December 2005 Ezine
Linking Seniors, Family Caregivers and Business Owners

You can read our ezine on line at Back Issues Feel free to forward our ezine to your friends!

• Coalition for Senior Safety
  
• Elder Care Services and Family Members Caring for the Elderly Reap the Benefits on the Internet
  
• Ask The Expert
  
• Welcome! New Certified Senior Approved Services!
  
• Free Market Research Report
  
• Recipe Contest - Coming to a Close
  
• Calendar of Events
  
• Great Gift Ideas for the Senior and the Family Caregivers
  
• Wishing You a Happy and Peaceful Holiday!
  

Coalition for Senior Safety

Are you disturbed by a recent news story about a frail elderly senior that fell victim to fraud, theft, or some telemarketing scam? Or perhaps you have just heard about an isolated senior that fell in the home, or a senior involved in a driving accident, or a horrible story involving elder abuse?

Have you ever heard yourself say, “Somebody ought to do something!”? Maybe that ‘somebody’ is YOU.

What may have seemed an overwhelming task has now been made easy through the simple instructions within our ebook.

We will show you step-by-step how you can start a crime awareness program or any variety of senior safety programs. Using our 'how to' manual, anyone can now start a Coalition for Senior Safety Program in any local community.

The Coalition for Senior Safety ebook walks you through how to start, what programs to focus on, how to get the support from local businesses, local city officials, merchants, and your local police department. If you prefer, you may order the book on CD.

You will learn about the types of crimes and abuse committed against our elderly population and how to educate the senior community so that they don’t fall victim to these crimes. We will show you how to raise money and how to use the barter system to make your senior safety program easy to start and implement.

Whether you are one caring individual or a group such as; a neighborhood watch, a religious organization, chamber of commerce, a non-profit organization (and so on) you can start your own Coalition for Senior Safety program.

In fact, you could launch a business as an 'Event Planner' or Professional Fund Raiser, create an income for yourself and at the same time, make a positive impact within your local community.

The Coalition for Senior Safety program is sponsored by Senior Approved Services and has received raving reviews from senior advocates across the United States. See Reviews Order your copy today and you will receive a password code to open it within 24 hours of receipt of payment.

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Have you ever tried to find an elder care service, a product or resource for an aging parent on the Internet? Of course you have, in fact key word searches have become extremely popular for the adult child in search of services. 68% of all inquiries to Senior Approved Services, a national network of products, resources and services endorsed by seniors, have originated through a key word search.

Type in elder care services on Google and nearly 10,000 choices pop up. Choices are great, but how in the world does the average consumer find the appropriate service and on top of that – make a responsible decision on which of these services are indeed safe reliable companies.

The elder care industry has the challenge of reaching this growing number of Internet users. You could spend a small fortune bidding on key words or paying for top placement on a page.

How can you promote yourself to the senior (and this adult child in search of your service) without going broke?

Is it possible to get the elder care business community to work together to enhance the service choices for the senior, but also work together to promote one another? One service promoting the other, each service a guaranteed safe reliable company, working together and avoiding wasteful duplication of resources. Sounds like a dream doesn’t it?

Well, this dream is now a reality thanks to the ingenious simple idea of Barbara Mascio, founder of Senior Approved Services. “Only those businesses with a 90% or higher satisfaction rating, as reported by the seniors (and/or family member of the senior) who have used the service, are permitted in our exclusive directory,” states Ms. Mascio.

So, a person searching for a safe reliable service for a loved one has a quick, safe and simple method to select a service. How does this benefit the elder care businesses Certified as Senior Approved?

Each Certified Senior Approved Service naturally promotes itself as a Senior Approved Service. Naturally this lends credibility to this business and increases its client base. This in turns promotes the core business, that being Senior Approved Service, which then promotes all the other services in this exclusive network.

“I call this ‘circular marketing,” says Barbara. “Not only is each business separating themselves from the competition, each business refers to other Certified Senior Approved Services when their valued client is in need of a service that he or she does not provide.”

Circular marketing in combination of making good use of collaborative partners is how Ms. Mascio is able to provide such a variety of useful resources for the senior and family caregiver.

