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Join in on the conversation about Senior Housing and the Silver Tsunami with Diane Masson, a senior housing expert for over 16 years. Throughout this site you will find priceless information for both professionals working in the senior housing industry… and for seniors who are seeking the inside secrets to the best options for housing available today!
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Diane Masson's Tips & Articles
Hoarding Seniors and Walkers Don’t Mix
A hoarding senior who needs a walker is not a safe combination. As hoarders age, the clutter can make a senior fall. It can be practically impossible for an emergency crew to extract a fallen senior out of living room that is piled high with paper, extra furniture and trash. I know of a senior in my former senior living community that was wedged in between tiny pathways of books, magazines, unopened mail and clothing. A friend of mine is dealing with a senior hoarding situation. Her father-in-law can only navigate through four rooms and has to climb over stuff to get into his bed. This gentleman is 98 years old with dementia and requires a walker. Recently he injured his leg on a lawn mower that was in his living room. (You can’t make up this stuff.) More trip hazards included extension cords laying on the floor and throw rugs. Whenever his son tries to get rid of stuff the dad refuses. So there are three sofas in the living room and none are accessible. The son bought his dad a new flat screen TV and VCR. The new gifts were duct taped on top of the broken TV and VCR. When the dad received a new recliner for Christmas, it was positioned next to the old run down model. Every attempt to declutter is met with an irate senior who refuses to part with anything. He should not be in this cluttery filthy home with a walker. A daughter is enabling him by bringing him groceries and medicine. There are piles of crap everywhere and you can...
Flu – Better at Home or Senior Community?
It’s flu season and I unfortunately succumbed with a 100.8 temperature reading and a horrible cough. My husband, Chris, was sicker than I. As we nursed each other back to health, I thought about single seniors trying to manage flu symptoms alone in their home. What if a senior didn’t have enough groceries stocked at home? What if they were too weak to even make themselves a can of soup? Would they monitor their own temperature and take Tylenol every six hours? What about drinking enough liquids? Will anyone check on his or her well-being? The flu has not struck at the Continuing Care Retirement Communities that I represent. It makes me feel good to know if one of our residents got the flu, in the independent living setting, room service could bring them a meal of soup, fruit and tea or what they need to start healing. If a senior resident wondered if they need to be hospitalized they could walk down the hall to the complimentary wellness clinic and ask the nurse. If they were really bad the senior resident could pull their emergency cord and a nurse or emergency medical technician would come help them. Wow! I did not have that luxury. Frankly, I could have used it Friday night when I considered going to the emergency room, because it was getting hard to breathe. Assisted living and skilled nursing support residents 24-hours a day, so if a senior got the flu, they have caregivers who can nourish them back to health. Some critics might say that a community setting promotes the spread of flu, with...
5 Goal-Setting Tips for 2015 Sales Success
Are you ready for a high-occupancy New Year? Did you hit your sales and occupancy goals for 2014? Congratulations, if you did. If you did not, draw a line in the sand and start over for 2015. Here are five goal-setting tips for you and your senior living sales team: Have a goal meeting with yourself and then with your boss. What is the budgeted occupancy? Do you have enough walk-in traffic and leads in your database to generate the sales you need? Should you create some events to bring in new faces? Are you proud of the first impressions of your senior living community? What is your competition doing? Have a plan to differentiate yourself from them. Remember, no negative… Determine your “A,” “B,” and “C” players (the definition of “A,” “B,” and “C” players is HERE) and what each of their sales goals will be. Meet individually with each of your sales people. “A” players will automatically believe they can hit the 2015 goal. “B” players will believe after you individually coach and believe in him or her. “C” players will usually whine or complain about the goals. (Your coaching may turn them around or you may need to let them go if they don’t want to WORK to hit the goals.) Have a kick off meeting for the New Year or a marketing retreat. Acknowledge ALL good and great sales performance from 2014. Your “A” people will love the recognition. “B” people will be proud of their accomplishments. Everyone will thrive in this format and feel supported in achieving their personal and team sales goals for...
Seniors Choosing Isolation?
What a sad circumstance for seniors to be alone during the holidays. Is the isolation voluntary or involuntary? My poor mom has ecoli and was put into isolation at her skilled nursing community. Everyone has to wear a gown, gloves and a mask to enter her room. She will NOT get to dine with her fellow residents for four more days. Fortunately, she is more than halfway through her antibiotic and feels good now. She was in great spirits today and even invited me to stay for lunch! Some seniors become isolated as they age in their home like my in-laws. They refuse to move to a retirement community. Both have dementia and neither of them drives. They are 100 percent dependent on one local son to bring them groceries, take them to the doctor and socialize with them. Is this enough human interaction? I don’t think so. Other seniors determined to stay at home, use home care and become dependent on a single caregiver. Is this a healthy life? The rest of us interact with 10 or 20 people a day. What happens when someone only interacts with one person, day after day, month after month? Many years ago, my mom was in this situation and it was when the memory issues began. Every senior faces a choice to plan ahead by moving to a senior living community or wait until a health care crisis and live with the consequences. I hope and pray that more seniors chose multiple human interactions by moving to a senior living community. My mom started to thrive again after she moved to assisted...
