Media Room
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Mission Statement -
Senior Services :- To ensure that Seniors and others do not pass more than one day of a week without enjoying at least one conversation to brighten their day and a contact with the outside world.
Specific Aims -
1. To 'Take A Call A Day Across the USA' and the other English speaking countries.
2. To establish a National Call Day as being the 1st. day of each month.
Radio -
Tuesday 16th. August, Maggy Young will be talking with Dale Carter of http://www.transitionagingparents.com/ re. the issue of social isolation. The title of the show is "Social Isolation - Exploring the Issue & Options that Work".
The radio talk will start at 10am EST (3pm BST). Details are at http://fb.me/13Fa7qW0E and at @daccarte on Twitter.
Press Releases
March 21st 2011 Launch Press Release USA - WILL A CALL A DAY HELP THE SQUEEZED SANDWICH GENERATION AND THE SENIOR BABY BOOMERS?
New Program Offers 'A Call A Day Across the USA' to Help those with Senior and vulnerable Relatives.
As the post war baby boom rapidly escalates into the seniors boom, the new middle-aged increasingly face a triangular struggle between helping their adolescent or grown-up offspring, coping with the responsibilities which rise up as their own parents age and meeting the demands of the home and workplace.
With government assistance unlikely to be able to keep pace, the situation is offering considerable opportunities for the private sector to develop further services to both support the aging boomers and to ease the pressure on their families.
One such new venture is Call Concern. This is a start-up which offers ‘A Call A Day Program’ directed mainly at seniors and the infirm. The program operates on a monthly subscription basis. Subscribers can have their relatives called every day of a year except Sundays and be called in turn if no answer is received after three calls in any one day. It is not a medical type service, but brands itself as ‘the new neighbor next door’. The company seeks to follow in the tradition of old style neighborliness, when someone could be relied upon to call around each day just to check for an answer, share a few words and confirm that all seems to be okay.
The founder derived the idea from the time of the property boom at the turn of the century. She recalls how she purchased an apartment which was being sold by a nearby relative of a deceased elderly lady. She heard from the neighbors how the old lady had apparently been dead for over three months until suspicions were aroused and a forced entry was made. She said ‘It always stuck in my mind how sad this all was’.
From the memory of that sad flat, Call Concern was born. She explains ‘I read that Guy Kawaski, (the venture capitalist and web entrepreneur), said that you should look for a wrong to right, look for a problem to solve and help to answer it. I thought about how the people close to almost certainly never realised how few callers that old lady locked in her apartment sometimes had and wondered if she might have survived if a no answer had been detected earlier...... if she had had any callers of any sort. And this is the social angle to Call Concern, people think neighbors, friends drop by for a chat, but maybe not as frequently as they like to believe’.
March 29th. 2011 2nd.. Press Release (UK)
Royal Wedding Celebrations Will Leave Many Old Folk Alone
Elderly people who live by themselves are at increased risk of illness or injury during the royal wedding weekend when they often have just their TV for company. With royal wedding fever sweeping the nation and street parties and other celebrations planned, elderly people who are unable to join in risk being neglected by family and neighbours.
The UK government reports that 61 per cent of women and 28 per cent of men over the age of 75 live alone.
And 2 in every 3 people over the age of 75 have a long-standing illness or disability.
That's where a new concern called - www.callconcern.com enters the market. Its founder Maggy Young said: "While so many elderly people are looking forward to the royal wedding, many will opt to stay indoors to watch the ceremony quietly while their family and neighbours enjoy the celebrations.
"We've all heard the upsetting stories of elderly people taking a fall and lying on their own, unable to call for help.
"In fact, it was a story just like this that inspired me to start the business."
She continued: "A call each day means that any problems can be immediately reported to a member of family.
"This makes sure that elderly people don't go for days without any human contact."
Call Concern launched in the US this month and has been well received by families of the senior "baby boomer" generation. Where possible, Call Concern will ensure that the same Contact Officer will call the client every day so that a rapport can develop and so that the client can look forward to their call each day.
The service can even be used by families who have elderly relatives in other countries.
Maggy was inspired to start the service after hearing from a property developer friend about an elderly lady being found in a flat who had died three or more months earlier.
Maggy added: "This story has always stuck in my mind, and to be honest, I was surprised that another service like this didn't already exist. "It's so useful – especially during bank holidays when people may be stuck indoors because those around them are not in their usual routine."
Call Concern launches in the UK later this year and calls clients 6 days a week – even during holiday seasons.
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