There is so much wasted time, money and resources in the elder care industry through duplication. Competition is great, but if you come across a service that has a proven value, why not just work together and help promote one another?

Senior Approved Services does just that. Not only are there benefits in being part of this exclusive network (from a business standpoint) – you are part of a very exclusive network – you cannot pay for a listing – and - through the careful partnering of other elder care services – each of these Certified Senior Approved Services are marketed on a national level by complimentary services.

When a senior (or family caregiver) visits John Boden’s web site, http://www.lifeledger.com , a safe and reliable method to record and maintain vital records, he or she will see Certified Senior Approved Services listed as a preferred senior service. Visit John Webb’s site, http://www.caregiversresource.com and Senior Approved Services are featured as preferred selections. Call the Caregivers Resource Helpline at toll free 888-791-7301 and you will hear about Senior Approved Services. Join in on the Caring for Elderly Family Members Online Support Group, http://groups.msn.com/CaringforElderlyFamilyMembers/yourwebpage2.msnw and the moderator will tell you that when in search of a service, don’t guess, select a Certified Senior Approved service. The Coalition for Senior Safety http://www.coalitionforseniorsafety.org advises those starting a senior safety program in his or her local community to only feature Certified Senior Approved Services in order to reduce liability.

I did a fun links search to see how far reaching Senior Approved Services truly is. Try this with your company’s web site for comparison and when you do, these following numbers will astound you.

Go to yahoo.com and type in links:www.seniorsapprove.com 339 sites pop up – all linking back to this free web community for family members and seniors. Now try links:www.qualityeldercare.com (the business-related site for Senior Approved Services) and you will see 333 other sites linking back.

I tried google.com and typed in links www.seniorsapprove.com (google doesn’t use the semi colon and you have to put in a space after the word links) and an astounding 833 sites came up – all linking back to Senior Approved Services! Links www.qualityeldercare.com provided 700 links.

Clearly this woman is on to something. Is there any doubt of the benefits for the elder care business community?

Beyond that, and in this reporters’ viewpoint, how wonderful to have a service that offers so much for the senior and the family caregivers, that will not try to profit from advertising dollars and will only recommend and endorse the very best of the best!

To learn more about the founder of Senior Approved Services, I highly recommend that you visit one or both sites. If you want to reach Ms. Mascio personally, all of her contact information can be found on her web sites.

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Check out our featured Ask the Expert contributors - feel free to ask your questions! Each expert is a Certified Senior Approved Service!

Patti Bertschler of Northcoast Conflict Solutions will answer your questions regarding family issues and solutions to conflicts between the adult child and the senior and/or siblings.

Jean F. Wales, professional organizer and author of the national best selling organizational handbook, 'Do it Now', will answer your questions on how to encourage your loved ones to organize the essential paperwork and documents. Jean will also offer advice on how to select a 'self-help' book and what to look for before you buy.

Robert Phillips, Executive Director of S.A.R.A.H. Adult Day Services answers your questions about adult day services and how adult day services not only benefit the senior, it helps to ease the daily strain of the family caregiver.

Barbara Root, MBA, BS, RN and CEO of Stellar Living Assistance, Inc., Downers Grove, IL answers questions and answers that her clients have asked her reqarding legal documents. She also will answer your questions regarding Non-Medical Home Care Services

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Welcome! New Certified Senior Approved Services!

Carefree Homecare Companion Services in Arizona This non-medical homecare service is the first one in Arizona to receive certification as a Senior Approved Service. See Press Release

Assisting Angels is located in South Carolina. The first home care service to receive certification as a Senior Approved Service in S.C., this company is very proud of their record of quality care. See Press Release

Touch of Angels in Florida is the second home care service in Florida, The first one, Visiting Angels Home Care, FL See Press Release

The Shearer Group, Kendra Shearer a Senior Real Estate is located in the state of Georgia and is our very first service that specializes in real estate matters exclusively for the senior citizen. See Press Release

The Legacy at Park Crescent located in New York is one of three independent senior housing choices in the state of New York. See Press Release Also see MARK IV Construction Company

Each of these companies completed an independent survey. Senior Approved Services initiates the survey and requires a minimum of a 90% satisfaction rating - from actual clients of the service. Each met or far surpassed this requirement.

