Senior Care Solutions: Seminar in Occupational Leadership

Section A: Introduction

Senior Care Solutions is a professional business located in Fair Oaks, California. The company provides consumers with assistance in finding appropriate placement and care for the elderly. Senior Care Solutions was founded in 1997 by Carol Kinsel after she was faced with finding sufficient care for her father who was disabled with Alzheimer’s disease and significant cognitive decline (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). Kinsel then decided to start a company in her home to provide consultations to those who are in need of senior care for their loved ones. Since 1997, the company has moved to an office building and grown, and now Senior Care Solutions has seven full-time employees that specialize in healthcare, social work, and geriatric care.

Senior Care Solutions provides education, resources, and support to consumers in five counties in California. While most of their services are free, the company will charge a fee for specific consultations or services. Fortunately, Senior Care Solutions offers several free services for their customers. First, the company provides free housing assistance in placing those who are elderly, disabled, or in poor health (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). The business will ask their customers several questions about the health, ability, and financial status of the patient, and then Senior Care Solutions will present several different housing options for the client. Next, the company helps consumers find education and resources for those who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. For example, Senior Care Solutions provides customers with free newsletters and workshops to educate customers about the disease (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). Finally, Senior Care Solutions provides follow-up care for those clients that have been placed in facilities. The staff at Senior Care Solutions will follow-up with both the consumer and the patient to ensure that the business has satisfied the wants and needs of both individuals.

Section B: Social, Political, Economics, and Technological Impact

Social, political, economic, and technological changes have impacted Senior Care Solutions during the last five to 10 years in many ways. First, the social impacts for Senior Care Solutions have been tremendous. For example, ten years ago, many people were embarrassed to ask for help or seek assistance for a loved one due to the social stigma that may be placed on their self or family. Fortunately, these days, having an illness and asking for assistance is more socially acceptable, which encourages more consumers to seek help when a loved one is suffering from a medical condition. This, in turn, leads to more business for Senior Care Solutions, as many people will not be discouraged to ask for assistance in helping the elderly or disabled.

Additionally, society has greatly impacted Senior Care Solutions due to the greater need for resources for patients with Alzheimer's disease. As noted, Senior Care Solution’s mission is to assist the elderly and those stricken with Alzheimer's disease with finding personal care. According to Chodosh et al. (2012), “because of accumulating functional disabilities and higher mortality of Alzheimer's disease, the need for healthcare delivery system supportive structures to assist patients and families is enormous” (p. 85). This means that Senior Care Solution’s services have been in higher demand throughout the last 10 years since the rate of people being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the need for services for these clients have both dramatically increased.

Next, politics during the last 10 years have also greatly impacted Senior Care Solutions, as many sick and elderly people were not eligible for free healthcare due to a lack of government and state funding. For example, most seniors pay for healthcare costs through Medicare, Medicaid, and by utilizing their Social Security checks. If these resources do not fully cover their medical expenses and needs, Senior Care Solutions will not be able to find these customers placement in nursing homes, assisted living communities, or adult daycare centers. Therefore, throughout the last decade, Senior Care Solutions had to heavily rely on consumers who could pay for expenses themselves in order to make a profit.

Fortunately, politics should help Senior Care Solutions grow and expand in the future, as the passing of the Affordable Healthcare Act will allow for more Californians to be covered under health insurance plans. Obama (2013) explained that there are six million people in California who currently do not have health insurance, and with the passing of the Affordable Healthcare Act, the uninsured and underinsured will now have access to health insurance with low premiums and better benefits. This means that more elderly and disabled Californians will now be able to afford the necessary services that they need, and they may contact Senior Care Solutions to help them obtain these services.

Then, economics have also greatly impacted Senior Care Solutions throughout the last 10 years both positively and negatively. Ten years ago, the economy in California was booming, and a majority of California residents either had healthcare coverage through employers or they could pay for their healthcare costs on their own. For example, if a family had an elderly family member that needed to be placed in a nursing home, it was highly likely that the family could pay for the senior’s care on their own. Further, the chances were greater that the family would contact an agency, such as Senior Care Solutions, to help them find placement for the senior.

Unfortunately, the economy took a turn for the worse five years ago, and many Californians lost their jobs and their employee healthcare coverage. California had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and most Californians were faced with not being able to pay for their healthcare expenses. Thus, economics would then affect Senior Care Solutions, as their consumers were now unable to afford the services that they provide. Further, since Senior Care Solutions was placing fewer customers in assisted living communities and nursing homes, now profits were down since Senior Care Solutions receives payment for placing consumers in these facilities.

