Publicity Hound Joan Riley writes:
“There are many helpful programs for low-income seniors and official
methods to inform them, but the people who need help the most often don’t get the word word about things like the current application for assistance with Medicare Part D prescription drugs, or their state’s Renters Credit, etc.
“As a former journalist, now a volunteer in this area, I’m seeking unique ideas that might spread the word and motivate seniors to contact us for free counseling and help in filling out the forms, etc. If any of your Hounds have worked with this segment of the population, I’d appreciate their insight.”
As a former aging care manager at the county level, we always had elderly clients looking for help with counselling, filling out paperwork, etc. In addition, many folks we came across were illiterate. With high caseloads, we often didn’t have the time to assist in these matters.
I would suggest contacting the intake and referral department of local Agencies on Aging (sometimes they are called Office of Aging) and tell them about your services, give them brochures or flyers, and I bet you’ll get a good response. The care managers will learn about the programs, suggest them to their clients and you will hit exactly the target market you’re looking for.
You are providing a much-needed service to people who often need it the most. Keep up the good work!
I suggest partnering with your local “Meals on Wheels” people- Loaves and Fishes. Ask them to hand out a flyer about your services when they deliver meals. These seniors will be folks who may need your service the most.
Sometimes local hospitals/HMOs offer senior fairs with health info and free blood pressure tests, etc. Find out if any are happening in your community and distribute your information there.
Gosh, good luck! Part D is so confusing to so many seniors.
I served as a staff member for a Congressman from 2003-2004, right when the prescription drug plan came out, and Medicare was one of the issues I covered. One of the things that our staff did was have the Congressman write a letter to the editor, explaining what the benefit was, who was eligible, and where those eligible could receive assistance. I know several papers in our district picked that editorial up (as well as some papers from neighboring districts, too). Could you do the same?
We also offered Town Hall meetings on the topic, and we targeted senior centers and retirement communities, making sure that the event was announced in their bulletins and newsletters. Try writing a short piece for those types of newsletters, or go and do presentations at the centers. The seniors love having people come and talk to them directly!
Again, best of luck to you!
If you are volunteering for a non-profit you can contact state, local and Federal representatives and ask them to post a link to your organization’s web-site or include your info in an upcoming newsletter. Many in public service love to let their constituents, esp. seniors, know about programs that benefit them so its a nice fit.
In addition, many political officials hold senior fairs and you can ask to be included and set up a table with your literature. Don’t forget that many municipalities do have senior or “aging” departments and they would also be happy to post your info or bring it to an upcoming event.
You may also want to contact senior centers or even nursing homes in your area to see if they will let you set-up a table in their lobby.
Hope this helps.
Start local and work your way up. Hold seminars or team up with other organizations that cater to seniors. Go where they are (mall walkers, free local events in town, etc.) If you hold a seminar contact your AM radio stations, add the seminar to the events’ area in community bulletins, and send information/invitations to local media. Talk to your business journal – make sure you have stats and local trends/needs in the senior community and what your organization can do to help. Get editorial calendars for local news papers and find out when there are special sections on the older community will run. My local Sunday paper typically runs 2 special sections a year on this topic.
Another option is to look for special days (Hallmark Holidays) throughout the year that will give you a reason to hold an event or share a story … Grandparents Day, Senior Citizen Day, etc. Check out Chase’s calendar book to find more obscure special days.
Seniors in this category are probably leading fairly ‘narrow’ lives with limited access to routine communication channels. Post information or set up an information table with take home material in the places they DO go – supermarkets, libraries, drug stores. Also, approach families of these seniors and perhaps design a special piece for them – “If Your Senior Parent Needs Help” kind of thing. Families caring for senior parents welcome any help they can get.
Given that senior citizens tend to have medical problems, I would approach Doctors’ organisations and ask for their help to encourage medical practitioners to have the appropriate material in their waiting rooms. The same could be done by approaching pharmacies (drugstore?) and asking them to have the information available in their stores.
Don’t forget to use the young to help the elderly. In Australia most schools have their own newsletters and I imagine your schools do as well.
Why not ask them to include your information in these as a community service to the grandparents of their school communities.
Using the suggestions above creates an interesting topic for a radio interview and also should give you the opportunity to issues a few good media releases. Perhaps an appearence on a chat show where you can also take some talk back calls might be useful. Try to approach a celebrity who is either elderly or has an elderly parent who might be prepared to become the “face” of a campaign.
I’d recommend finding churches that would be willing to share your information as a service to their members. Church attendance is high among seniors, including those who have little income to participate in other activities…and most church bulletins are full of information about how people with needs can connect with organizations providing services, whether those are financial, health-related or otherwise.
You might also be able to provide information to for-profit business, such as banks, who have contact with lower-income seniors and likely have the marketing savvy to provide the information to people who need it most…they get to the benefit of goodwill from sharing information related to finances that can benefit their clients. I work for an investment company that has a large senior clientele, and a client recently asked us whether we planned to publish anything on the topic of the new Medicare drug program…indicating to me that he was looking for advice from a trustworthy source.