The Ranks of Seniors Are Swelling It should come as no surprise that the American population is aging. By 2030, when the entire Baby Boom generation will be 66 or older, there will be an estimated 72 million seniors, or approximately 20% of the entire US population. Despite Baby Boomers being healthier and more active than their parents, 85% of them will eventually need some form of in-home care, since approximately 80% of seniors have at least one chronic health condition and 50% at least two. During January 2013, MarketResearch.com reported that it expects the elder care services industry to total $319.5 billion by 2016, while BCC Research forecasts a total of $436.6 billion by 2018, compared to $320 billion for 2013.

The Price to Pay For the period 2009–2014, the cost of all 5 elder care services categories increased: homemaker services, 1.2%; home health aide services, 1.32%; adult day health care, 3.4%; assisted living facility, 4.29%; and nursing home care, semi-private room, 3.91%, and private room, 4.19%. Just less than half (46%) of family caregivers, 30% of whom are caring for a parent and 24% a spouse or significant other, spent more than $5,000 during 2013-2014 from their own financial assets to pay for medications, medical bills, in-home care and nursing homes.

The Price to Pay The median cost of elder care services during 2014 were homemaker, $19 (hourly); home health aide, $20 (hourly); adult day care, $65 (daily); assisted living facility, $3,500 (monthly); and nursing home, semi-private room, $212 (daily), and private room, $240 (daily).

The Nursing Home Market More than 90% of institutionalized elderly Americans live in nursing homes. As of June 2014, the top 5 states with the most nursing homes were California, 1,667; Texas, 1081; Ohio, 1,014; Illinois, 901; and Pennsylvania, 771. Of the 18,317 US nursing homes, 9,533 were privately owned, 8,010 group-owned, 402 county-owned, 135 government-owned, 129 state-owned and 108 city-owned. The top 5 nursing home groups in the US were Genesis Healthcare, 326 homes; Golden Living, 305 homes; HCR Manor-Care, 301 homes; Life Care Centers of America, 199 homes; and Brookdale Senior Living, 194 homes.

Just for the Day he latest data from the Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics show that there were approximately 4,800 adult day services centers in the US during 2012, serving a total of 272,300 participants. Although most adult day services centers are non-profit, the percent of for-profit facilities increased from 27% for 2010 to 40% for 2012, and they were serving almost 50% of all participants, or 136,150. During 2012, the average daily attendance at for-profit adult day services centers was 48 and at non-profit centers 33. More non-profit centers than for-profit centers had been in operation for 10 or more years, and were affiliated with a chain organization.

Uncertain About Their Future According to the June 2014 United States of Aging Survey from the National Council on Aging, 38% of seniors, 60 years of age and older, were very confident that they are prepared for health changes while 47% were somewhat confident. This confidence may be attributable to survey data that found 53% of seniors had set health goals during the past year, compared to 47% for the 2013 survey. A slightly smaller percent of seniors, 49%, said they were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about having enough savings and income for the remainder of their lives, compared to 53% in the 2013 survey.

Tech’s What’s Next With the installation of tiny monitoring sensors on common devices with which seniors interact, such as keys, microwave oven and the TV, family members can monitor their activities remotely from their homes, offices and mobile devices. Telehealth communications will allow more seniors to interact with health professionals from their homes and elder care facilities, reducing the number of appointments and travel costs. These and other advanced technologies are estimated to increase the aging-in-place technology market from $2 billion for 2014 to $20 billion by 2020.

Advertising Strategies With seniors being the highest percentage of television viewers, elder care services will be able to reach their prime audience with quarterly flights of TV spots that highlight the benefits and high standards of their services, facilities and employees. Elder care services can use television to promote their advocacy of more seniors exercising and actively improving their health by hosting and announcing free seminars on these topics to attract audiences to their facilities. Recommend that elder care services advertisers create commercials that feature testimonials from services clients, day care participants and/or assisted living and nursing home residents and/or family members.

Advertising Strategies Elder care organizations should use advertising to highlight their specialty, whether it’s active lifestyle, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, or long-term treatment. Focus on your expertise, compassion, and reliability. Clearly mention any certifications or organizational memberships in all ads. Elder law services should target both seniors (average age 74) and their caregiver children (average age 50) through advertising efforts. Use the emotional aspect of media: Depict an elder with his or her adult child talking about the challenges they share; or, include the major concerns of both demographics separately, but in the same ad.

Advertising Strategies Highlight the importance of elder care services as preventive measures. Once seniors become too ill to live independently, it is harder for them to adapt to new environments and lifestyles. This makes the transition to elder care more complicated. However, when seniors start elder care services while they are still relatively healthy, they are more likely to benefit. Consider hosting an on-site event. Serve coffee and cookies. Develop a presentation or panel discussion to enlighten people about the benefits of elder care. Leave plenty of time for questions at the end and send attendees home with an information packet that contains your contact information. Increase awareness of your event by including detailed information in ads.

Social Media Strategies Choosing the right elder care service for a senior family member and when are important decisions for families, so elder care services’ social media content should provide relevant information to help make these decisions easier. One or more manager or employee of an elder care services provider should serve as the social media voice of the company, so site visitors feel as if they are communicating with the provider on a personal level, which builds more trust. Videos can be strong social media content for elder care services, as a medium for client/resident testimonials and regular video “newsletters” introducing new staff and upgraded facilities and as an opportunity for selected employees to tell their stories of service.