We’ve talked quite a bit about emotion-driven senior living content lately…
If you missed it, you can catch up by reading about SEO and how emotions matter.
From sibling squabbles about a parent’s senior care to struggling with the long good-bye of Alzheimer’s disease, senior living isn’t always about chair yoga and watercolor classes.
It’s easier (and less controversial, sometimes) to write about life enrichment activities and travel clubs, than to create emotion-driven senior living content that addresses difficult topics.
Emotional Issues in Senior Living
Why create senior living content that can be tough to read?
Because families need answers. It’s really as simple as that.
The photo above is actually a slide from a session at September’s Content Marketing Institute conference. While the session wasn’t specific to our industry, it is relevant.
Think about the families who call you or make their way to your assisted living or memory care community.
In many cases, it is the spouse or adult child who is struggling. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.
They never thought this would happen to their family:
- A parent or spouse with Alzheimer’s is wandering and the family is in crisis. The 24/7 demands of Alzheimer’s caregiving has become unmanageable.
- One sibling is bearing the burden of caregiving. They are worn out and struggling to manage their anger and resentment.
- A spouse is angry at the world—and at God— because their partner is declining and suffering.
- An adult daughter is battling the guilt she feels over moving her father to assisted living. He’s not safe at home and is falling. She has kids in college and can’t give up her job to take care of her dad.
These are just a few of the many difficult situations those of us who work in marketing at a senior living community have all been part of. And it ain’t easy.
You can help by creating senior living content that answers questions and fills that anxiety gap.
Creating Empathetic, Emotion-driven Senior Living Content
Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Review your new leads from the past few months to identify potential topics. Start with those emotional issues you encounter most often. But don’t overlook those issues you don’t encounter as often. They can provide you with a real niche in content.
- Adopt an empathetic but not condescending or preachy tone. Don’t use phrases like “we know how you feel.” Every situation is unique. While you can empathize and try to put yourself in their shoes, you don’t know what it’s like to be them.
- Don’t bash loved ones. Sure, we’ve all witnessed scenarios where one sibling is doing it all and the others sit back and criticize. If you are a compassionate human-being, it’s tough to see. But it is important to empathize but try to stay neutral.
- Be sure the quality is top notch. Make sure the content is well-written and carefully edited. Don’t farm this out to a content mill or inexperienced writer. Find the best writer on your team and hire an editor if you need to. Or work with a credible senior care content crew. These are important issues and deserve your best effort.
Make 2019 the year you take your senior living content to the next level by addressing the emotional, anxiety-causing issues our industry encounters every day. As always, drop us a note if you have any questions…