October 6, 2011 – Update – One of the nation’s greatest boomers and inventors, Steve Jobs, has left us. I hope his vision for living doesn’t. 

(Originally posted Feb. 25, 2009) Mature Market Experts: more mature market news and stats more often: Yesterday Baby Boomer and cancer survivor Steve Jobs turned 54. As one of the people most responsible for shaping a generation, Steve offered some incredible insight on two important topics . . . how to get back up after getting fired (a pretty timely subject in this economy) and the power of death. This commencement speech which he gave at Stanford University is worth the 15 minutes of your time.

PS Steve, if you read this, please fix this IPOD problem for your Baby Boomer fans.

PPS I like Mr. Job’s mention in the video of the “Google” predecessor.

Design is intelligence made visible.- Alina Wheeler

Each year I attend the ASA conference on Aging and reoccurring themes begin to emerge and persist throughout the week; this session remained true to form. A mantra I picked up early; “Design is for all.”

Design on the Brain

Each of us has a brain equipped with a tightly bundled grouping of nerve cells about the size of an apple wedge located from the top of the spinal cord into the middle of the brain. This part of our brain contains about 70% of its estimated 200 billion nerve cells; or a total of 140 billion cells—and is called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).

Your RAS is a hockey goalie to consciousness—the gatekeeper screening the type of information allowed through and filters everything else that you don’t pay attention to. And it also hones in on what’s important to you. Buy a 1966 Mustang or the new Adison leather large Marielle drawstring shoulder bag, and you begin to magically see them everywhere. Why? Your RAS has now alerted your brain to bring them to your attention.

My RAS for the conference was programmed to “DESIGN” and I was rewarded; because design matters to an aging population.

Democratization of design

Much of the discussion focused around “Inclusive Design” or “Universal Design” that will accommodate all users regardless of age or level of physical functioning. More than once I heard speakers say: “It’s not just design for the elderly, good design helps everyone.”

Not a new idea, in fact, the barrier-free movement in the 1950s began a process of change in public policies and design practices in response to veterans returning from service with disabilities. The movement has evolved as the democratization of design for all; both in structure and beautiful aesthetics.

Michael Graves, FAIA, famed designer and professor at Princeton University, became a reluctant expert in medical equipment design when an acute neurological disease left him unable to walk or do self-care. Graves turned this into a best-worst experience for design that functioned better (structure) and delighted the senses (beautiful aesthetics).

Graves was noted to have said while lying on a gurney in the hospital in the throws of his acute illness:  “I can’t die here, it’s too ugly.”

His point speaks directly to the heart and soul of the barriers to adoption of countless potentially life-enhancing tools. Gerontophobia (fear of aging) keeps my own mother from using a walker which would make possible ambulation to strengthen her muscles, stimulate her brain with exercise, and facilitate balance—and what’s most personal is most universal, she is not alone in her desire to not look old. The sad irony is that this kind of stigma which leads to adoption-failure actually has the opposite effect—and is a “secondary ager” which speeds up the aging process (atrophy).

Design Matters: OMHU

Design matters with caregivers and patient outcomes; this has been well established in the literature on environment and health effects. And with the proliferation of new technologies for aging in place, the same barriers in design concerning both structure and aesthetics apply.

One company, OMHU (means “with great care”) exhibited an empathetic understanding and nonpatronizing approach to mobility aids. They’ve successfully combined materials from the world of performance; bicycles, hockey sticks, skateboard, and high performance athletic shoes—and from these made a cane which delights the senses.

Emphasis is on performance; not disability and yet OMHU is not denying the need either—after all it’s a cane. They get it, and the underlying philosophy which infuses this product is clever and evokes the will to live…and aren’t we all in this for a better experience of aging?

We live in a world that will never be young again—each generation will grow older than the one before. This is important because the demographic transition means a future filled with more and more old people.

Robert L. Peters said: Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future. I for one would like to see more emphasis on matters of design, not as a nicety, but as a guiding principle of gerontology; our future depends on it.

See:

Adaptability: Universal Design Michael Graves

Free Subscription to HealthCare Design

Image:

http://www.g-mark.org/award/image/2008/08A01010_1.jpg

The Maestro, as I respectfully call him, is an internationally known conductor who in his retirement decided to look around for a second act. His second act? Conductorcise! He looks every bit the part of a Maestro. Wavy white locks crown his head and bright, colorful sneakers cover his constantly tapping toes (he’ll proudly tell you his sneakers are from Zappos).

The next thing you’ll notice if you spend 10 minutes in the company of David is his unflagging energy. Now in his seventies, he puts most 20-year olds to shame. He lives in the moment. I have never seen someone LOVE people the way David does … young and old respond to that love by lighting up!

Here’s a video of the Maestro at work, training trainers:

David’s entire life has been about seizing the moment. He is passionate about everything … his wife, his children, his grandchildren, family, friends, travel, wine, music, aging, children, science, and connections … LIFE!

