Connecting with single seniors who don’t have children
If you are one of our clients, we’ve likely had a few talks about audience. Who you are trying to reach with each piece of content we create is important, so we bring it up often.
While we write some senior living content in a reporter voice, the majority of it is targeted toward a senior directly, the spouse of an older adult (especially those with dementia), or the adult child.
Occasionally, the audience is professional referral sources which can include physicians, clergy, hospital discharge planners, and more.
For the past three or four years, we’ve been working with several nonprofit organizations that have a goal of assisting single seniors. Yep, they lend support to adults growing older alone.
We also have a client who is an expert on this topic. She’s been researching and writing about it for nearly a decade now, including publishing a few books. We provide her with media assistance and help promote her work.
From her we’ve learned much about this group. Including some of the names they’ve been tagged with, such as solo agers and kinless seniors. (One we hope will be left behind is elder orphans. Ugh. It’s an awful one, but seems to be popular on social media.)
Our nonprofit agency clients do everything from helping single seniors secure transportation and arrange home-delivered grocery orders to assisting with senior care decisions.
What’s interesting about these clients is that many of the people they talk with aren’t just single seniors, they also don’t have any children.
Their current situations fall into a variety of categories. Some are widows and widowers. Others never married. A growing number experienced a late-life divorce. Some outlived all of their loved ones, unfortunately including their children.
As we write articles for these clients blogs and newsletters, we are always mindful of the fact that this audience is very different. There usually aren’t any influencers involved in decision-making.
While our clients support and educate this demographic group, the seniors themselves are largely on their own when it comes to making decisions.
Content for the Single Seniors Audience
Our author/expert client is getting ready to launch another book, and told us her personal research shows just how much this demographic group is growing. And changing.
She maintains a private Facebook group for older adults she’s connected with through her work. Recently, she shared some interesting scoop you might find useful in developing or updating your senior living content strategy…
Currently single retirees without children
For this demographic group, there are similarities with the personas most of us already write to but also some notable differences.
- Financing senior housing: While finances are tight for some of these single retirees, many have incomes that make senior living affordable. Their cash flow comes from multiple sources. In addition to their social security, they have a combination of pensions, veterans benefits, and long-term care insurance. Though these pensions might be modest, they do offer some financial stability.
- Reluctant for change: Our client’s interviews show that this population is reluctant to move to senior living. They hold on to outdated myths about what it is and believe the misconception that you need to have considerable means to afford a senior community. But, they are fearful of aging at home alone with no family to “check on them.”
- Non-familial influencers: This growing niche of older adults without spouses or children do turn to people whose opinions they value for advice. Usually they are professionals, such as their primary care physician and the leadership from their religious organization. Their attorneys, especially if they have one who specializes in elder law, can play a role, too. While these folks may have constituted only a small part of your referral source leads in the past, it’s likely to grow as this demographic group continues to increase.
Soon-to-be retirees who are on their own
This time around, our author client’s upcoming book is focused on younger people who fall into this category. These are people in their 50s and 60s who are still part of the workforce.
- Those who never married: One difference in this next generation of retirees is how many people there are who never married. Researchers from Bowling Green State University have looked into this topic extensively over the years (and ruffled a lot of feathers with their reports on the odds of women marrying for the first time during midlife or later). Their most recent studies show that an estimated one-third of people now remain single all of their lives.
- Anxious about the future: These middle-aged and older adults are already experiencing anxiety about their future. Specifically, what will happen to them when they are no longer able to remain independent and on their own. Our author client said they are continuing to work longer, because they do not have pensions or as much savings as previous generations.
- Building their own support networks: Because these folks are more apt to use social media, our client tells us shes noticing trends where single seniors without kids are forming their own groups. These are both formal and informal networks. She’s seeing them do this for the purpose of building friendships with like-minded people who may one day be able to support and care for one another.
- The reality of gray divorce: We’ve been writing blog articles and social media copy for clients on the topic of gray divorce for about ten years now. It’s on the rise for many reasons. Because seniors are splitting later in life, their finances often take a hit. For them, the idea of aging without the solid financial base they thought they had is frightening.
So, as you are strategizing opportunities for content, think about how your organization can connect and serve this population. Those of you with home health and home care might be well-positioned for this niche. The same is true for those of you who work for life plan communities.
Drop us a note if you have any questions! We’ll be happy to try to help…