By Steve Moran

The story is painful — no, worse than that, it is horrifying. It is not about senior living but makes a powerful case for senior living. 

“Home Aide Caught on Video Beating Elderly Woman With Saucepan”

The Story

Dorothy is a 95-year-old woman living alone in an apartment in Harlem. In order to help her stay at home — because, of course, home is the best — the family arranged to bring in a home care aide.

It turns out that maybe it is not so “the best.”

The family watched real-time, live TV as the care aide yelled at the woman, threw things at her, then started hitting her with a saucepan until she went down. Apparently the incident was triggered by an argument over changing bedsheets. It is also alleged that she “wrecked the home and left faucets running and tossed water out of a bucket onto the floor.” More information here.

Your Competition

Your most significant competition is people simply staying at home. The home care agencies run these heartwarming ads that tell families that all they need to give Mom the best years of her life is a few hours a day of a home care aid.  

THEY DON’T TELL THE TRUTH.

Your prospects see these videos and think home is better than your senior living community, because they don’t have all the information they need. 

They don’t know or think about how …

• That care person will only be there a few hours a day, and maybe not every day.
  
• That means so much time when things could go really, really wrong.
  
• That means so much social isolation.
  
• And even while there, that care person is more likely doing work than socializing, creating a sense of companionship.
  
• The person being sent might be just like the one in this story — someone who is abusive. 

Use This

Use this story, find other stories where this has happened, share them with prospects, and talk about the risks of staying at home.