I am convinced that our health and well-being is directly connected to our passion for life. In the book, The Blue Zones, a defined job or role seems to be one of the common characteristics of seniors living healthy, happy lives beyond the age of 100.

Not The Retiring Type: Serving Others

As I stated above, a defined job or role (ie. social engagement) seems to be a key ingredient to healthy aging. Our modern industrial society tends to devalue “unproductive” people. What’s one of the first questions people ask you at a party? “So, who do you work for? What do you do?”

People like the Maestro and Bruce Findley don’t accept the common perception that our senior years are a time to shut down. Instead, they view these years as a time of discovery and growth. Bruce, a resident of Shell Point Retirement Community, created Super Noggin to help his fellow seniors develop healthy brain fitness lifestyle habits.

The common thread with both of these gentlemen? A desire to serve others and an unwillingness to be put out to pasture.

What’s your passion?

Sadly, there are 5.3 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and every 70 seconds another American is captured by this deadly disease. By mid-century someone will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds. By 2050 there will be nearly a million new cases per year. In short, we are in the grip of a horrific epidemic.

After my Mom was diagnosed and passed away with Alzheimer’s, I became acutely aware of my increased odds of also getting the disease (in fact, recent research suggest that Alzheimer’s has a maternal link). Fortunately, at this time I also met Bruce Findley, the founder of the not-for-profit behind Super Noggin, a brain fitness lifestyle program. Bruce introduced me to two sources of information that shined a bright ray of hope on my fears … and sparked my desire to get involved with Super Noggin.

The first source of information he introduced me to was the Nun Study, a decades-long longitudinal study of 678 religious order nuns who agreed to be studied while living AND after their deaths (biopsy remains the surest way to identify Alzheimer’s). The second was The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription, a book by Dr. Vincent Fortanasce, a renowned practicing neurologist. Both of these incredible resources suggest that while we can’t prevent Alzheimer’s/dementia, we can reduce the effects of these diseases by up to 70 percent!

While we can’t change our genetics, we can positively change our lifestyle. That’s what Super Noggin is all about.

Click on the image to view this TV news segment on Super Noggin, a brain fitness lifestyle program.

All of which leads me back to my original paragraph. The not-for-profit that I mentioned earlier, LEAF Ltd., is dedicated to serving boomers and seniors by utilizing the latest research on brain health in a unique and fun brain fitness lifestyle program. They would like to offer you complimentary materials to answer the question “Why should I exercise my brain?” This 45-minute class includes all the components you’ll need to lead a class including the script, PowerPoint, handouts for activities, and resources. Just click here, and you’ll be granted instant and FREE access to the course’s materials. I guarantee your residents or members will find the content both enjoyable and enlightening.

I can’t die. It would ruin my image.
- Jack Lalanne

A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs.
~Joan Welsh

I read an article online from SmartMoney titled; Hanging On at Home. The piece begins with the jugular question: Where will people live as they grow old?

The author goes on to describe a summary of the social forces that have shaped the living conditions of seniors prior to WWII, up to the present. He then provides five suggestions for “cutting through the clutter” of aging-in-place information on the web.

Not to cloudy the waters further, but I’d like to add a sixth suggestion…

Jack Was Right

Many of the targeted audience for the SM article grew up watching black and white images of a sincere, high-energy-buffed-guy in a tight-fitting jump suit, giving motivational chats, leading invigorating workouts, encouraging deep breathing and healthy living; all accompanied by lively organ music.

The sets were simple (a steel office chair and a poster board) but the concepts were not—and they still ring true today.

Jack Lalane was right; he knew that many people’s lives were just suicide on the installment plan. Jack recognized our changing disease states which have gone from acute (i.e., pneumonia which was once called “the old man’s friend”), to chronic (i.e., diabetes which isn’t cured only managed over long periods); and many were due simply to neglect.

Functional Aging

Aging in place requires more than just making a few simple changes such as replacing doorknobs with pull handles or installing ramps and no-step thresholds. These strategies are important, but functional aging is a key element in extending independence.

Lalanne described “functional aging” in his The Hands of Time episode. The goal was to die “young,” as late in life as possible…which is really the difference between extending life vs. extending health; they are not the same thing.

Much attention has been paid lately to the biomarkers of aging and how they can be affected by lifestyle. One key biomarker (measurable physiological factor related to aging) is aerobic capacity.

Aerobic capacity (age and weight specific) is how exercise physiologist measure uptake and utilization of oxygen by the body; the term used is VO2max. This is an essential factor for aging in place, because if you have a VO2max of less than 10ml/kg/min you can’t live independently at home because of the inability to do activities of daily living (ADLs).

The Bad News

As we age, under normal conditions (meaning no underlying diseases like lung cancer) our VO2max after age 30 decreases by 1% each year. So a 70 year old has a 40% decrease in VO2max.

The Good News

Exercise can decrease that 1% yearly decline in VO2max after age 30, by half. So a 70 year old may only experience a 20% decrease in VO2max.

