Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center

Executive Summary

Fort Mitchell Alabama Adult Day Care Center targets people seniors with an annual income of more than $30,000. In addition, it targets caregivers who have incomes of more than 50,000. Therefore, the company would advertise its services through direct mail, newspapers advertisements, and other publications that target the elderly. The center expects to reach a large number of potential clients using the above advertising means. The center would face stiff competition from other centers. Therefore, it would devise innovative programs that meet certain client needs. The center would provide dance therapy lessons, physical, speech, occupational therapy, and support services to caregivers. The center would ensure that it has enough trained professionals who would meet the needs of the clients.

Market Analysis Organization and Products

The ageing population of the U.S. has necessitated the development of numerous adult day care centers to care for the needs of the elderly. Adult day care centers are the most suitable sources of care to the elderly. They have professionals who can meet the daily needs of the elderly or other people who suffer from various ailments that make it impossible for them to perform even basic tasks (Eliopoulos, 2013).

The number of organizations that provide adult day care services has increased significantly. Currently, there are more than 4,600 adult day care centers spread across the U.S. This is a 35% increase since 2002 (Shi, & Singh, 2011). Consequently, the number of caregivers and people who receive services from the adult care centers has increased significantly.  Since, 2002, people who receive services and caregivers have increased by 63%. This highlights the increased demand for the services of adult day care centers (Griffin & Griffin, 2009).

 Adult day care centers are the most suitable locations for management of chronic diseases. This has led to the development of adult day care centers that address certain chronic diseases. The chronic diseases include hypertension, diabetes, mental illness, diabetes, and developmental disabilities (Holtz, 2012).

An adult day care center in Fort Mitchell would serve people in the entire Russell Country. The proportion of people who are more than 64 years old in Russell Country is slightly higher than that of the state of Alabama. Approximately 12% of the population are more than 12%. This increases the need for the provision of adult day care centers that target the elderly.

Fort Mitchell, Alabama Day Care Center (FTADCC) would target aged people with disabilities. These would include physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities. These people are in dire need of adult day care services. Advances in medical treatment has enabled people who have various disabilities to live longer (Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, 2011). FTADCC would provide several special services that meet the needs of people with mental or developmental disabilities.  

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center has various facilities that would improve the well-being of seniors.

The center employs professions who can meet the needs of seniors within the center.

The center provides various services at no extra costs to the seniors.

Weaknesses

Personnel shortages is one of the major weaknesses of the center. There is a shortage of physiotherapists and psychologists in the industry. This would limit the quality of services hat the center would offer its clients.

During the early years of the center, it would have only vehicle to transport its clients to ad from the center. However, if the center had another vehicle, it would be able to transport more seniors, which would help in improving the competitiveness and revenues of the center.

Opportunities

Expansion of the activities of the center would enable it serve a large number of people. This would improve the revenues and profitability of the center.

There are various opportunities on training the existing employees. Training the employees would help in improving the quality of services they offer clients.

Threats

Medicaid is one of the major source of funding for adult day care centers. Loss of funding due to changes in regulation would reduce the revenues of the center.

There is an unstable regulatory regime in the industry. Changes in regulation may reduce the profitability of centers.

Environmental Factors

Macro-Environmental Factors

            Alabama does not require adult day care center to obtain any licenses. However, if an adult day care center would like to contract with the Department of Human Resources, it should meet several requirements. It must have a business license from the city that the center is operating. In addition, it must have a Taxpayer Identification Number. A center must conduct criminal background checks all their employees. This attracts a certain fee, which increasing the costs of hiring employees.  In addition, one qualified staff member of qualified volunteer should serve a maximum of 10 clients. Two employees of the center must also have certification in first aid and CPR. The center must also have first aid kit and blood pressure equipment. The space for drugs should also be monitored and locked to avoid unauthorized intrusion. Therefore, it is vital for Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center to ensure that it adheres to the above regulation.

