Focus on senior nutrition this March

March is National Nutrition Month, a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The 2017 theme is “Put Your Best Fork Forward,” which seeks to remind people that every bite counts.

Here are some tips to help you get started as you plan your efforts for the month: 

• Help demonstrate the importance of making informed food choices and developing good eating and physical activity habits. Your agency can advance these ideas in the home care community by teaching this population about healthy diets. TAG Partners offers a ready-made class on this topic that a non-clinician can present. Call 866-232-6477 for individual component pricing.
• Volunteer to also teach this class at a local office of the American Heart Association with an emphasis on the specific dietary needs of senior citizens.
• March 8, 2017 is Registered Dietitian Day. Highlight the contributions of registered dietitians in your employee or community newsletter.
• Contact your local parks and recreation department and offer provide healthy meal workshops and demonstrations once a quarter. The department can choose the venue and you will supply the class content and ingredients.
• Download a booklet with information for older adults on eating well and eating healthfully at the  eat well at the website of the National Institute on Aging. Distribute it to clients as part of their regular home care visits this week. Additional free nutrition-focused publications are available here.
• Contact your local Meals on Wheels representative and ask how your agency can help with a contribution of either time or money. According to the organization, 8.3 million seniors face the threat of hunger every day. Encourage employees to participate by helping with its efforts to reduce senior isolation and hunger. 
• Organize a food drive within your area independent living centers. Create a display featuring the www.ChooseMyPlate.gov nutrition guidelines and couple it with brown bags decorated with the My Plate image. Encourage residents and families to take a bag and return it filled with food for a local food bank.

February 2014: It’s time for Doctors Day!

One of the best days for marketing in home care is right around the corner: National Doctors Day. We couldn’t do all we do without the expert work of physicians. In the days leading up to this year’s observance, which is on March 30, show how much you appreciate them.

• Hand deliver or send Doctors Day greeting cards, stickers and other small tokens of appreciation to all the physicians in your area. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/doctorsday/.
• Give physicians an incredible tool to help them easily know when it’s appropriate to refer to home health or hospice. Educational pocket reference guides will become an indispensable resource that directs them to your agency. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/homehealth-pocket-reference-guide.php and www.tagwebstore.com/hospice-pocket-reference-guide.php.
• Help make it easy for physicians to refer to home health or hospice by giving them referral pads that provide a simple, clear and direct way to convey the referral. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/physician-prescription-pads.php and www.tagwebstore.com/hospice-physician-prescription-pads.php.
• One of the fastest growing methods doctors are using to increase their Medicare reimbursements is Transitional Care Management, but many still aren’t aware of the benefits or how easy it is. Get a comprehensive TCM educational kit for home health agency sales and marketing at www.tagwebstore.com/transitional-care-management.php.

Healthy diet takes center stage this month with National Nutrition Month. It’s a great opportunity to spread the word about the importance of eating well and living well. This year’s theme for the March observance is “Enjoy the taste of eating right.”

• Host a class at a local senior center on diet and nutrition. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
• Leave a stack of agency rack cards about weight loss at your local pharmacy counters. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/rack-cards.php.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week is the perfect time to call attention to respiratory diseases and the many ways your agency can help those living with these conditions. This year’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week is March 9-15.

• Set up a booth at a well-attended community eventand educate about COPD and other respiratory conditions. Be sure to have agency flyers about COPD as well as general marketing brochures available for attendees. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php and www.tagwebstore.com/marketing-brochures.php.
• Visit your hospital discharge planners and be sure to leave behind educational mousepads that describe the indications for a COPD home health referral. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/mousepads.php.
• Visit your local pulmonologists and discuss the benefits your program has for their patients. Leave behind brochures about COPD and how your agency can help. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.