Finally, technological changes throughout the last decade have greatly impacted Senior Care Solutions. For instance, when Kinsel first started Senior Care Solutions, the owner had to advertise the company through print, television, or radio advertisements to attract consumers. Unfortunately, these advertisements would only reach customers who lived or worked in a specific marker, which limited the customer base. However, the invention of the internet has allowed businesses to advertise their services online and reach many more potential customers. Dimmick, Chen, and Li (2004) found that the internet has clearly displaced television and news outlets, and more consumers satisfy their needs by going online instead of turning to traditional media. Therefore, not only can Senior Care Solutions broaden its customer base by advertising the company online, but more consumers can now discover the products and services that the company offers by searching online.

Section C: Organization’s Current Status

A Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis can be applied to Senior Care Solutions to analyze and evaluate the organization’s current status and viability or the challenges it faces in today’s domestic and global economy. First, Senior Care Solutions has three strengths that need to be noted. Senior Care Solutions provides mostly free professional assistance for their consumers. The only time customers may have to pay for consultations is if the patient needs to be reassigned housing. Free assistance is a strength for Senior Care Solutions, as most businesses charge customers a fee to help them find housing for the elderly. Next, the second strength of Senior Care Solutions is that the company has over 50 years of experience in the senior care field (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). This is a great strength of Senior Care Solutions, as the owner and staff will have the knowledge and skill to fully help their customers. Finally, the third strength of Senior Care Solutions is that they have connections and relationships with many of the assisted living facilities and nursing homes in five counties in California. These connections are an asset for Senior Care Solutions, as they can assure customers that their loved ones will be placed locally and immediately.

Conversely, a SWOT analysis of Senior Care Solutions also uncovered two weaknesses of the company. First, Senior Care Solutions needs to improve its customer base by offering services for a variety of medical conditions and disabilities. Currently, the organization specializes in placing the elderly and those with Alzheimer’s in facilities; however, consumers with other illnesses and disabilities may be turned away from their services since Senior Care Solutions only targets a small sector of the market. In addition, another weakness of Senior Care Solutions is that they get kickbacks for placing consumers in specific nursing homes and living facilities. Customers may see this as a weakness since they may assume that Senior Care Solutions is placing their loved one in a specific facility due to profit and not as a result of fitting the needs of the patient.

Additionally, a SWOT analysis revealed three opportunities in the market for Senior Care Solutions. First, most senior care services mandate that clients come into the office to determine placement for their loved ones. However, if Senior Care Solutions offers mobile services, then those clients who are elderly and disabled and do not have access to transportation could be potential customers for the business. Next, a second opportunity for Senior Care Solutions in the market is to offer more services for customers online. Currently, the website for Senior Care Solutions is basic, and the organization has more information regarding their products and services on Facebook then they do on their company website. Since most elderly people do not use Facebook, these consumers do not have access to all of the great resources that Senior Care Solutions provides. Therefore, if Senior Care Solutions updated their website with more information about their services, offered consumers more free workshops and resources, and created a client login so they could track their application status via the computer or phone, then the company may attract more clients in their market. Lastly, a final opportunity for Senior Care Solutions is to offer bilingual services to its customers to broaden their consumer base. ABC News (2013) found that California will have the second-highest Hispanic population in the country by 2014. Since many Hispanics are not fluent in English, providing product and company information in Spanish can help Senior Care Solutions reach more potential clients in the Fair Oaks area.

Finally, a SWOT analysis of Senior Care Solutions revealed two threats to the organization. First, Senior Care Solutions has a high level of competition in their market. For example, a quick Google search for companies that offer senior care assistance showed that there are eight companies that offer similar services within close vicinity of Senior Care Solutions. This is fierce competition for Senior Care Solutions, as consumers have many senior care businesses to choose from in their area. Additionally, a second threat to the organization is that the company may get sued by clients for placing clients in harm’s way. For example, if Senior Care Solutions places a client in a poorly run nursing home and the client is abused, the client’s family may turn around a take legal action against Senior Care Solutions. Therefore, the fate of the company rests in the ratings and staff of the nursing homes and facilities that Senior Care Solutions places clients.

