Care Manager Tips.com
Essential Marketing Tips To Run A Successful Care Home
So You Want To Be An Effective Care Manager?
Dec 8th
Hi,
An effective care manager trains him/herself to be one step ahead of today – thinking about tomorrow and beyond, because put quite simply, there is a serious and realistic risk of your business dying fast if you don’t!
It involves ‘assessing’, ‘visualising’, ‘planning’, ‘projecting’, ‘doing’, ‘re-evaluating’ – all simple words easily summed up by a short phrase ‘taking planned action’.
It involves sometimes pretending to be one of your clients, and seeing your business through their eyes instead of your own – how ‘attractive’ is your current business to them, and how might they like to see it improve? What can you do to make a difference that will also attract potential new clients? If you have difficulty doing this, why don’t you just ask them – frequently! Your clients are your best source of evaluation, so you really should listen to them – after all, they are currently living the result of your management!
But to most of us, being an effective care manager doesn’t always come naturally! I wonder how many of you can identify with the following condition:
I recently received an email from a concerned relative of mine and it began like this:
“Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests itself:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I head towards the garage, I notice post on the porch table that I picked up from the postman earlier.
I decide to go through it before I wash the car.
I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first.
But then I think, since I’m going to be near the postbox when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque book off the table and notice that there is only one cheque left.
My extra cheques are in the desk in my study, so I go into the house to my desk where
I find the cup of coffee I’d been drinking.
I’m going to look for my cheques but first I need to push the coffee aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.
The coffee is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup.
As I head toward the kitchen with the cold coffee, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye – the flowers need water.
I put the coffee on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers.
I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I’ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The car isn’t washed
The bills aren’t paid
There is a cold cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen work-surface
The flowers don’t have enough water,
There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,
I can’t find the remote,
I can’t find my glasses,
And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all bloody day and I’m really tired!
I realise this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail…..”
Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!!
OK, I did laugh and of course it was just one of those joke emails, but I laughed because I can identify with plenty of days like that, and I’m not that old yet (really!), and I’ll end up going to bed thinking – “what the hell did I achieve today?”
Or more importantly:
“What did I do to grow my business today?”
Sadly, too many of us have regular days like this because we are far too busy looking after regular or scheduled activities – or to use more current phrasing – “working too much in our business and not enough time allocated to working on our business. We are too ‘busy’ just getting through the day and guess what – tomorrow and the next day will be the same! Be honest – what have you done extra today that will likely make a difference to your business in 3 months time?
So today’s care manager tips are:
Don’t get stuck in ‘regular daily tasks’ – plan some new productive ones based on others’ ideas, as well as your own. Keep ideas fresh and interesting – the welfare and genuine happiness of your clients is also your best business advertisement.
Best regards,
Simon
Benefits Of E-Learning
Jul 3rd
OK, let’s briefly examine the benefits of e-learning from a delegates perspective, over traditional ‘classroom’ methods.
I’m sure you’ve noticed on this website that I’m offering an opportunity to subscribe to my marketing e-course for care managers and proprietors of care homes, “Preparing for Excellence” and I know that the concept of e-learning may be totally new to many of you.
So if you are a little skeptical (I understand that), maybe this will help a little.
In order to do this fairly, we must of course examine how the more traditional instructor lead ‘classroom’ style learning wins over ‘on line’ methods aswell.
Now, before I get into this, I believe there cannot be an overall winner as it completely depends on the individual’s personal choice as we are all made of different stuff, have different challenging circumstances and what works for one may not necessarily work for someone else.
However, there has been a clear trend recently for an increasing number of people to favour e-learning . To find out why, let’s examine a few unbiased pros and cons:
The Pros (of e-learning)
- travel/time convenience,
- less expense,
- work at own pace in flexible time,
- less intrusive without risk of public humiliation!
- Choice of learning styles
Let’s examine these a bit closer.
Travel/Time Convenience:
Pretty self explanatory – you can work in the comfort of your own home or office at a time to suit your busy schedule, without the need for time off work, or required travel. You can fit in the course around your care manager duties, utilising the facility to work the various tasks.