The Sixth Suggestion

So, while you’re doing that elder-friendly home evaluation, embracing the concept of universal design, emphasizing fall prevention, comparison shopping-remodelers, and staying aware of public trends…PLEASE don’t over look taking care of yourself physically (and mentally).

As Jack might say; you know students, your body needs to be available to you…

See:

Time to Remodel that “House”
(photo soloflex.com)

Is a game the way to consumers' hearts?

Mature Market Experts: more boomer, senior, and mature market news and stats you can use – Beyond Banner Ads. The yet fully unrealized potential of internet advertising hangs just out of reach as a tantalizing fruit for advertisers, as television advertising once did at its inception. The challenge is for advertisers to crack the code – how to get online users to pay attention to their marketing message. Especially, how to get the lucrative, savvy, mature baby boomer market to heed commercials as they browse the web, with real increases of sales in consumer goods and services. Some think the key to unlocking this elusive riddle will be to integrate enhanced interactive systems such as Microsoft’s new Kinect with the internet experience. To see a demo review of Kinect in game form click here. To read more on its advertising potential click here.

Don’t laugh, boomers and seniors have been big fans of augmented reality games from the beginning. An now, brain fitness programs like Super Noggin are incorporating games like these into their programming. It won’t be long before we see advertising as part of the environment.

Minor rant: I recently pulled out the instructions for my Jawbone headset … ugggg! Are you kidding me! The smallest, most impossible font I have EVER seen made the directions impossible to read! AliphCom, who do you think is buying these expensive bluetooth headsets? Let me give you a hint, they’re older and they have money. Please, please, please have your designer call us before you create your next packaging.

In fact, our team at TR Mann Consulting feels so strongly about this principal that we won’t accept a client for our customized newspapers unless they accept this one condition … WE WON’T WRITE ABOUT THE PAST. Remember, your residents and prospects are forward looking people who want to live in a forward looking community!

Editor’s Note: Speaking of forward looking, just returned from San Diego and the International Council on Active Aging’s Conference (ICAA) which was simply an awesome event. Great to see our clients, Super Noggin and Conductorcise, as well as the countless other friends pushing the industry forward.

(Pilar Touch20 by Delta)

 Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.
-Charles Eames

Design’s fundamental role is problem solver.
-Fast Company, 2005
 
I visited Rejuvenation-Portland for the first time several weeks ago; when I entered the store my heart actually began to race—like when knocking on the door of a blind date. Beautiful aesthetics has always had that affect on me. My mind went calm as the visual took over and I began to experience a delight of the senses.

The Aesthetic Experience

“Aesthetic Arrest” was first employed by James Joyce in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce posits the idea: when we are in the presence of great beauty, our minds go still…
 

(Lascaux Caves in SW France: Beautiful cave paintings dating back some 17,000 yrs.)

The Mythologist Joseph Campbell in his lectures on Joyce spoke to this phenomenon: “The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object….you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest.” This radiance, the perception of beauty, is regarded as a communication of the hidden power behind the world, shining through some physical form.

This “hidden power behind the world, shining through some physical form” has many names; what it’s called is not important—that you experience it is.

Communicating through the Senses

Author Virginia Postrel notes that aesthetics is the way we communicate through the senses. It is the art of creating reactions without words, through the look and feel of people, places, and things. In other words, aesthetics shows rather than tells, delights rather than instructs. The effects are immediate, perceptual, and emotional. 

For example, the other day I was driving past the bus stop near my home and glanced over just in time to witness an elderly Russian man with a deeply weathered face smelling a bouquet of Safeway flowers thrust to his nose by a younger woman. It caused me to pause; I felt lifted… it was delightful.

Making Special (Think Martha)
Theorist Ellen Dissanayake defined art (aesthetics) as “Making Special,” a behavior designed to be “sensorily and emotionally gratifying and more than strictly necessary.” She thinks that the instinct for “making special” is universal and innate; an aspect of humanity’s evolved biological nature. Even primitive societies with challenges to basic needs, desired beauty in their environments; be it for ritual, religious, or pleasure purposes:

For as far back as there are written records we find evidence of the awe and exhilaration people feel upon seeing or hearing something beautiful. The earliest poems contain loving descriptions of landscapes, of the play of light on water, of the beauty of the human form, of the proportions of man-made structures. The power of music to enthrall the senses is one of the oldest subjects of myth. And, of course, among the earliest traces of human life on earth are innumerable carvings, wall paintings, graffiti, and other decorations, all attesting to humanity’s attempts to modify its environment so as to make it more “beautiful.”
-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Rick E. Robinson/ The Art of Seeing: An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter (1990)
 
Today we are living in the age of Aesthetics; meaning our western culture has become so affluent that our basic needs are covered. Modern manufacturing has solved the problems of lowering costs, making goods/services widely available, functional and energy saving—we have advanced beyond mere function alone; and now our desire for form (aesthetics) is driving demand; and is the differentiator in a crowed market place. This has been termed: “The Aesthetic Imperative.”