Overall, after conducting a SWOT analysis on Senior Care Solutions, the analysis has shown that there are three areas where the organization should focus and improve in order to remain viable and competitive. First, the SWOT analysis revealed that Senior Care Solutions is not offering enough information to consumers on their website. Therefore, it is recommended that Senior Care Solutions upgrades its website to not only provide consumers with more resources and information but to better serve their clients. Then, the SWOT analysis determined that Senior Care Solutions needs to offer bilingual services for their clients in order to stay viable and better serve the growing Hispanic community in California. Therefore, it is recommended that Senior Care Solutions either hires a Spanish speaking staff member or provides Spanish language workshops and classes for their staff. Finally, the SWOT analysis showed that a huge threat to the company is the potential for lawsuits if a client is abused or neglected in a facility that Senior Care Solutions places them in. A plan of action to avoid this problem is for Senior Care Solutions to have consumers sign a waiver stating that the company is not responsible for any harm done to the client once they are placed in a facility.

Section D: Management/Leadership

As a manager of Senior Care Solutions, there are four employment/work setting areas that are of concern. First, leadership directions and practices in the company are an issue, as the company is a for-profit organization that receives kickbacks from specific facilities for placing clients in their care. This means that the company will only place clients in the facilities that they have relationships with, and they will not offer any alternatives that may better suit the needs of their clients because they will not make a profit. As a manager, this is a concern since the direction of the company is to continuously increase profits instead of helping the sick and elderly get the care that they deserve. Therefore, a recommendation to improve this concern is for Senior Care Solutions to offer resources to consumers that best fits the client’s needs even if the company will not make a profit off the client’s placement.

Next, hiring practices are a concern at Senior Care Solutions for several reasons. Senior Care Solutions has a staff of seven members who are in charge of consulting with clients and finding placement for their loved ones (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). However, the owners of the company are retired dental hygienists, and most of the staff do not have degrees in geriatric care or healthcare (Senior Care Solutions, 2011). In addition, the company does not have any registered nurses on the staff that are knowledgeable about medical conditions and what care is needed to properly treat and control the medical condition. Finally, hiring practices are a concern at Senior Care Solutions, as the company website does not state that it has bilingual staff members available to assist the growing diverse population in California. Therefore, to improve these problems, it is recommended that Senior Care Solutions hire credentialed experts in the healthcare field and bilingual staff members to better assist consumers.

Then, promotion policies are a concern at Senior Care Solutions. The organization is owned and run by a husband and wife team, and some of the staff consists of their daughter and family members. This creates a problem within the business, as staff members may never be promoted to a higher position if the family keeps hiring and promoting their own members within the company. Further, staff members spend their time selling the services of Senior Care Solutions to consumers in their market. However, if a staff member is not recruiting a set number of new clients, they may never get a promotion since the company focuses more on sales than it does on consulting with and assisting clients.

Therefore, as a manager, two recommendations can be presented to improve the promotion policy at Senior Care Solutions. First, the company should limit the number of family members that are hired. This plan will allow for high performing staff members to have the chance to be promoted higher up within the company. Additionally, Senior Care Solutions should separate the roles of the employees. For instance, Senior Care Solutions should have both salespeople and consultants on staff. Separating the two roles will allow for management to keep track of the number of new clients that each staff member is recruiting, and then management will have the option to promote or fire the employee.

Finally, the fourth area of concern at Senior Care Solutions is salaries. Senior Care Solutions only generates income if the business successfully places a client in a facility that they have a contract with. This means that the business only generates income if the staff is continually finding and placing new clients in specific facilities. This is an issue of much concern, as staff will not get paid and the company cannot operate if there are no new clients being placed. Therefore, to improve this problem, it is recommended to give salespeople bonuses for placing a set number of clients. Further, it is suggested that Senior Care Solutions broadens their contacts outside of the Fair Oaks area to ensure that there is a constant source of income.

References

ABC News. (2013). It’s official: Latino population now equals that of Whites in California. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/latino-population-now-equals-whites-california/story?id=19555998

Chodosh, J., Pearson, M.L., Connor, K.I., Vassar, S.D., Kaisey, M., Lee, M.L., & Vickrey, B.G. (2012). A dementia care management intervention: Which components improve quality? American Journal of Managed Care, 18(2), 85-96.

Dimmick, J., Chen, Y., & Li, Z. (2004). Competition between the internet and traditional news media: The gratification-opportunities niche dimension. Journal of Media Economics, 17(1), 19-33.

Obama, B. (2013). Remarks on health insurance reform and an exchange with reporters in San Jose, California. Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1-7.

Senior Care Solutions. (2011). About us. Retrieved from http://www.seniorcs.com/quick-search.html