Guest Blog: The Power of Community in Achieving Change
The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC:
I came across See, Click, Fix, an interesting societal experiment that connects citizens to issues to action.
Through the internet, people can report and track non-emergency issues anywhere in the world. They maintain that citizens who take the time to report even minor issues and see them fixed are likely to get more engaged in their local communities. In short, you fix a problem by publicly broadcasting the issue to the appropriate parties for resolution, working collectively to raise the profile of key concerns, or by taking direct action.
So why not employ this to the benefit of our elders? Turns out one group are trying just that.
Lotsa Helping Hands was created to support family caregivers by empowering their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and church or synagogue members - what they call a family's ‘circles of community' - to help them as they manage the daily tasks that become a challenge during times of family or medical crisis, caregiver exhaustion, or when caring for an elderly parent.
You start by creating a community. Maybe it's for my mom so I enter Friends Who Want to Help Phil. I then invite people to join the community via email. I start with people who have expressed interest in helping. Next I start posting needs. This may include mom needs dinner on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights; or rides to medical appointments on Tuesday mornings. Members are notified by email when new needs are posted. The system sends reminders to volunteers so no one forgets their commitments.
I mention this all because the causes you adopt strategically can in the end come back to help you. At first glance, an assisted living owner or skilled care owner would look at this and say "why do I want to get involved in a cause that helps people age-in-place and not my place?!" And yes the short-term effect of a cause like this one could result in delayed business. Notice I said delayed. Because the more you contribute to someone's quality of life now the more they will consider you when they need the services you offer.
Look out into your communities and see what cause you can own and how you can bring communities of people together to rally around them. The brand and marketing benefits are immeasurable.
Anthony Cirillo is the about.com expert in assisted living. A speaker, health care consultant, senior advocate and blogger, he consults with long-term care facilities and is available for management retreats and association keynotes. He is the author of "Who Moved My Dentures?" His company, Fast Forward Consulting empowers organizations to change the healthcare experience and leverage it in their marketing. For more information go to More at www.4wardfast.com and www.anthonycirillo.com. He will be speaking at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience and Innovation Summit in May.
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