Freedom, Beauty, and Pleasure
Postrel quotes an influential industrial designer: “Good design is not about the perfect thing anymore, but about helping a lot of different people build their own personal identities.” Form follows emotion” now supplants “form follows function.” Emotion now tells the user what they will find functional. The role of a chair is now beyond a place to sit—it is to make life enjoyable.

Modernist design once promised efficiency, rationality, and truth; in the age of aesthetics freedom, beauty, and pleasure are now the mantra. Design’s role for aging-in-place remains one of accomplishing a purpose and problem solving; fortunately for those aging in the age of aesthetics, concepts such as universal design are informed by the aesthetic imperative. In order for age-friendly product developers to compete and survive in the booming mature market place they need to design not only for function, but to delight the senses with non-stigmatizing design. They must understand that we buy on deep biological emotion: Designers turn obstacles into beauty–or perish…
 
See:
For a visual and audio Aesthetic Experience; listen to Kissing by Bliss
(Photo: thedecoratingdiva.com)

Sources:

Love and Company

Free Marketing Audit (excluding travel) – call today to ask about our free marketing and sales audit for your community, 410-292-4333.

photo toddnoordyk.com)

It’s a world of laughter
- A world of tears
It’s a world of hopes
- And a world of fears
There’s so much that we share
- That it’s time we’re aware
It’s a small world after all …
-Written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

BMI (body mass index): A ratio of weight to height (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) BMI = kg/m2

The other day I was working with a gastroenterologist (GI doctor) who was sporting a smart looking Mickey Mouse watch. She had acquired it on a recent family vacation to Disneyland. This sparked some conversation about the land of enchantment and some of the rides they experienced. Of course I had to ask about the Small World ride.

The line: It’s a small world after all (sorry now that it’s stuck in a circular loop in your head), has been the subject of many jokes and comments throughout the years; but what followed was a new twist to me. Seems the ride had been out of commission for repairs and the reason…

Well, there is some controversy surrounding the reason the ride was shut down in 2008. The ride has been around some 45 years and the original flume and fleet of boats made their maiden voyage during the 1964-65 New York World’s fair. The sturdy little pastel boats have been doing yeoman’s work ever since. No doubt that kind of run would even cause Cal Ripken to pit stop for some refurbishments.

According to MiceAge the Imagineers of the 1960’s designed the ride to accommodate the average man (175lb) and woman (135lb) of the era; not the adult of today who can often weigh more than 200lbs. The boats ride lower in the water and tend to “bottom out,” causing the whole contraption to stop in its tracks. The solution (prior to redesign) was to limit passengers or escort embarrassed patrons off the ride.

Several stories including one in the New York Times call on readers to draw their own conclusions. The subject is somewhat taboo and Disney denies any connection between redesign and weight of the riders.

Whether the connection is valid or not the fact remains Americans are getting heavier on average. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately two-thirds of adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese with BMIs greater than 25, and nearly one-third have BMIs greater than 30. Less than one-third are at a healthy weight with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9.

In my own experience as a nurse I’ve witnessed hospitals having to equip ceilings with steel I-beams to support mechanical lift systems to get obese patients in/out of bed. A recent staff development in many care settings are the “Lift teams.” These are designated staff whose sole job is working the lifts and turning patients—in order to save nurses from back injuries.

Kaiser Permanente purchased a fleet of love-seat sized wheel chairs years ago to accommodate the increased girth of its members. I once took one of these devices to a presentation at Nike World Head Quarters…they couldn’t believe their eyes as I rolled it in the room.

At issue are not just the obvious effects of BMI on health and longevity but control of one’s own experience and for this discussion that means aging in place.

It’s About Control (but not what you might think)

In an article from Newsweek (Feb/23/2009): Stress Could Save Your Life, author Mary Carmichael writes about the connection between control and stress. Carmichael notes a classic study where scientists put two rats in a cage, each locked to a running wheel. The first rat could exercise whenever he liked. The second was yoked to the first and forced to run when his cage-mate did.

The exercise that usually decreases stress and encourages neuron growth in the brain did just the opposite in the second rat—the reason…control. Psychologists know that one of the biggest factors in how we process stressful events is how much control we have over our lives. A body rendered un-available due to high BMI can place limits on personal control (mobility and independence). Much of the appeal of aging in place is about choice—to make the issue relevant is to frame it as matter of control.

Research has shown that by avoiding a further increase from 28 kg/m² to 32 kg/m², a typical person in early middle age would gain about 2 years of life expectancy. Two years of extra life down the road might not sound all that compelling to some, but the issue is really more one of extending health—not extending life.

Inactivity doesn’t necessarily shorten the life-span…it most definitely shortens the health-span. –Dr. Rosenburg, Tufts University

Extending the health-span can equate to maintaining mobility and independence; ultimately leading to a higher degree of control (& decreased stress) over one’s life experience. And that’s what aging in place is all about.

