The purpose of this research is to examine issues related to marketing for long-term care (LTC) environments and examine the context in which marketing has become relevant to the discourse of LTC. Following, will be a discussion on a range of factors that either already have or seem likely to have an impact on the shape of marketing for LTC facilities, with a view toward forecasting possible lines of development.
It is a commonplace of popular demographic discourse that the millions of baby boomers in the United States--those born in the 15 years or so after the end of World War II--are gradually nearing retirement age. By 2010 there will emerge a rather significant population "bubble" consisting of persons over the age of 65. Already there are some 76 million persons in the country over the age of 50 (BISYS, 2001).
Apart from their sheer numbers, aging baby boomers bring to their prospective golden years a higher level of knowledge and, as a group, a relatively larger pool of assets than previous generations of aging persons (Koco, 2001; BISYS, 2001). For people in all demographic groups, accidents, illnesses, and the inexorable process of aging may force confrontation with the prospect of experiencing and/or paying for LTC. As the term implies, long-term care refers to a whole range of life-sustaining services that are delivered to clients over an extended period of time. LTC may be situated in the client's home or in facilities such as nursing homes or hospitals that are organized for the purpose of providing appropriate care. As with other forms of health care, LTC is a feature of medical-insurance protocols, subject to many of the same laws as other insurance products as well as to many of the same market forces. LTC as an activity is of course subject to the market dynamics of hospitals and nursing homes. Whether it takes place in for-profit or nonprofit venues, however, it is likely to involve substantial costs. That is wh...