            Medicaid is one of the major sources of revenue of adult day care centers. Lack of regulation has led to a significant increase the number of adult day care centers. This has to the increase in the costs of Medicaid. Various states have countered this by changing the medical insurance of the poor. This has made private insurance companies be responsible for reimbursing adult day care centers. This strategy has helped in discouraging seniors from seeking expensive forms of healthcare such as adult day cares (Rodriguez, 2013). Therefore, a reduction in the Medicaid reimbursements may reduce the number of seniors who are willing to use the services of Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care. This would have a negative impact on the financial performance of the center. 

The future of the adult day service industry would depend on its ability to merge with other industries. The industry should be able to coordinate its activities with rehabilitation centers and healthcare facilities. Building long-term relationships with rehabilitation centers, healthcare facilities, and other long-term care facilities would help in improving the performance of the industry. The success of this collaboration would depend on the ability of day care centers in the industry to develop sophisticated technologies to help in the coordination of the different players (Pratt, 2010).

Micro-Environmental Factors

The enrolment in adult day care centers is usually seasonal. Centers may experience a drop in their business during winter and summer holidays. During winter, caregivers may opt to take care of the seniors themselves. On the other hand, during summer holidays, the caregivers may go on vacation with the seniors (Brown, Friedemann, & Mauro, 2014). Therefore, it is vital for adult caregivers to specify in their policies whether caregivers should give advance notice if they intend to remove the seniors from the centers during certain periods. This would enable the center fill the gap left by the seniors temporarily with other clients. This would help in avoiding the loss of revenue when the seniors are away (Davis, 2010).

There is stiff competition in the adult day care center industry. Lack of regulation is one of the factors that has provide suitable grounds for entry into the industry. Therefore, it is vital for adult day care centers to develop innovative programs that would help in attracting clients to the center. In addition, the centers should have competitive prices. Stiff competition in the industry may reduce the revenues that Fort Mitchell, Alabama Day care center.

Marketing Goals

The ageing population will lead to an increase in the problems of that the society faces. This would necessitate the formulation of expensive and complex solutions to tackle the problems. It is projected that the number of aged people who require the services of nursing homes would triple from 1990 to 2030. This would make aged people use a sizeable percentage of their lifetime savings to cater for the costs of receiving services in nursing homes. In addition, they would depend on Medicaid to cater for their healthcare needs. This would lead to a significant rise in the costs of Medicaid. Therefore, it is vital for relevant agencies to formulate strategies that would slow long-term care expenditures of the ageing population (Williams, Williams, & Kay, 2014).

The proposed center will be in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. It would serve the residents of Russell County. The center would be designed to cater for seniors who have an income of more than $30,000. The center would market its services to people who are 65 years and above who have an annual income of more than $30,000. The center would market its services to seniors who have who are cognitively functional but have physical limitations. These senior would be able to enjoy some of the services that the center would offer. The center would market its services through direct mail, newspapers advertisements, and other publications that target the elderly. The advertisements would include statements that encourage seniors to participate in various programs if the center.

      The center would also market its services to family caregivers who have an annual income of more than $60,000. The family caregivers that the center would target would be between 40-65 years old. Family caregivers are usually the people who are responsible for decisions that concerns finances, conditions, and daily activities of the seniors. Most family caregivers have full-time or part-time jobs. Therefore, they would need someone to provide car to the seniors when they are at their places of work or away from home. The advertisements that will target this group will emphasize on the importance of obtaining the caregiving services from the center to enable them get a rest from the caregiving duties and pursue other activities that may benefit them. Therefore, the center would market its services to companies whose employees may be caring for an ageing individual.

The center would also market its services to professional who work with seniors. This would include social workers, geriatric physicians, geriatric care managers, and financial planners. Most seniors and their family members depend on the advice of the above professionals to meet various needs of the seniors. This is because the professionals have extensive training and experience on how to handle various issues of the seniors. Therefore, they can provide vital information that may help family members in making decisions on how they should care for the seniors. For instance, the professionals may advice the family caregivers that the senior is unable to stay alone while the caregiver is at work and, should therefore, seek the services of an adult day center. Therefore, the center would advertise its services to these professional so that they may refer the seniors who need certain services to the center. The center would also educate the professionals on the importance of services offered at the center. In addition, they would inform the professionals how the services would benefit their clients.