See:

Calculate: Your BMI
Research on life expectancy
Middle aged women and stroke
It’s a small world video

Mike Rowe has had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has had more jobs than anyone.

As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channel’s Emmy-nominated series Dirty Jobs With Mike Rowe, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. From coal mining to roustabouting, maggot farming to sheep castrating, Mike has worked in just about every industry and filmed the show in almost every state, celebrating the hard-working Americans who make civilized life possible for the rest of us.

No one is better suited to the role of good-natured guinea pig than Mike — mainly because it’s not a role. Dirty Jobs is entirely unscripted, and Mike doesn’t cheat; he actually does the work, with a sense of humor rarely portrayed in such professions. In fact, the notion of depicting hard work as noble and fun is central to his personal mission. On Labor Day 2008, Mike launched a Web site called mikeroweWORKS.com, where skilled labor and hard work are celebrated in the hope of calling attention to the steady decline in the trades and bolstering enrollment in trade schools and technical colleges. Mike is also the voice of one of my favorite shows, Deadliest Catch.

Despite all of this, Mike still finds the time to do the important stuff … like serving as the voiceover for a series of public service announcements for Believe in Tomorrow.

So the next time you see Mike, give him a big hug and say, “Thanks.” Or better yet, donate to one of the charities Mike cares deeply about … The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation.

PS       I’ve served on the board of Believe In Tomorrow for over 15 years, so I can tell you personally that this organization is incredibly efficient (93% of every dollar goes to supporting the programs). They’ve served thousands of kids with amazingly important hospital housing like The Children’s House at Johns Hopkins and The Children’s House at St. Casimir, just to name a few. Here’s how you can help.

PPS    Now, if only we could get Mike to be a GNA for a day.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend, but I’d like to congradulate the team on pushing beyond the standard promotion.

Cheers,

Tom

Enjoy!

 (photo bbc.co.uk)

 It was formerly a terrifying view to me that I should one day be an old woman.
I now find that Nature has provided pleasure for every state.

-Mary Worley Montagu

In the ancient Western traditions dragons were often portrayed as frightening and destructive forces that the gods must battle with in the pursuit of good triumphing over evil. “Here there be dragons” is a phrase thought to be placed on maps by medieval English mapmakers depicting dangerous or unexplored territories past the edges of their known world.

The phrase might well be used to describe the unknown and “terrifying” territory of old age. Living past the age of 65 is a relativity recent phenomenon. Life expectancy for women at birth in 1900 was just 48.3 years (men = 46.3). Contrast that with one-in-five Americans being over the age of 65 by 2030 and out numbering teens two to one. Longevity, for the developed world, is the “here there be dragons” of the modern era. For World War II generation women the topography of old age is the landscape of daily life—for boomer women it’s still uncharted waters.

Do You Want to be an Old Woman?
I remember listening to the lungs of an elderly woman who was admitted for congestive heart failure (CHF). As I strategically placed my stethoscope on her chest I said: “Big breaths—Big breaths.” Her reply surprised me; in a quivering-Parkinson’s voice and a smile, she quipped: “They…use…to…be…”

This brings to mind a quote from Gypsy Rose Lee, in Barbara McDowell and Hana Umlauf, Woman’s Almanac (1977):
I’ve got everything I always had. Only it’s six inches lower.

I’ve always enjoyed telling that story because it speaks to a truth about aging. If we are fortunate enough to get old we’ll experience the physical changes which accompany age—and hopefully have a sense of humor about it.

Have you seen the recent ad from Kaiser Permanente: Do you want to be an old woman? This campaign is bold and brilliant in that it flies in the face of conventional wisdom in several important ways:
1) Marketers will tell you to shy away from using terms like “old” or “aging” when selling to boomers and beyond.
2) The traditional medical model has emphasized “sick-care” not “health-care.”

This ad turns conventional wisdom on its head and has the audacity of hope (thanks Mr. President) to ask the question straight out: Do you want to be an old woman? It’s NOT about anti-aging—in fact it’s just the opposite. Emphasizing prevention (get a mammogram) so you can live long enough to BECOME AN OLD WOMAN and experience all the unknown experiences (territories) awaiting you.

This is about “compressing morbidity” and extending health—not just extending life. And the message is delivered with the soulful sound-track of Michelle Shocked – When I Grow Up. This ad demonstrates a deeper understanding of human behavior and respects the maturing psyches of women who are living fully within their age.

When running marathons with Geri-Athlete Mavis Lindgren, I often overheard her say: “I’m having fun being an old lady,” and she meant it. Perhaps out in the uncharted edge waters of old age she had encountered a different kind of dragon, of the Asian tradition, that often symbolize power, happiness, good fortune and wealth—and had a message for those of us still waiting back on the shore…That there is pleasure at every state.

Today's retirement communities like The Heritage of Green Hills defy the stereotypes of continuing care retirement communities.