Less Expense
– because the course creator does not have additional overhead costs to pass on. On line courses are usually sold at a fraction of the cost of residential courses, without (generally) losing any of the quality. No hotel accommodation, instructor fee, room hire, stationery, course meals/drinks etc and the financial outlay associated with all that.
Work At Own Pace In Flexible Time:
No set times to stick to, be punctual for, and be limited to. You can do a ‘half hour task’ in 3 hours if you want to without inconveniencing anybody else. And you can do it at 3.00am if you like – it’s your choice entirely.
Less Intrusive:
Just in case you’re a little self conscious, your ability to learn is not under examination from anybody else other than yourself. So if you haven’t been to school recently, no need to worry about your ‘performance’. You can retake/practise as many times as you like whenever you like – and no one need ever know!
Choice of Learning Styles:
E-learning allows you the flexibility to choose your preferred learning style, be it auditory (by reading and listening), visual (through video), or kinesthetic learning (through hands on practice). This flexibility allows perfect individual learning to gain the best results.
Now the Cons:
- No ‘Face to Face’ Tutoring:
- No peer comraderie
- Current work distractions
Face to Face
It can be argued that no computer or ‘faceless’ instructor can replace one on one human tutoring, getting instant answers to questions through debate and vocal communication with fellow delegates.
Peer Comraderie
Joining an online forum when e-learning can put you in touch with “virtual” fellow students across the globe, but the appeal of making friends with like minded real people on a residential course can give welcome comfort, and enhance the learning experience. Reduced social and cultural interaction when e-learning can be a drawback for some.
Current Work Distractions:
Some people need to get away from their usual working environment to aid learning on a residential course without the potential distraction of everyday routines. (Leave your Blackberry at home!)
As I said, e-learning verses residential course learning is a matter of personal choice, weighing up the pros and cons, the financial implications and matching learning style to personality and circumstances.
So, do the benefits of e-learning outweigh the drawbacks?
It really has to be your call.
Best regards,
Simon
Managing Client Families
Jun 8th
For me, a care manager’s role is extended to helping or even managing client families of clients – helping them to understand their loved one’s sometimes ‘erratic’ behaviour, changing moods, increasing frailness, loss of confidence, frustration, apathy, etc.
You will not only be providing a valuable service, but you can also prevent misunderstanding and even some harmful confrontation with some relatives.
And even though, you do ‘your utmost’ to maintain an active and ‘happy’ environment, clients’ private moments away from the spotlight can often reveal depressing feelings of anxiety.
Your dedication and experience as a care manager can be of great comfort to not only your clients but also their relatives who are witnessing such (sometimes) rapid character changes for the first time. And most importantly, you can help them prevent a life lasting feeling of regret and guilt, by encouraging them to contribute to their loved ones’ ongoing care, and helping them take some solace through remembering their parents’ dedication when they were younger.
I think many of us are guilty of not always remembering the love and dedication our now elderly relatives once gave us. And all too often, that feeling of guilt only hits us when it is too late, when we only wish we had done more in their hour of need.
The trouble is we all lead such busy lives, with demanding careers, and somehow bringing up our own families, and we so easily forget to appreciate our own upbringing.
Of course not everyone’s experience is a happy one, but most people can look back and admit that their parents did their best even if they sometimes didn’t get it right.
From my own experience, I had a good relationship with my parents, and I’m blessed with being able to look back with great love and affection, but I still wish I had visited more, listened more, and done more in their final years before they died.
I stumbled upon this short video which I think may help people reflect on their own families and appreciate the importance of ‘giving back’ a little of that love while they still can.
And so for my care managers tip? -
Use your experience to empathise and understand some relatives’ apparent apathy towards your clients, and help them realise their past love and dedication.
By contributing to their loved one’s care, they will take solace from being able to comfort them in their final years.
And they will be eternally grateful to you for your wisdom in helping them perhaps avoid many years of guilt and regret.
Best regards
Simon
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