It may interest you to know that a business cannot pay to 'join' Senior Approved Services. The only companies we feature, endorse and recommend have paid for this independent survey. The survey is not state-mandated and there is not outside entity requiring the survey. A business might pay for the survey and not become a Senior Approved Service. Again, we are only interested in working with the very best. We base our decision on what each of these companies' clients have to say about them.

Not every business owner would open themselves up to such scrutiny - not only voluntarily - but is also willing to pay for this survey. This in itself speaks volumes about each of the businesses in our network.

In order to make our entire service free of charge to you (in search of safe reliable services) we depend on the business community participating in our survey process. So, next time you contract with one of these excellent services, be nice and thank them for helping Senior Approved Services remain a free service for you.

These excellent companies are now part of a very exclusive group of businesses that have proven their commitment to serving our elderly with consistent quality of care. Services such as; The Visiting Nurse Association, Visiting Angels Home Care, FL, Independent Senior Housing in NY, , Dayna's Homecare Company, Complete Organizational Services, The Caregiver's Resource Kit, Northcoast Conflict Solutions, Cleveland Financial, Birch Financial, Raymond James Financial, Sunrise Assisted Living of Rocky River, Hamilton Home Care, My Home Care, Inc., Occasional Help for Seniors, Do It Now, The SCOOTER Store, Life Quest Home Medical Equipment, Seniors Sharing a Home, Stellar Living Assistance, Park Creek Retirement Center, Adeline's Home Sweet Home, Life Care Home Health Services, DocuPrep, Advanced Laser Solutions, S.A.R.A.H. Adult Day Services, Seniors Home Advantage and Attorney Mary Ann Thomas.

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Recipe Contest - Coming to a Close

Last chance! We are in need of a few more submissions to even this out. What a fun project this has been! I can't wait to see the published final version this very unique collection of favorite recipes from - literally around the world!

We have submissions from India, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Brazil, France and all around the United States.

This isn't a 'normal' recipe book - that would be far too boring. This is a collection of favorite food recipes, the recipe for a happy marriage, settling conflicts, raising kids and the recipe to a long and happy life.

Each winner receives a free copy of the book. Each entry includes your first name and last initial and where you are from. This could be a great promotion for your company, use this with your senior clients! When we list their names, we will mention the company (example: Mary S., special senior client of Visiting Angels in Florida)

Simply go to the web site, print off the submission forms and sit with your clients. What a wonderful method to honor your elderly clients. Not to mention a great activity! Then, return to the web site and type in the submissions for each of your clients.

We will continue to accept submissions until January the 15th 2006. We plan to have this ready no later than Mothers' Day 2006. See Recipe Contest

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Calendar of Events

Pay attention to December 5th - which begins a 10-part series on the Aging Boom (Jean Wales and her father were interviewed for this!) and December the 11th begins the White House Conference on Aging. John Boden, owner of Life Ledger, one of the Senior Approved Collaborative Partners has been invited.

To see what's happening in your area, go to Calendar of Events To submit your events, follow the instructions found on Calendar Instructions & Submission Form

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Great Gift Ideas

Senior Approved Services

Do it Now, an organizational handbook for the senior and those that care for the older adult

Truce! Using Elder Mediation to Resolve Conflict among Families, Seniors, and Organization

Life Ledger A safe easy method to record and maintain vital records.

The Caregiver's Resource Kit

Don't forget to check out our exclusive network of services - every one of these services will be happy to send you a gift certificate or some other method to prepay for a service, product or resource. Use these for the family caregivers that you know need a break or respite care. See Certified Senior Approved Services

Featured Senior~Preneurs

Minding our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories is a portable support group, a reminder you aren't alone

The HandeeSoap Sack a useful product for anyone with difficulty holding a bar of soap!

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Happy Holidays!

May you experience quiet soft moments with friends and relatives that affirm the miracle of birth and renewal are yours to keep and yours to share beyond the season.

May you hold in your hearts the affirmation of peace, for your family, community and for all people in every corner of the earth.

May the greatest of all gifts this year be void of a price tag and heavy with the touch of spirit that abides in each of us.

Blessings to all of you, from all of us here at Senior Approved Services!

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