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on seniors, boomers and the mature market – Death of the “Continuing Care Retirement Community” – I am about to make myself some enemies. At Love and Company, we believe that marketing your retirement community as Continuing Care retirement community may be one of the worst decisions you could ever make (note: there are rare exceptions to this rule but I won’t get into that today). In fact, I would put as much distance between my retirement community and the term “continuing care retirement community” as possible. Why?

Semantics are important. They shape how your staff interacts with your clients. They also shape your customers’ opinion of your offering — and how they feel about themselves. Your job is to make them feel good about themselves in relation to your product.

Less than 3% of the age and income qualified population will ever move into a Continuing Care Retirement Community. “Why is there such a huge gap between the wonderful truth of what Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) are . . . and what the general public perceives them to be?”

What we know:
Today’s modern-day continuing care retirement community is an extraordinary social invention. Residents of CCRCs often say, “I should have done this years ago.”  If you are over 70, there is no denying that a continuing care retirement community can help you avoid the trappings of social isolation that are hard-wired into your house in the suburbs. Anyone who has ever worked in the industry has seen the wonderful transformations that people make as they rediscover their social side.

What the public thinks:
What’s the number one objection retirement community sales people hear from prospects? “I’m just not ready for THIS  kind of living.” Most often, this statement is coming from a senior who is over the age of 80! Sadly, most people think “CCRCs” or “Lifecare Communities” are assisted living, nursing homes or old folks’ homes in disguise. What breaks my heart is that this perception prevents seniors from enjoying both the social and medical support that would dramatically improve their lives today. Worse yet, by waiting, your potential resident dramatically lowers their chances of getting into a truly “independent setting” in the future. The problem then compounds … moving when you HAVE TO, as opposed to moving by choice, significantly lowers the odds of successful transition.

What we know:
The retirement community industry has put its foot in its mouth. After all, what do you hear when someone says, “CONTINUING CARE?” When people hear “continuing care” they view it as inevitable that they will cycle through the full system . . . in their minds they think, that’s why they (the operators) call it “continuing care.”  We know that the vast majority of people will not need the higher levels of care available in continuing care retirement communities. Yes, it’s valuable if your retirement community offers these higher levels of care but you need to be very, very subtle about how you portray these services.

Who wouldn’t want to avoid expensive assisted living and nursing care?  More importantly, who wants to live in a nursing home? This huge perception gap between what today’s CCRC communities really are, and what the public thinks they are is keeping the vast majority of the people (96%+) away from an incredibly rich lifestyle.

Notes from the field:

• Modern-day Continuing Care Retirement Communities are awesome.

After working with retirement communities for over two decades, I say this for two reasons. One, seniors who move into a continuing care retirement community have more social interaction . . . more social interaction equals happier people. Research has shown that the active, social lifestyle found in modern-day continuing care retirement communities helps to reduce the risk of disease and disability. By the way, dining is a HUGE component of this – nutritious, balanced meals are very often not the norm for seniors living alone. Not to mention, the benefits of dining with friends.

Two, seniors who move into a CCRC are able to practice preventative medical care rather than reactive care. This, my friends, is a HUGE advantage! For example, would you rather improve your balance through exercise or spend months recovering from a broken hip? My parents moved into a CCRC over eight years ago (Charlestown Retirement Community) and it turned out to be one of the smartest moves they ever could have made.

• The terms “Continuing Care Retirement Community” and “Lifecare Retirement Community” should be banned from your sales person’s vocabulary.

Look carefully at these two terms:
•  “Continuing Care Retirement Community” – hmmm, this is the place I go for “Continuous Care.”  Sounds a lot like “Skilled Nursing Care.” The industry throws around a confusing array of terms and acronyms, most of which are medically related, and none of which the general public understands. Mudding the situation even further are the distinctions between type A, B, and C continuing care retirement communities that few people in the industry, let alone the general public, understand. And all reinforcing negative perceptions.
• “LifeCare Retirement Community” – am I going to need care for the rest of my life? Do I need “Life Support?” Clearly, my neighbors will be sickly if I move in here. I can’t wait to share dinner with a guy in a wheelchair drooling (sorry, but it’s what the customer is thinking).

Sadly, the industry suffers from murky, medical sounding terms and definitions (in fact, in many cases, there are purposeful “misuses” of terminology designed to confuse the customer, ie. the assisted living facility that wants to sound like a CCRC). Here’s an example of what the today’s top 3 Google internet listings were for term “life care”:

LIFE EVENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES : LIFECARE
LifeCare.com is the nation’s premier provider of human resources work and family benefits. Our services include child care and adult care counseling, …
www.lifecare.com/ – 24k – Cached – Similar pages

LIFE CARE CENTERS – AMERICA’S NURSING HOMES
Life Care Centers of America provides skilled nursing homes, assisted living, long term care, retirement, home care, and Alzheimer’s centers to help you and …
www.lcca.com/ – 45k – Cached – Similar pages

LIFECARE HOSPITALS – LONG-TERM ACUTE CARE (LTAC) SERVICES AND …
LifeCare Hospitals, national healthcare service / hospitals for long-term acute care (LTAC).

