Campaign for Consumer Rights of Senior Citizens

Clare Kirkman, author of The ‘Grey Pound’ Care Revolution, is initiating a campaign for senior citizens to be taken more seriously as consumers in general, not just in the area of care.

The majority of advertising is targeted at people under the age of 60, despite the fact that older people contribute towards the economy and many are without mortgages and family ties, so often have more disposable income than their younger counterparts.

There are thousands of spirited older people, whose independence and potential to lead fulfilling lives is ignored, not only by marketing companies, but by organisations and institutions in general.

Clare is not proposing that Nike or Adidas suddenly ditch their trademark footballers in favour of an older mascot, because she understands that commercially they are trying to attract a younger consumer. However, she does believe that there is more that can be done to appeal to the older consumer, even if they are living a more dependent lifestyle. This is ever more apparent when older people accept care, especially if that care provision mismanages the individual’s new dependency. This can cause the older person to become demoralised, depressed and may even reduce their longevity. Clare believes that to ensure that older people retain the power of their own purses for as long as possible gives them a greater sense of control, but this does not include them being handed £5.00 per week pocket money.

Clare is currently writing a second book entitled “Progressive 21st Century Care – A Universal Approach”, which will be available to an international market next summer (Radcliffe Publishing). Part of the aim of the book is to educate society. When older people require care, at whatever level, it does not mean that they have no enthusiasm for life, or for spending money. The book attempts to educate providers of products and services of any description to ensure that they take older people seriously as consumers.

Clare has over twenty years’ experience in the care profession, but is currently working tirelessly to heighten the public’s perception of older people in general. She would like to offer advice to any marketing departments regarding the approaches of advertising that may attract an older consumer. In 2005, Churchill Insurance said it was struggling to attract the older consumer, but was keen to have them as customers. Why is it so difficult for them to acquire the custom of the older consumer? Clare is available to answer such questions.

Clare’s aim is for senior citizens to be respected and taken seriously as consumers and to help older consumers themselves realise that employing care services should not be the equivalent of losing their independence. Her new book, The ‘Grey Pound’ Care Revolution, shows how individuals planning care options can manage this new dependency yet still continue to lead fulfilling lives through vigilant selection of services.

Clare said, “Irrespective of age, a consumer has rights, but it appears that these rights are sometimes denied to the elderly the minute they enter into any form of care arrangement. Elderly citizens cannot guarantee how many years they have left, so understandably many of them wish to live life to the full and take risks that they may not have had the courage to do when they were younger. So whilst I wouldn’t want to sound extreme, I do believe that if an older person wishes to purchase a quad bike instead of a wheelchair, or experience white water rafting instead of a day trip to the seaside, then why should they be deprived of these choices if they are physically able to cope with them, simply because a care provider or society thinks it is not age appropriate?”

Clare believes that once companies tap into this huge potential and realise that even though someone lives in a nursing home they might still like to purchase a holiday or a car, they will attract business from an affluent generation.

Clare concluded by saying, “Any company who respects the elderly consumer and forges a serious place in their marketing for them will reap the rewards, as these consumers will then buy from them. This doesn’t mean simply adding a token old person on the back end of a poster, but giving them a voice and a prominent position in marketing.”

For more information, please contact:

Clare Kirkman
Kirkman Handbooks
Chremma House
14 London Road
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 2AG
Email: clare@kirkmanhandbooks.com


For details on The ‘Grey Pound’ Care Revolution, contact:


Dr Kal Karim
Perfect Publishers Ltd
23 Maitland Avenue
Cambridge
CB4 1TA
Tel: + 44 (0) 1223 424422
Fax: + 44 (0) 1223 424414
Email: kal@perfectpublishers.co.uk
http://www.perfectpublishers.co.uk