Financial Goals

Within 6 months after starting it operations, the center intends to cater for 100 seniors daily. The seniors would pay an average of $50 per day. Therefore, the daily income of the center within 6 months would be $50,000. Therefore, the annual income would be approximately $1.8 million. The center would also seek the support of several non-governmental organization to chip in the provision of various products that would meet various needs of the seniors. This would help in reducing the expenses of the center. In addition, the center would also seek government support. The government has various programs that strive to improve the welfare of the seniors. These programs would help the center improve its services.

The center intends to increase its income within 5 years after establishment of the first center to $5 million. It would attain this through the establishment of other centers within Russell County and the entire Alabama. The Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center intends to first open another adult day care center within the Russell County area within the next three years 3 years. This would enable the center serve the needs of the seniors in the county more efficiently. Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center would them use the excellent financial performance of the second center within Russell County as a springboard to launch other adult day care center in other counties within Alabama. This would enable the center attain its goal of having an income of $5 million within 5 years.

Marketing Mix

Product

The center would provide services to frail or disabled seniors who are unable to provide certain basic activities. Some of the services that the center would provide include nutritious meals and snacks. The center would provide personalized diet plans that meet the dietary needs of seniors within the center. In addition, the center would provide medication supervision to seniors. The center would also provide several other services to seniors without charging any extra fee. These services include music and dance therapy lessons, physical, speech, and occupational therapy. The center would also provide caregiver support groups. This would help in addressing various needs of the caregivers. In addition, it would enable the caregivers provide better services to the seniors when they are not under the care of the center. Reaction assistants would provide the services to caregivers and seniors. An administrator and a program director who is a trained therapist would supervise the activities of the recreational assistants. The program director would supervise all activities within the center. The center would also provide transportation services to seniors to and from and their residences. The center would charge an additional fee (an extra $5 each way) to the seniors. Seniors would perform various activities in one large room. Every senior within the facility who is capable of performing the activities would take part in the activities. The administrator would encourage the seniors to take part in the activities, as it would improve their well-being. The activities of the center would be formulated in such a way that they meet the interests of many seniors within the center. In addition, the activities would strive to stimulate the cognitive levels of the seniors.   

Price

The average price that Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center would charge its clients would be $50. This is lower than the prices that competitors charge for similar services. this would help the center to attract clients. In addition, the center would provide several services that improve the well-being of the seniors and caregivers without any additional charges.

Place

The location is one of the major factors that determines the competitiveness of an organization. Organizations must ensure that their locations is easily accessible to its target market. The center would be located in Fort Mitchell, which is in Russell County, Alabama. The proportion of seniors in Russell County is higher than that of Alabama. This would provide the center with a large number of clients, which would result in improved revenues.

Promotion

Companies should use promotional strategies that enable it to reach a large proportion of its target market. Fort Mitchell, Alabama Adult Day Care Center would use newspapers, brochures, and mass media advertising as it major promotional methods. This would enable the center’s message to reach a large number of the target market.

Monitor and Control Implementation

            The development of the center would be in three phases. The first phase would involve the first phase would be the construction and development of the center. $2,000,000 would be required in the construction of the center. The second phase would involve pre-marketing and pre-opening of the center. The third phase would involve the rump-up. Premarketing activities would involve the development of various methods that the center would use in advertising to the target groups. The center would center would require $50,000 to undertake the pre-marketing activities. Pre-opening activities would involve obtaining the licenses necessary in running the center. In addition, it would involve purchase of various equipment that the center would need. It would also involve the purchase of vehicles for administrative purposes and transportation of seniors to and from the center. The center would need $1,500,000 to undertake pre-opening activities. The rump-up budget refers to the budget that would support the activities of the first year before it become profitable. The center estimates that the operating deficit during the first year would be $200,000. Therefore, the center would avail $200,000 to cover for the expenses of the first year that would not be met by the income.