None of these sound like a fun place to live.

Both “continuing care”  and “lifecare” are infused with medical, nursing home connotations that make the customer sound and feel weak. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, do you want to look and sound weak in front of your friends and family?

• The industry has to move from a “nurse mentality” to a “service” mentality.

And it can’t just be our words (think of the subtle message your community’s shuttle bus currently offers, if you’re a potential resident do you want to arrive on the scene in a bus that could easily be confused for your county’s senior center bus? Or better yet, one of Jerry’s kids? Wouldn’t you prefer a nice sedan or a trolley with no community labeling?

Now, I hear some of the more sophisticated marketers retort, “yes, but we don’t use this language in our marketing!” You don’t? Take a look at your contracts, the directories you’re advertising your retirement communities in, and the associations you belong to.

• Applying an industry label doesn’t help the customer feel better about your community or themselves.

Today’s retirement community offerings are not your father’s Oldsmobile.  By calling our retirement communities a CCRC we are putting the negatives first. As Scott Bedbury, the genius behind Nike and Starbucks once said, “Brands, like coffee beans, are highly sensitive sponges that absorb whatever is around them. And they don’t discriminate between the good, the bad, and the ugly.” There have been plenty of ugly CCRCs in the last 25 years, do you want that association?

Those of us in marketing have often said, “the customers’ house is our biggest competition.” The truth is that our biggest competition is the perceived safety that their house represents vs. the negative perceptions about CCRCs.  We need to distance ourselves from these negative perceptions by dropping the old labels and visuals queues (CCRC accreditation logos, shuttle buses, etc.), and then by associating fun, exciting visuals and descriptions. Today’s retirement communities ARE different.

Today’s sophisticated retiree is looking to protect their quality of life and their financial health. We need to eliminate the excuse, “I’m just not ready for THAT style of living.” It’s time to rethink our message and reach out for a new identity.

Who couldn't use a little sunshine in December?

Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and one of my favorite sports reporters will be the keynote speaker. Mitch is an author, playwright, journalist and screenwriter who has written seven books, including the international bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time.  His first two novels, The Five People You Meet In Heaven and For One More Day, were instant number-one New York Times bestsellers. All three books were made into acclaimed TV films. Plus, Mitch oversees three charities in Detroit.

Also presenting will be my good friend and client, Maestro David Dworkin of Conductorcise. If you haven’t seen his program yet, I can tell you it’s worth the trip. Here’s a TV clip that gives you a good idea of the fun you’re in store for.

Not on Mitch’s or the Maestro’s level … I’ll be (Tom Mann, Managing Partner of TR Mann Consulting and co-founder of Mature Market Experts) presenting “Becoming A Wellness Sherpa” which is all about relational marketing and becoming a trusted advisor. Here’s an article on the topic if you’d like a preview.

I hope I see you by the pool.

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – How to Be Sure Your Web Page Has Enough Color Contrast for Greatest Legibility.  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which sets technical standards for the web, has come up with a formula to check that your site has enough contrast between the foreground and background colors, or when viewed in a black and white mode, to ensure legibility – critical when marketing to boomers, seniors, and the mature market.

Several programming companies have taken this a step further and created a formula to automatically adjust foreground colors to pop against background color as it is chosen by the program user. To learn more about this click here.

From the W3C website: “Two colors provide good color visibility if the brightness difference and the color difference between the two colors are greater than a set range.

Color brightness is determined by the following formula:
((Red value X 299) + (Green value X 587) + (Blue value X 114)) / 1000

Color difference is determined by the following formula:
(max (Red 1, Red 2) – min (Red 1, Red 2)) + (max (Green 1, Green 2) – min (Green 1, Green 2)) + (max (Blue 1, Blue 2) – min (Blue 1, Blue 2))”

There are some fascinating entries here, including evaluating legibility with color blindness (according to W3C  one in twenty people have some form of color vision deficiency), low vision and other disabilities – perfect for those marketing to baby boomers, seniors and the mature market. To see the complete list of web accessibility evaluation tools put out by the experts at W3C click here.

Technical stuff, I know, but making sure your designers (both print and web) have an empathy towards the mature market’s vision issues can make all the difference. For a less technical discussion on understanding vision and contrast, here’s a video of me discussing the issue with the marketing group from T. Rowe Price.

As, I’ve posted before, and will repost today, the hip/cool ad agencies on the coasts are somehow just missing it.

Seniors, road rage, IPod phones, consumer products and why older women rule the world!

One of my favorite movies scenes of all times is when middle-aged baby boomer Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes) is waiting patiently for a parking spot in a shopping center. Just as the spot becomes available, two young girls in a cute little car cut in front of her and steal her parking spot.

Evelyn Couch: “Hey! I was waiting for that spot!”

Rude Girl: “Face it, lady, we’re younger and faster!”

Then, Evelyn calmly and coolly reeves up her car and then repeatedly rams her car into the back of their tiny VW Bug, smiles and says, “Face it, girls: I’m older, and I have more insurance.”

