Elderly care facilities provide services in the fulfillment of the special needs and requirements that are unique to the senior citizens. They are also called residential care facilities for the elderly or assisted living or sometimes referred to as ‘board and care’. Primarily, they are non-medical facilities that provide housekeeping, meals, supervision, storage and distribution of medications including personal care assistance with basic activities. Eldercare is a broad term that encompasses services that include assisted living, long-term care, adult day care, nursing homes, hospice care and home care (Saul, 2013, p.79). It emphasizes the social and personal requirements of senior citizens who needs assistance with health care and daily activities, and their desire is to age with dignity.
The social and demographic characteristics of the users of the elderly care are based on age, race, gender, and marital status and these factors can determine the likelihood of receiving of long-term care. The mean age of those receiving the elderly care is forty-five years while the one for those in nursing homes is fifty-one years (Saul, 2013, p.80). The majority users of the community-based long-term care are females and those in the nursing home residents are more likely to be married. When compared with the non-users, the users of the community-based of the long-term care are less educated. The users of the eldercare are less likely to be employed than the non-users. Although the employment rate is lower among these users, at least a fraction of them is employed.
On the poverty states, the users of the elderly care facilities are more likely to be poor than the non-users and a quarter of them are below the poverty threshold. Approximately, of the users have some difficulties like lower body functional activities, walking up to ten steps, or bending down to remove an object.
The factors that determine the competitive environment include the availability of other eldercare, educational priorities and the location of the facility itself. Other demographic and the labor markets trends are also some of the factors that can determine the competitive environment. Some uncontrollable factors in the environment can affect the strategic decisions of establishing and running of the facility (Yoo, 2015). The competition also depends on the how other firms interact with the elderly care facility, the company's customers, the new entrants, rival firms, substitutes as well as suppliers.
The most important assessment of a firm even before the establishment is the availability and reliability of the customers. For it to be successful, it must identify the needs of the customers, and for this case, the elderly care can look for a place that is strategic to get the senior adults who are in need of assistant named above. They caregivers should bear in mind that different customers often have different needs (Hwang, 2015). They should, therefore, be willing to meet the customers' extraordinary need that can be even beyond their expectations.
There is much evidence that there is a growing number in senior populations, and many firms are scrambling to provide the services and goods that can improve the quality of lives and provide peace of mind to the aging people. The elderly care facilities that have the opportunity to connect unique offerings with the families that are in need can become competitive (Yoo, 2015). The attention that is given to the elderly care has created an environment of innovation, and the market remains highly fragmented.
For the business of elderly care to be successful, the owners provide the services that are unique from the others. They should come up with goods and services that can represent a different philosophy of care. The management of such facilities should regularly carry out the market surveys so that they can understand the changing trends in the market environment and come up with those services that can boost the customers’ satisfaction (Yoo, 2015).
The quality services provided by a facility can be its strategic marketing technique that was adopted. It can also include other services that are not necessarily associated with the primary care in the eldercare facility. Providers must qualify for reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid. Apart from the obvious care practices like medications and physiotherapy, a successful marketer can include other products and services like body massage and indoor games; all of which can contribute to the strategic marketing success. The variety of services offered can increase the number of potential customers.
The marketing mix available to the elderly care facility that is most effective is distribution, promotion, and pricing. The care facilities must have the ability to distribute the professionals that are needed for the services of the patients or users (Daly, Armstrong & Lowndes, 2015, p. 246). The eldercare providers should have a broad range of education and abilities as well as skilled professionalism that can suit the patients' needs. Distribution is a good barometer for how the facility looks, and if it satisfies the users, the firm is likely to get more customers. Some of the elderly care companies offer variety personnel that can administer home health care and also distribute the non-medical care.
Promotion in this sector is carried out in a one-on-one mode of personal interaction. Some of the eldercare firms or providers can obtain clients through the personal and corporate sales representations. Others use telephone marketing calls, direct mail solicitation, advertisement on a variety of media platforms, and referrals from other clients (Hwang, 2015).
The users have personal contact with their doctors, the hospital discharge planners in the case of managed healthcare programs. They also do print advertisements that always come out monthly. This method has become one of the most efficient forms of advertisements. Advertisement of the services offered by the eldercare can be done through the media like televisions and radios and also social networks. With the modern technology, they can use their official website to make their products and services known by various prospective customers.
Pricing in an elderly care facility can sometimes become one of the complex processes because the mode of payment involves three categories. There are those clients who use the government insurance such as the Medicare and Medicaid, those who are privately insured, and the self-pay (Daly, Armstrong & Lowndes, 2015, p. 263). Prices are often driven by the Medicare and the Medicaid, as well as the private insurance reimbursement limits. A predetermined amount is expected to cover all the cost of services including the routine and non-routine medication and therapeutic services that are under a scheduled plan of care.
Consequently, the price ceiling in the health care sector places significant constraints on the profitability of these care facilities (Hwang, 2015). It is, therefore, important that the eldercare facilities obtain the reimbursement from the said healthcare insurance categories. The firms have to receive the reimbursement for those who are covered by the Medicaid and Medicare so that they can establish what to charge their clients.
References
Daly, T., Armstrong, P., & Lowndes, R. (2015). Liminality in Ontario's long-term care facilities: Private companions' care work in the space 'betwixt and between'. Competition & Change, 19(3), 246-263. doi:10.1177/1024529415580262
Hwang, H. (2015). Caring for Residents of Eldercare Facilities: A Concept Analysis. Int J Nurs Terminol Knowledge, n/a-n/a. doi:10.1111/2047-3095.12103
Saul, S. (2013). Meaningful Life Activities for Elderly Residents of Residential Health Care Facilities. Loss, Grief & Care, 6(4), 79-86. doi:10.1300/j132v06n04_11
Yoo, I. (2015). A Study on Healing Environmental Factors to improve Quality of Life in Elderly Care Facilities. doi:10.14257/astl.2015.88.34