10 Dementia Gift Ideas
When I brought my mom a Christmas gift from my brother and sister-in-law, she had no recognition on her face as she read the tag. My mom’s vascular dementia is stopping her from connecting her son’s written name with his face. That part of her brain is gone. So what do you do? Does your mom or dad have dementia? Are they still at home or residing in an assisted living, memory care or skilled nursing community? My mom has had dementia for 12 years and has lived in skilled nursing care for 19 months. She cannot remember anything and only speaks clearly about 30 to 50 percent of the time. My recommendation is to give a photo of yourself with your gift. Attach your photo directly to the gift. Your parent has a better chance of recognizing you in the photo than knowing who you are by reading a gift tag. Here are 10 dementia gift ideas: A soft lap blanket – I gave my mom a small Christmas blanket and it was a homerun. Every time she sees it, she touches it and comments on the softness. My intention was giving a functional gift (keeping her warm) and an easy way for her to recognize the holiday season. It has really worked, because last night she talked about Christmas on her own. A manicure or hand massage – Hopefully this can be performed by you? It is a way to connect physically, so they can feel your presence and love. My mom loves having her nails done. A sweater – A nice red sweater or sweatshirt is always a...
Powering Through a Tough Time
Sales offer each of us constant rejection. It takes a strong person to overcome 18 noes to gain two yeses. Some have it in their DNA to power through tough times and others don’t. When you are achieving or exceeding the sales occupancy goals – life is good. Missing sales goals can be painful and agonizing. Will you be fired? How do you get back on track achieving sales and start boosting a plummeted self-esteem? Work on your self-talk. Keep that tape running in your head on a positive channel. If you can’t shut down your internal negative chatter try step two. Listen to positive sales CDs or tapes on your way to and from work. Zig Zigler, Tom Hopkins and Brian Tracy are always great choices to boost your spirits and inspire you with sales ideas. Make a decision to be grateful. Think of five things in your life that you are thankful for each morning. Find an encouraging mentor to be your cheerleader several times per week. Pray to find joy in helping a senior today. You can improve the life of a senior who is isolated in his or her home. Read a 25 second poem and get an instant attitude adjustment here. What have you done to turn your attitude positive? Will you share your tips in the comments so others can benefit? Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method...
Reputable Home Care Costs Results
A special shout out to those of you who shared around the clock home care costs from New York, Boston, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Utah, Ontario, and California. Those home care prices are listed in the comments of my blog post from last week, “Reputable Home Care Costs.” There are a lot of fly by night home care companies and I am trying to provide accurate around the clock home care “live-in” pricing for my new book that is scheduled to be out in January. The title of my new book has been updated to, “Selecting Senior Housing – Your Proactive Guide.” Results for around the clock “live-in” caregivers: New York – $15,168 a month Boston – $9,300 – $10,075 a month North Carolina – $13,764 – $17,856 a month Florida – $12,276 a month Nashville, Tennessee – $11,160 – $22,320 a month Salt Lake City, Utah – $12,240 – $14,570 Ontario – $18,600 – $21,576 Sacramento, CA – $12,400 San Francisco, CA – $11,532 – $20,088 If any other senior living professionals would like to your city and state home care prices for “live-ins,” please add it to the comment section below. Please remember, the home care prices are for two – 12 hour shifts or three – eight hour shifts only. Thanks! “Selecting Senior Housing – Your Proactive Guide,” will be coming soon to Amazon.com. If you sign up for my weekly newsletter on the right side of this blog, you will be notified when my new book becomes available. Check out my new website: Tips2Seniors.com or please follow me on Facebook. Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase...
Reputable Home Care Costs?
If you work in the home care industry, I need your help to answer a few quick questions. What does it cost in your city and state to have around the clock home care? What is the difference in cost between three shifts of caregivers in a 24-hour period who each spend eight hours a day with a client versus a live-in caregiver? Please comment as soon as possible, because I am trying to compile accurate pricing information for a new guide book that I have written for seniors, “Selecting Senior Housing for Seniors in the Silver Tsunami.” Recently I blogged about reputable home care costing more than hiring a caregiver “under the table.” Statistics are telling me that the cost of a reputable home care company providing around the clock nonmedical caregiving is around $15,000 to $18,000 a month. Do you agree? This includes three shifts of caregivers in a 24-hour period who are awake and can help the senior client at any time. My understanding is that live-in caregivers cost less, the senior client must be able to sleep through the night, and the caregiver by law gets eight hours of sleep. Is this true? When you comment, please provide your city and state. It would be excellent if this discussion could accumulate a response from every state in the United States and show costs in other countries as well. Thanks for participating. “Selecting Senior Housing for Seniors in the Silver Tsunami,” will be coming soon to Amazon.com. If you sign up for my weekly newsletter on the right side of this blog, you will be notified when...