As our population ages, and as the senior population continues to possess the lion’s share of our country’s disposable income, it becomes more and more apparent to me that the mature market rules — or can choose to rule as Kathy Bates’ character did — which is why two years ago we created a firm specializing in marketing to boomers and beyond, TR Mann Consulting.

Research from Harris Interactive says that retirees feel that Madison Avenue has forgotten they exist. The study, commissioned by the TV Land cable network, shows that two-thirds of adult TV viewers say that most television programming and advertising is targeted at people under 40.

In cities around the county, an eye-popping 80+ percent of mature market respondents over 40 claim they can’t find TV programming that portrays their lives. The sooner programming reflects seniors’ interests, the sooner they will buy the advertised products. OK, maybe they aren’t rushing out to buy IPhones yet (although they might if more apps were written for them), but the mature market still buys a ton of consumer products.

I think these PowerPoint slides  accurately capture the insanity of this situation.

Truth be told, I could care less if the mature market buy doesn’t buy products from marketers who are asleep. But I’m smart enough to know that economics is very often the driving force behind our society. How much longer will society devalue the mature market’s contributions (current and future)? If we are going to climb out of this recession, we need to recognize both the economic and social value of the mature market.

How come the only boomers or seniors we see on TV are buying products of weakness (Depends, Viagra, etc.)? Listen up people, the mature market has the money and they buy stuff. Lots of stuff!

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors, and the mature market – Can Infections Lead to Greater Memory Loss in Alzheimer Patients? Researchers have recently discovered a possible link between the occurrence of a severe or on-going infection due to a cold, the flu or even a bruise in Alzheimer patients, and an acceleration of memory loss. The correlation between inflammation and the resulting rise in the blood level protein TNF-alpha may hold the key to the mystery. Researchers found that patients with an infection and an accompanying sharp increase in TNF-alpha protein suffered memory loss at double the rate of Alzheimer patients in the study who did not have an infection.  In contrast, subjects with low amounts of TNF-alpha protein incurred no memory loss during the time span of the study. To learn more about this ground breaking study click here.

For more information on Alzheimer’s research:

Is there an Alzheimer gene? Click here for video.

Test to diagnose early Alzheimer’s? Click here.

Can omega ward off Alzheimer’s? Click here.

Note: As I have stated before, the market for mind-sharpening tools, games, supplements, and drugs to help your brain is unlimited. Fear is a powerful motivator.

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats  you can use on boomer, seniors and the mature market – The Best Type Font to Use on a Website Targeting Seniors? The Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University recently completed a study to determine which type fonts and sizes were most readable to older web site visitors. The results were surprisingly contradictory to conventional graphic design wisdom. The fonts used in the investigation were Georgia and Times New Roman (Times), and the sans serif fonts were Arial and Verdana.  The fonts were displayed in 12 and 14 point type, making a total of eight variations. Predictably, the 14 point type was the most readable and most preferred. Serif type was read faster and sans serif was preferred by the volunteer testers. Click here to learn more.

At Love and Company, we stress the importance of clean design. Tell your design firm or advertising agency to forget about winning awards and focus on winning customers. For more on communicating with the mature market and understanding senior vision click here.

Now, before I start get started, let me start off by stating that we MUST tighten our security measures and admission standards. Illegal entry into our country cannot be rewarded. If you are working in this country you must be a contributing member (meaning you’re paying your fair share of taxes AND you have committed no crimes). In addition to the financial ramifications of illegal aliens, we now have to worry about the security issues.

Now that being said, we face some serious challenges in the near future. By 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that our economy will support 168 million jobs, but the workforce will be only 158 million to fill those jobs. Therefore, a shortfall of 10 million is predicted (Herman, R. E., T. G. Olivo, and J. L. Gioia. 2003. Impending crisis. Winchester, VA: Oakhill Press.).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. birthrate has fallen to about a breakeven level (from 3.3 births per couple in 1960 to 2.2 in 2000), while at the same time the dependency level of our growing population of aging citizens is increasing. By dependency, I mean that as we age we require more services: health care, maintenance, etc). In other words, who will mow my lawn or take care of me when I have Alzheimer’s?

“The soaring number of elderly people will affect the dependency ratio, which describes the impact of a nonworking population on a working population. In the United States, where there will be 246 elderly people for every 1,000 workers in 2010, there are projected to be 411 elderly per 1,000 workers in 2030.”

-D’Vera Cohn, The Divergent Paths of Baby Boomers and Immigrants

What makes the issue even more serious is that so many of us are choosing to retire at 62 (60%) rather than 65, robbing our economy of valuable workers and experience. In fact, in my humble opinion, we would be less dependent on immigration if our economy was better equipped to allow us to work well into our late 70s/early 80s . . . which would require some restructuring of social security and tax laws (in other words, don’t punish people for working).

In this video, Economist Robert Shapiro projects how economies around the world may respond to the aging of the Baby Boom generation.

Thoughts?