apart in facilities with a growing death rate that has reached 20% of all Covid-19. Support them on Mother’s Day and every day in the future. Their situation is increasingly dire as in Florida, a state with the largest elderly population the cases have spiked radically since restrictions were lifted 60% of new cases are in nursing homes

If you are an aging professional- step up to the plate. Through the Hartford Foundation join Huddles.The network is designed to support nursing home leadership, staff, residents, and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the week of May 11-15, the huddles will focus on testing. They have organized the Engage Initiative for COVID-19 in Nursing Home. So join and advocate for facilities with the highest death rate in the country- where the federal government does nothing as a holocaust is occurring

MAKE A SIGN AND VISIT A LOCAL NURSING HOME TODAY

Support older residents in nursing homes by making a SIGN and standing outside the facility. Gather some friends. People all over the country are doing this, showing the residents they are loved. In Holiday Florida, nursing home residents were treated to a mother’s day parade. In Chillicothe, Ohio. residents drove around the driveways of a nursing home in HONK for HUGS

Today or someday this week, just call a nursing home in your city and tell them what you are doing. Get their permission and ask if you can go from window to window with your sign of Happy Mother’s Day or ” whatever you wish for them “and wave. It is that simple. Today these elderly, sick and threatened mothers, cannot see anyone, often have family long distance who cannot see them, and are literally locked in a facility where beds are not 6 feet apart.

PLAY IT FORWARD – DO SOMETHING FOR NURSING HOME RESIDENTS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

No matter what your state, town, or the facility is doing to protect them they are the number one target of coronaviruses doing to protects them. AARP has started a mutual Aide group to both give and receive emotional aide during a pandemic. Join a group or organize a group to make phone calls to residents of the local nursing homes. If you are a retired medical professional down to an aide or someone who can answer the phone- instead of virtually, you could really step up to the plate, and volunteer to help a nursing home that is understaffed in the pandemic .

In my home state, CALIFORNIA, you can join the Social Bridging Program. You can also join the Friendship line to call older people who are lonely and just need you to be there to listen.

ONE SMALL STEP FOR PEOPLE IN THE BULLSSEYE OF DEATH

The point is to do something one small thing whether it is on Mother’s Day Monday or this week. Take a step to help the bullseyes targets of COVID-19 the elderly who are terrified, lonely, and now on Mother’s Day alone.

The 2 Deadliest US Sites of COVID-19 Nursing Homes & Prisons

May 2, 2020

PRISON INMATES AND NURSING HOME PATIENTS NOT 6FT APART – 6 FEET UNDER

70% of inmates in federal prisons have COVID-19. In Kansas, the Lansing Correctional Facility had a riot of inmates over COVID-19 lack of care or protection It took the rebellion to get the coronavirus testing PPE and care. The Bureau of Prisons in Kansas confirmed finally that 79 staff have coronavirus and 88 prisons and prisoners dead.

Older residents in nursing homes cannot rebel like prisoners. Many can’t even walk. The Atlantic Magazine just published an article, We are Killing Elders Now. The writer states “In at least six states, these fatalities account for half of all COVID-19 deaths, and according to the World Health Organization, half of all coronavirus fatalities in Europe have been traced to nursing homes too. Some of this mortality is linked to long-term-care facilities that are shoddily run or that violate health standards. But most of them are doing the best they can with what they have. And they don’t have much”.

KAISER FOUNDATION NURSING HOME STAFFING AND USE OF PPE NOT REQUIRED IN MOST STATES

Kaiser reports -Staff Screening. It is more common for states to recommend rather than require daily screening of staff for illness in NFs (24 states recommend, 16 states + DC require)

Use of PPE. More states recommend (23 states) than require (7 states + DC) staff to use PPE

Two States that require testing for coronavirus of ALL residents of nursing homes are Maryland where 556 have died as of the Washington Post article. and Tennessee

THE FEDS HAVE NO CMS FEDERAL GUIDELINES OR REPORTING

We have no federal guidelines for safety testing according to an article by the Kaiser Foundation

It is now estimated that 16,000 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and that is without the federal government revealing any numbers and not making available any testing. But the numbers are probably huge- if we could just do testing.

CMS announced it would have a meeting of a “panel” of experts “ sometime at the end of May”. After probably 20,000 older people died and the feds did nothing this shows their sense of urgency about this pandemic’s national “elder cleansing”.

WHAT CONNECTS PRISONS AND NURSING HOMES – CONCENTRATION CAMPS

So, what is the connection between the viral spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and prisons- 6 feet ? Prisoners and residents, in nursing homes, and prisons cannot social distance. Jails and prisons have human beings crammed together with no choice. Nursing homes have 2 beds or if you are on Medicaid three to a room. Neither group has a choice to social distance. They are ” concentrated” as in concentration camps or death camps.

Do SOMETHING – HELP NURSING HOMES PREVENT MORE CARNAGE

So, as someone who has spent her career in aging, I am calling out to everyone, especially professional in aging – do something. Since the feds appear to be doing little- call your congressman, write a letter to the editor.

BE KIND LIKE RACHEL MADDOW REPORTS LA JEWISH HOME LA WAS

Rachel Maddow suggests calling your local nursing homes and see what they need. Be kind like the LA Jewish Home was to a smaller nursing home LA Brier Oaks. They wanted to test their residents and had no tests and the larger LA Jewish Home had tests and shared them with the smaller as a good neighbor. What they found was ravaging but it also showed caring and generosity. Care and be generous and show the helpless elders in nursing homes in your town you are opposed to -nursing home being prisons or concentration camps.

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