Thanksgiving Week Phone Calls?
This is the best time of year to make your database calls. Seniors open up about whether their family really visits with them or not. Call your prospective residents this week (not on Thanksgiving) and simply wish them a Happy Thanksgiving! Then you casually ask if they have any plans for Thanksgiving. The truth pours out of the senior. If they have nothing happening, invite them to your community for a wonderful dining experience in the next week. Most of them say, “Yes!” Please share any tips that have worked for you! Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends! Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.” It is rated by Amazon Editors as one of the best books of 2014 and readers have given it a 5-star rating on Amazon.com. This award winning book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this...
Sabotaging Siblings/Children?
How many of you have worked with a senior who clearly needs to make a move into a senior living community? Maybe she is lonely, not eating nutritiously, no longer driving or desires the social connectivity of liked-minded seniors. The senior is one visit away from selecting an apartment and putting down a deposit. A daughter has already consented that her mom needs the support of your community and is emotional exhausted from helping her mom. The son/brother is coming to town and they want him to put his stamp of approval on this move. Suddenly, the senior and the daughter become uncommunicative with you. The family is a no-show for the scheduled tour at your retirement community. Your phone calls to reach out to them are unanswered. What happened? Are they okay? Did something happen and maybe the senior is in the hospital? Most likely the son came into town and sabotaged the deal. “Mom is fine. She does not need to move into an old folks home. It is too expensive. Just keep helping her sis.” Maybe this son is in denial or maybe he is worried that mom might drain his inheritance. Either way, it is a sad circumstance for the mom who will lose out on a better quality of life and the sister who is tired of taking care of mom while raising her own children. What can you do? How can you handle this situation in the best possible light? Here is my suggestion: Next time, prepare the mom and sister for the brother’s visit. I would say, “I would love for your...
New E-Book for Senior Housing Marketing
New E-book is now available, “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.” Rated by Amazon Editors as one of the best books of 2014! “Diane’s book is an important resource for the senior housing industry. It contains tips and advice to help the novice, as well as the experienced marketer, build or maintain census. It is also a terrific guidebook for executive directors or administrators to use in managing the marketing function.” — Chris McKenzie, VP Marketing, PR & Communications, multi-site CCRC organization “Smart senior housing professionals understand that full occupancy means better cash flows and an improved bottom line. Diane’s practical, relevant strategies and tactics are must read material for any senior housing professional wanting insight on how to best fill and maintain full occupancy at their community. Presented in a positive and direct manner, this book is full of useful information delivered straight from the front line.” — Richard M. Mazza, senior housing consultant, development & finance professional; former Chief Accounting Officer and Interim CFO “A useful guide for both non-profit and for-profit senior housing organizations, with checklists, ideas, and reminders of essential elements all good managers and sales people need to be effective in filling senior living homes and apartments. Diane’s techniques can bring immediate results.” —Thomas Becker, retired CEO & President of Pacific Retirement Services There are 14 more testimonials on Amazon. If this book has helped you or your organization, please share your experience on Amazon or in the comment section below. Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com...
Dentistry and Dementia
Am I a bad daughter? Yesterday, I learned the shocking truth that my mom has five missing teeth. My mom has lived in a higher level of care for over eight years. Seven years in assisted living in Seattle and the last 17 months in skilled nursing care in California. My mother has had vascular dementia for over 10 years and I have been attending doctor appointments with her for years. Why did I never consider oral health and attending a dentist appointment? It was pure luck that I visited my mom this week when the mobile dentist was there. Dr. Mark Mroch was awesome. He had a funny and engaging personality. My mom was completely enamored with him. They were joking back and I forth and I was cracking up. According to dental records the five teeth were missing when my mom arrived in California. Now that I have processed this situation, I have some unanswered dental questions: Why did no one tell the POA (Power of Attorney) of a dementia patient that her mom had five teeth missing when it was first discovered? Has my mom with her dementia been responsible for her own dental hygiene for all these years? Do assisted living and skilled nursing communities brush and floss teeth? How often? If the senior tells the caregiver that flossing hurts, do they just discontinue flossing and not tell the family? Is a dentist required to request flossing in order for it to happen? Can you please share what the oral hygiene policy is at your assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care community? I know the...Learn More About Senior Housing
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