            The center would communicate the aims of the plan to all employees of the center. This would enable the employees understand the contents of the plan of the center. In addition, it would enable the employees ‘own’ the strategies of the center. The management of the center would design tasks in such a way that there would be no duplication of tasks (Lange, 2011). This would help in reducing the inefficiencies within the task. The program director would supervise the activities of various employees.

            The center would review its performance goals bi-annually to ensure that it is on track. However, if the management of the center sees that the performance levels of the center do not meet the expectations, they would reevaluate the original goals of the center. The management of the center would also strive to identify and correct factors that make it difficult to attain the original goals. The management of the center would meet various stakeholders regularly to share ideas on how they may improve the performance of the center.   

Contingency Plan

            It is a fact that seniors may suffer from various health complication within the center. Therefore, prior to the establishment of the center, it is vital to have vast knowledge of the needs of seniors and some of the complications they may suffer from. In addition, it is vital to strive to avoid falls, as most seniors are prone to falls. The center would be constructed in a flat surface. There would be no stairs within the center. Instead, people would use ramps to rise to high locations within the center. This would help in avoiding fatal falls within the center. The center would also collaborate with various nearby healthcare facilities to provide emergency healthcare services to seniors (Tate & Brennan, 2013).

            Sound financial management would guarantee the continued existence of the center. Therefore, would source excellent financial management systems to limit embezzlement in the finance department of the center. In addition, the management of the center would strive to ensure that the right people work in the finance department. The center would not be profitable within the first year. Therefore, the management would avail $500,000 to meet any deficits. It is projected that the deficits in the first year would be $200,000. However, it is vital to have excel funds to cater for any unforeseen circumstances.

            The center would also hire professionals to provide care to seniors. The professionals have a less likelihood of engaging in activities that would harm seniors that other people. In addition, a program director who is a trained therapist would supervise the activities of the recreational assistants. This would help reduce the chances of recreational assistants engaging in activities that have negative outcomes (McKenzie, & Pinge, 2013).  

           

References

Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice. (2011). Living Well with Chronic Illness: A Call for Public Health Action. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Brown, E.L., Friedemann, M. & Mauro, A.C. (2014). Use of Adult Day Care Service Centers in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Older Adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 33(3), 127-129.

Davis, C. (2010). Start Your Own Senior Services Business: Adult Day Care, Relocation Services, Homecare, Transportation Service, Concierge, Travel Service and More. Irvine, CA: Entrepreneur Press.

Eliopoulos, C. (2013). Gerontological Nursing. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Griffin, D.J. & Griffin, P. (2009). Outside the Hospital: The Delivery of Health Care in Non-Hospital Settings. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Holtz, C. (2012). Global Health Care: Issues and Policies. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Lange, J.W. (2011). The Nurse's Role in Promoting Optimal Health of Older Adults. Piladelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

McKenzie, J.F. & Pinge, R.R. (2013). An Introduction to Community Health Brief Edition. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Pratt, J. (2010). Long-Term Care: Managing Across the Continuum. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Rodriguez, C. (2013, April 17). Adult Daycares: Unregulated and High Profit. WNYC News. Retrieved on 26 March 2014 from: http://www.wnyc.org/story/287239-adult-daycares-are-highly-unregulated-and-have-potential-high-profits-bad-combination-advocates-warn/

Shi, L. & Singh. D.A. (2011). Delivering Health Care in America. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Tate, L.A. & Brennan, C.M. (2013). Adult Day Care: A Practical Guidebook and Manual. London: Routledge.

Williams, G.B., Williams, D. & Kay, P. (2014). Baby Boomer’s Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parent. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 38(1), 75-76.

Get more papers like this one at cheap essay writing services