apprise marketing communcations slides · marketing matters because it not only helps us get the...

Hello and thank you for joining the APPRISE Volunteer Training Program. You are about to view the online Module 2: APPRISE Marketing Communications. As a training participant, you should have access to the following:

• APPRISE Contact Numbers (PA) • APPRISE Volunteer Handbook (PA) • APPRISE Program Brochure (PA)

APPRISE Marketing Communications 1/2015

APPRISE, Pennsylvania Department of Aging 1

Here’s an overview of what will be discussed in this module. • Why APPRISE needs you • How you can become an APPRISE ambassador • APPRISE talking points • Some communication essentials and • How to complete a Public and Media Events form

If you have questions after this training module, you can either use your reference tools, check with your mentor or local program coordinator to help you understand anything that is still confusing you.



Pennsylvania seniors and people with disabilities are frail and in need of assistance. Almost half live on less than $23,500 a year.

Disclaimer: The statistics are as current as possible and accurate at the time of printing.



The amount Medicare beneficiaries spend on care is disproportionate to other people, including those who are working and get care through their employers.

Medicare households spend three times as much on health care than non-Medicare households. Disclaimer: The statistics are as current as possible and accurate at the time of printing.



Almost a third of the Medicare beneficiaries have at least 2 or more chronic health conditions they must manage.

People with multiple chronic conditions have deeper health care needs.




Over half of Medicare beneficiaries have basic or low-literacy skills. That means that most cannot read and understand the complex technical Medicare information they encounter, such as the Medicare and You handbook or the Medicare Summary Notices.




But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. APPRISE exists to help these people in need. We help Medicare beneficiaries navigate their health care options and save money on their health care costs.

Are you familiar with the Barn Star?

The Barn Star originated within the Pennsylvania Dutch farming community where they would often mount a large star-shaped decoration onto their barns. Some farmers considered the stars good luck, like a horseshoe hung above a doorway, others viewed it as simply decorative, and others represented the trademark of the barn builder.

The present-day Barn Star, now popular on homes of every size and shape, has come to mean an outward sign of good luck and good fortune. It is also a sign of hospitality and welcome.



As APPRISE Volunteers , you are our “barn stars.”

You help us spread the word about APPRISE and welcome the community to our program. Our advertising budget is tiny. Without the help of our volunteers, we would be unable to reach everyone we do.

By telling your friends, families, and colleagues about what we do, you help us raise awareness about our services and volunteer opportunities. The more people who know about APPRISE, the more people get help. We think that’s a good thing.

You can help us raise the profile of APPRISE in your neighborhood. During this training, I’m going to show you how to be the best ambassador for APPRISE you can be.



Volunteers like you make a difference in the lives of people we serve each year. Please take a moment to review the comments here from our clients about how they value our work.

Over and over again, we heard how they were able to save money, get better access to health care, and gain peace of mind through the help that APPRISE can offer.

This could never be achieved without the compassion and patience of our volunteers and their dedication to serving Medicare beneficiaries.



With such strong endorsements from our clients, it makes sense to continue to spread the word about the good work of our volunteers and our program.

We accomplish this through our outreach and marketing. Marketing matters because it not only helps us get the word out, it also helps us connect with and hear from local communities about what they need and how we can improve our service mix.



Marketing doesn’t have to be slick, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s really about people making connections and sharing authentic value with each other.

It’s about establishing two-way communications with critical audiences so that we can fulfill our mission and promise to communities.

Believe it or not, through improved marketing and communications, we can make the world a better place.



When we communicate the difference APPRISE makes, we want to engage people’s hearts and minds.

We do so by aligning everything we do – from outreach and marketing to direct service with Medicare beneficiaries – around the promise of clear, unbiased, and accurate health information for communities.

We want Medicare beneficiaries to understand what is unique and special about APPRISE, so that they can decide whether our program has anything to offer them.

We also want prospective volunteers to understand how they contribute to the cause by working in partnership with our community.



So, let’s review a little about the program and learn some talking points that will help you deliver a consistent message about APPRISE when you are communicating about what we do.

Here’s a brief description of what we do.

• APPRISE is the designated State Health Insurance Assistance Program also known as the “SHIP.”

• We have a statewide network of more than 700 staff and volunteers • And the program helps Medicare beneficiaries navigate their health care

options.




It also helps to understand how the APPRISE program is structured, in case questions arise.

Funding is provided through State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) grants from the federal government to each state and territory. Our funding comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging is the designated SHIP for the Commonwealth. PDA, in turn, grants funds to local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to manage the program, and engage community volunteers at the local level.

Our peer-to-peer grassroots model of volunteer-led Medicare counseling has been successful for more than 20 years. And, we’re still going strong!



In Pennsylvania, the Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are organized into 8 regions operating in all local counties.

The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) are a trusted source of information for people with disabilities, older people, and their caregivers.

Specific services at each agency vary slightly throughout the state, but each agency offers a wide array of programs to help older Pennsylvanians and their families get the help and information they need. Can you find your county on this map?



Let’s learn a little bit more about AAAs.

