• Ask the program’s R.N. to develop three case studies of residents who have successfully transitioned from a higher level of care (i.e. nursing home) to the assisted living environment. Choose residents whose physical and/or mental condition dramatically improved in an environment that supports independence, dignity, and autonomy.
• Be respectful of the demands on a physician’s time, and schedule appointments well in advance. Many times small physician offices will allow outsiders in to provide lunch and education on a service or product. Always take “trinkets” (i.e., magnets, pens, sticky pads) with program logos, brochures, and any other relevant educational tools and marketing information.
• Invite physicians to drop by for a tour of your facility at their convenience.
• When a new resident is admitted, identify their primary care physician and send a note advising that the resident is now in your program and that you would like to drop by for just a few minutes and talk about the resident’s medical history and health care needs. A picture of the resident enjoying activities reaffirms that the adjustment has been a success. Having the nurse accompany the resident to appointments on an occasional basis is also a good way to build one-on-one relationships with physicians.

• Plan a luncheon for national social worker’s month in March. Invite all area social workers and discharge planners for a lunch and tour of your facility. Be sure and have invitees RSVP in order to control the cost of your event. Have plenty of printed information on hand, including magnets, pens and note pads with your logo and contact information. Conduct a tour before lunch. Schedule a ten-minute session before lunch to talk about resident eligibility requirements. Collect business cards and ask for an appointment to visit social workers in their office one-on-one (if policy allows) to talk in greater depth about the services you offer.
• Always reward referrals with a gift. If the resident is not appropriate or not admitted, send an e-mail or thank you note. If the resident is admitted to your facility, send a personalized goody basket. Coffee mugs with the company logo make a great gift when filled with candy, hot chocolate packets, and company pens and sticky notes.
• Ask the chief of the social work department at your local hospital for permission to conduct a one-hour lunch and learn educational session for social workers and discharge planners. “Sell” the presentation as an educational session about various assisted living options. If social workers perceive the presentation is an infomercial about your program, they will be less likely to attend. Invite attendees to stop by for a tour at their convenience.
• Identify the social workers in all skilled and rehabilitation units in your area. When patients complete a rehabilitation program following a fall or acute illness, they often times cannot return home. Social workers and discharge planers cannot suggest your program to lower income clients if they don’t know you exist. Many times this individual can serve as an advocate for you if the physician is inclined to send the patient to a nursing home.

Other Assisted Living Programs

• Invite the director and R.N. for lunch and a tour of your facility. People tend to recommend you to clients if they know who you are and what you look like, and they are comfortable that the program has competent, caring leadership.
• Offer to host networking meetings for long term care professionals in your area. The role of director can leave health care professionals feeling isolated, because there is no one at their level of the organization with whom to share concerns or issues. Building a personal relationship with directors of other health care programs will be a great advantage in your efforts to market your program.

Nursing Homes, Hospitals & Home Health Agencies

• Host a luncheon for area hospital, nursing home and home health agency directors and social workers. Provide a tour and use the opportunity to educate them on the differences between the different local and state funding programs
• Take a goody basket with company trinkets to every hospital, nursing home and home health agency director in your area. Respect the director’s time by calling ahead for an appointment. Always exchange business cards and assure the other provider that you are interested in building a reciprocal relationship. You may have a client that needs additional services for a short period of time that could be provided by a home health agency. It is quite likely that families will ask you to recommend a skilled care provider when one of your residents is recovering from a fracture and requires skilled care. Assure the nursing home that you will send clients who need skilled care their way. Also remind them that one of the two reasons the majority of residents leave assisted living is transfer to a nursing home, and assure them that you will be happy to put in a good word for them when families are seeking a higher level of care than you can provide.
• When you have a resident who is admitted for skilled care, program staff should make frequent visits to the hospital or nursing home to check the progress of the resident. Have residents sign a get-well card, and take a box of homemade cookies from your kitchen. Print a “Come Home Soon” sticker for the cookie box or sack that contains your company logo. Homemade cookies usually generate conversation, and your logo will be seen by all who visit. More importantly, you are reassuring the resident that you are truly concerned about their health and well being, and that their friends “back home” miss them and wish them well. If you have residents who are able to get out, take a small group with you to visit. There’s nothing that cheers the soul of a hospitalized resident like a visit from friends.
• When a resident is hospitalized, ensure that the nurse is in close contact with the discharge planner. Because there is a lack of understanding about the services that can be provided in assisted living, physicians will sometimes automatically assume that a resident who has suffered a hip fracture is nursing home bound following rehabilitation. The nurse can reassure hospital or nursing home staff that your program is more than capable of caring for the resident who has completed rehabilitation, as long as they meet minimum admission and occupancy criteria for your assisted living program.

• Ask the program director if you can bring snacks. Advise them that you will be bringing brochures and would like the opportunity to talk either formally for a brief time or informally with seniors about your programs and services.
• Choose a time when you can reach the greatest number of seniors (i.e., mid-morning) and take ice cream bars. Take plenty of trinkets and brochures and offer to field questions either in a group or on a one-to-one basis.
• Seek permission to place a brochure or printed place mat on each meal tray. Use your creative juices to make the materials eye-catching and appealing. Include a cut-out coupon to stop by for a tour and a free cup of coffee and a cookie. Seek permission to use photographs of current residents. Seniors will enjoy seeing the faces of people they know, and it serves as a testimonial for your program.

• Beauty salons
• Pharmacies
• Grocery store delis
• Estate planners and attorneys specializing in senior issues
• Funeral homes: You may be tempted to ask yourself if it might be “too late” if you need to visit the funeral home. Consider that many frail and ill seniors have a spouse who is taking care of them. When that caregiver passes away unexpectedly, the spouse left behind may have health care needs that can no longer be met at home. Funeral directors spend a considerable amount of time with families during their time of grief, and may be in a position to suggest health care options to the family. On the flip side, you may have a resident who moves in to your program who asks you to recommend a funeral home when completing the admission work-up. In your search for reciprocal relationships, don’t overlook funeral home directors.