Eldercare as the Unexplored Continent
No matter how many times eldercare issues are explained, explored and discussed, when a person has an eldercare issue with a family member, it seems like the first time anyone ever had this problem. Education and resources abound, but when the need arises, the befuddled adult child always asks, “Where can I turn for answers?”
Recently I had the fortune to go on an expedition to Antarctica. While there, and prior to going, I learned about the early explorers to the White Continent and the hardships they suffered. I read about the efforts of many to chart unknown waters and to trudge through icy and snow covered mountains filled with unsuspecting crevasses. Alone with the penguins and whales, normal life seemed a million miles away, and should I have needed help from the mainland, none would be forthcoming. Antarctica is a long way away from anything else and unreachable except by a 2 day voyage across treacherous waters.
The White Continent
This lost and alone feeling is the same that people experiencing elder care issues for the first time feel. And they also feel the crevasses and the treacherous waters that keep them from safe harbor. So, how can those who offer elder care services make the journey less fearful, less painful, and more warm and fuzzy for the adult child? Education that is specific to the need. An active listener who actually hears the fear and the unknown and can pinpoint the issues and help solve the problems. Now, I am feeling rather dramatic as I write this, but searching for answers is the first step. And, having a great website that targets specific issues is one of the answers. Not the complete answer, but a start. Won’t you join us for an educational webinar on our award winning MOST program? That is one, simple way for agencies to have all the information needed to respond to the lost adult child, and to start developing a website that is chock full of safety nets for those who feel lost in the wilderness of eldercare issues.
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Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) Celebrates 50 Years of Studio Art Glass
The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the development of studio art glass in America. To celebrate this milestone and recognize the many talented artists, more than 160 glass demonstrations, lectures and exhibitions will take place in museums, galleries, art centers, universities, organizations, festivals and other venues across the United States throughout the year.
And, already, some really great press has shared the movement with the rest of the country. The winter 2012 issue of American Style magazine has printed a wonderful article about the early days of the Studio Glass movement (part 1) with great photos, as well. Click here to read the complete article.
Since 1962, glass art has become a popular and exciting medium for museums, galleries, collectors, artists, and students. One-of-a-kind glass sculptural art is found all over the United States in museums, hotels, cruise liners, botanical gardens, parks, restaurants and many other notable public spaces.
A listing of 2012 glass art events is ever changing and as information is finalized, details can be found online at http://contempglass.org/2012-celebration.
2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Study
The 2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Study is now open on www.privatedutybenchmarking.com.
This study is the largest, most trusted study in private duty home care and we highly encourage all agencies to be a part of it. And, this year, the survey is less than half the length of previous years, making it faster and easier than ever to be a part of the study.
Plus, Home Care Pulse will be offering a complimentary Agency Performance Report for your business when you participate, based on the information you provide in the survey. Best of all, you are eligible for a 40% participation discount, when you pre-order the 2012 Edition and use this unique promotion code: CORE2012. This discount will be available only to participants, through March 31st.
The Agency Performance Report will feature the full 2012 Edition, plus your own agency data compared side-by-side with the latest industry benchmarks. This is a confidential report, provided by Home Care Pulse and designed just for you.
Exciting additions to the 2012 Study include:
- Fast and easy study survey (about 15 minutes when you complete the Prep Worksheet)
- Instant access to your complimentary Agency Performance Report based on your data
- 25% off when you pre-order the complete 2012 Edition ($75 value)
- A wealth of articles from major industry players
- In-depth comparisons to leading agencies in the industry
- Comprehensive data from several hundred agencies
We invite you to be a part of it today! Learn more at www.privatedutybenchmarking.com or join the Private Duty Benchmarking Group on LinkedIn.
Thank you for your participation.
Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit: Wednesday – Day 3
Birds-of-a-Feather Roundtables
Day three of the 2012 Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit began with attendees learning from their peers at our Birds-of-a-Feather Roundtables. Facilitated by experts on various topics, attendees sat around tables to get input and to discuss ways to grow and improve what they are doing related to the topic. The questions were flying and watching agency owners share their best practices was a great collaborative exercise. Many continued their discussions post-session and planned to exchange contact information post-conference.
Topics at the roundtables included:
- Alternative service offerings
- Modeling private home care services based on a concierge model
- Social media as a marketing tool
- Google & Grandma: SEO tips
- Health care reform
- Grass roots lobbying efforts for home care issues
- Ethics and the new age of private duty home care
- Disaster preparedness
- Long-term care insurance ins and outs
- CRM and workflow processes
- Wage and hour issues
Software Speed Dating
For those interested in learning about scheduling and management software, attendees joined the first-ever software speed dating session. Four different vendors presented for 15 minutes each. They highlighted what differentiated their software as well as highlighted the items that current customers find the most beneficial. Vendors that participated were eSolutions, Generations, Shoshana Technologies, Rosemark and Heath Trust Software.
