A new caregiving service will soon be available online, giving care providers an opportunity to reach the growing number of caregivers looking for support. Are you ready to join?
The service, provided by Genworth and branded by AARP, is called AARP® Caregiving Help and Advice from Genworth. And it breaks new ground by becoming the first national service to integrate care assessment, care planning and provider matching. This service is expected to debut in early 2012.
It took the convergence of three key trends to get here, but between an aging population, the emergence of a new kind of caregiver, and the growing sophistication of online matching tools, we're here. The long-term care services sector will never be the same.
Home care providers can enroll now in a Provider Program that will be available to AARP members through this service. The Provider Program is administered by CareScout, a Genworth company. For more information, go to carescout.com/providerprogram. (Genworth provides the AARP Caregiving Help and Advice Program, not AARP or its affiliates. AARP does not employ or endorse care professionals.)
Let's look inside this promising new world and see what it means for long-term care providers.
The Aging Population
Because Americans are living longer, long-term care is becoming one of the fastest growing segments in health care. In response, new services are introduced every day. As parents and grandparents live into their 80s and beyond, their wish lists, which often starts with aging at home, creates the need for new and varied services that take into considerations changes in living space, safety, case management, transportation, financial planning, and so on.
If you operate a facility, or provide eldercare equipment or services, you should be preparing now for this aging population boom.
A New Kind of Customer
She's a caregiver sandwiched between two generations, often overwhelmed with choices, buried in information, strapped for time, and anxious to find help. She's not alone. There are millions like her, and she's becoming aware that coordinating care requires more than searching the Internet for caregiving options. She wants education, support and assistance about caregiving, and access to providers who show their commitment to openly disclose services, credentials and depth of expertise.
This new kind of caregiver wants help and advice to guide decisions about living arrangements, care assessments, payment sources, provider options, and work-life balance.
Matchmaking Tools & Services
If you want to become the provider of choice for caregivers, you first need to be found by them.
The Internet is one way to do this, of course, and your website should be a cornerstone of your marketing. But burying the customer in information isn't always helpful. A better approach is for you to participate in matchmaking services. Medicare.gov offers such a service for helping consumers find nursing homes, as do several U.S. states for their long-term care services. Genworth's new product, AARP Caregiving Help and Advice, goes a step further by encompassing the range—in-home care, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and adult day care facilities—and giving caregivers the option to create a care plan and find a provider that matches their needs and requirements through multiple channels, including the web, phone or in-home.
Providers that want to connect with this new kind of caregiver should consider enrolling in a service that integrates care assessment, care planning and provider matching.
The bottom line is this new kind of caregiver has arrived, and providers should be ready to answer the call.
Bob Bua is President of Genworth's Caregiving Division, CareScout. Learn more at carescout.com/providerprogram .