Closing General Session
Private duty home care agencies are facing business-changing issues from current legislation. From health care reform and all that trickles down from those initiatives, Bill Dombi, Vice President of Law for NAHC, closed the conference with a thorough download from Washington DC Bill opened with the fact that our biggest concern should be how we are going to meet the great and growing demand for care. He added that, because it is an election year, he predicts we will not see the health care reform act repealed in 2012. However, it will be a central part of the 2012 campaigns for presidential election.
In 2012, several issues are on the forefront, including the fate of healthcare reform law at the US Supreme Court. Everyone is really looking toward the US Supreme Court to see what they are going to decide with these cases. What will be affected out of these decisions will be:
- individual mandate which addresses the minimum coverage provision
- Anti-Junction Act which deals with applicability
What might be considered the most impactful issue on the table for private duty is the Companionship Exemption. Bill went through many of the updates about where legislation stands as well as what we can expect in the near future. For a recap of these updates, please watch the Legislative Update videos at www.youtube.com/PDHCA.
NAHC has an action plan which includes conducting an economic impact study as well as a media campaign. Bill mentioned that agencies can go the NAHC website to send messages to Congress.
Post-Conference Intensive: Focus on Sales
Led by Barbara Akst, BA, MA, CEO of Training Unlimited of Virginia, this time served as an interactive work session. Attendees came prepared with their sales plans to focus on goals and objectives to establish action items to carry out upon returning to the office. A key take-away from the session for the attendees was to understand and determine the difference between knowing goals vs. objectives. Another great learning from the session was the acronym “SMART” Goals. SMART stands for specific, measureable, achievable, results focused, time bound. Barbara encouraged attendees to think about what is it that they want in a sales professional in terms of characteristics, what their role will be and what their performance expectations are.
Watch what happened at the Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit on the PDHCA YouTube Channel!
Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit: Day 2 – Tuesday
Private Duty Leadership Summit’s General Session Keynotes
When Dr. Lance Secretan was introduced and he walked up to the front of the room and continued right past the podium where most speakers would take their station, we knew we were in for something different. Walking the floor with the audience, he engaged from the very beginning. He led with, “We are going to talk about inspiration.”
He discussed leadership as an old concept with a missing piece, which is inspiration. How can you inspire others if you, yourself are not inspired? To dive into that concept, he talked about motivation and how we often as a society confuse motivation with inspiration. We have built companies, incentives, etc. on motivation, which is a fear-based concept. Dr. Secretan encourages us to throw this idea out and shift thinking toward inspiration. To be inspiring to others and to yourself, you must change the words you use. Inspiring words are those with compassion, care and love. “Love leads to inspiration.”
Dr. Secretan asked, “How do you run a healthcare business when the game around you changes all the time?” Take a good look at your leadership team. He stated that because we are human beings, all leadership teams are dysfunctional to some extent. The first thing we need to do is align and correct these teams. To do so, ask three questions and have everyone in the leadership team share these responses with each other.
- Why am I here? This is your destiny.
- What is my calling? This is your calling.
- How will I be? This is your character.
This is called the “Why Be Do.”
Another major component of Dr. Secretan’s insight had to do with the concept of Permission Space. What will people allow you to do? What is accepted by your customer base? You will be given permission to be great if you do these things. As an agency, figure out what those things are, plot them on a map and follow it.
“Inspiration drives performance.”-Dr. Lance Secretan.
“Authenticity is the alignment of the mind, the mouth, the heart and the feet.” -Dr. Lance Secretan
Paul Kusserow, Humana
Paul opened with a powerful statement. He believes home care, despite the uncertain healthcare landscape, is an extraordinary business to be in—and will change the way we age.
He discussed how Humana took the principles of Dr. Secretan and changed the dynamic of the company. Fundamentally, Humana wanted to establish a continuum of care for their customers. They wanted to start the dialogue about wellbeing with customers before they were ill. They believed this was in their permission space.
To this end, Humana began to research their customer base to see what their customers’ impressions of wellbeing were.
Through this process, Humana realized that they wanted to be “all things senior.” They see a great deal of opportunity for home care companies in telehealth and helping families become a part of the care process. Agencies should think about how to expand their influence. He concluded with, “Humana wants to inspire people to be the best they can be and partner with them to do that.”
Make sure to see Val J. Halamandaris’ recap of his thoughts on the keynote speakers at http://youtu.be/NbsU5jzQNDU.
Education Sessions
PDHCA was honored to host a series of education sessions in the afternoon with dynamic content for attendees. For clips of the sessions, visit PDHCA’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/PDHCA.
Session topics included:
- Get more web visibility, traffic and leads
- New rules of home care growth in the post-recession age
- Negotiating the sale of a home care agency
- Legal issues concerning websites, blogs and social media
- Attracting and retaining the A+ caregiver
- Making sense out of private duty’s role in transitional care
- Focused networking as an art form that drives sales
- Obtaining insurance benefits for your clients’ care
- Quality & customer service: two sides of the same coin
Continue to follow PDHCA Conference updates at #PDHCASummit on Twitter and watch important video of conference speakers on the PDHCA YouTube Channel!