The Older Americans Act of 1965 established a relationship between the federal government, State aging units, and local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). As local service coordinators, AAAs will contract with local for-profit or nonprofit public organizations or providers to deliver benefits. In other instances, they will provide assistance directly.

Here are some of the programs and services offered by the AAAs, including APPRISE, employment assistance, information and referral, protective services, family caregiver support and transportation.

In addition, the work of AAAs is supplemented and enhanced by dedicated volunteers who are both individuals and employer-sponsored teams.

The entire aging network system works together to accomplish the goals of the Older Americans Act and the needs of Pennsylvanians.



Clients and prospective volunteers can use a variety of means to get in touch with local APPRISE teams within their county.

The fastest way to reach us is to call the statewide toll free number 1-800-783-7067, which will connect you with our telecenters that operate Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. You will either be helped immediately or forwarded to a local program for assistance.

The other ways to reach the program are to call the local programs directly or attend a local event.



Above and beyond the basic information about what APPRISE is and how it’s structured, we have developed an APPRISE Communications Platform that offers a consistent message that will help us connect with the public.

There are 4 key elements of a solid messaging platform: the tagline, a positioning statement, the elevator pitch, and key talking points.

APPRISE has two taglines: one is the national SHIP tagline (“local help for people with Medicare”) and the other is the Pennsylvania APPRISE tagline (“State Health Insurance Assistance Program…counseling for people with Medicare in Pennsylvania”).

Feel free to use either, depending on the situation. Taglines are usually eight words or less and are used to convey our unique impact.

A positioning statement is usually one to three sentences long. It describes our value and describes APPRISE services that benefit clients. It is not the same as a mission statement, which is primarily used internally to guide an organization.

Let’s look at the APPRISE positioning statement – “APPRISE, a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, works in partnership with local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to offer Medicare beneficiaries and their families free, impartial advice on how to navigate complex Medicare choices. As part of the national SHIP counseling network, we deliver local one-on-one help from caring, compassionate, knowledgeable, and highly-trained volunteers right here in our community.”

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1/2015 APPRISE Marketing Communications

APPRISE, Pennsylvania Department of Aging

We also have an elevator pitch which is usually 30 seconds or less.

It can be customized and should be a two-way conversation with an interested party. That means it should include questions and answers and will usually evolve spontaneously.

It is a story that answers why, what, who and includes a call to action. Here is one example, but you may want to develop one that works for you and those you are trying to reach.

Let’s take a look at the example elevator pitch.

Seniors and people with disabilities are overwhelmed. They need someone they can trust to give them unbiased information about their Medicare choices. Many of our clients worry themselves sick over it. We help ease their anxieties by offering clear, simple information delivered by compassionate volunteers. It's a simple solution really – people helping people. But, it has a profound affect on people’s lives. And, we need your help. We’re not asking for money, we need help (insert your specific need, i.e., smoothing over bureaucratic hurdles, spreading awareness, speaking as a champion, gain access to a specific person or resource, etc.). When can we schedule a time to talk about this further?

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And finally, we have talking points

Talking points are 3 to 6 messages, no more than 2 sentences each. They are tailored to your audience’s specific informational needs, and they answer frequently asked questions.

Because it is challenging to grab attention and keep it in today’s world, it pays to be prepared. Take time to think through how you will focus your communications to reach those who are most important, to either help them access services or invite them to join your local volunteer team.

When you’re ready to communicate with decision-makers and key stakeholders about APPRISE, develop a communications platform that addresses your audience’s key needs. You can start with the one shown here. It will help you share the unique value of APPRISE, our achievements, and our current program needs more effectively.

Let’s take a moment to review one of the talking points - “ APPRISE is a critical lifeline for people with Medicare. We don’t sell insurance. We just share trustworthy information about Medicare and other insurance needs.”

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It’s also important not to forget our stories.

We make sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves and others. It’s simply how the human brain works.

There has been plenty of research to back this up, but just consider your own lives. When you are excited and passionate about a cause, do you walk around talking about statistics, or do you share stories about how people are affected? And, when you hear about an issue that catches your attention, is it the statistics you remember or the stories of the struggle?

Don’t be shy about telling your APPRISE stories, just be sure you keep client names and identifying information private unless they give you permission to use the information. This goes for photos, too. Don’t use a photo unless you have the client’s permission, in writing, that it’s OK to use.

1/2015


APPRISE Marketing Communications

To maintain a consistent look and feel to our communications materials, APPRISE has logos that should be used in each and every publication or communications tool you develop.

The logos are available through your local program coordinator.

We encourage you to use the following fonts in any new materials you develop:

• Futura Medium (14 point) for headers and titles • Century Schoolbook (12 point) in the body text of the document

And, whenever possible, be sure any materials that will be shared electronically are 508 complaint, so that people with disabilities can read them. Check this website for more info -- http://www.section508.gov.



If you are developing marketing materials for APPRISE, here are a few established conventions around the terminology and grammar we use.

If you have any additional questions about these, or need to brainstorm about how to develop a specific item, be sure to ask your regional coordinator.

• For our program name, use “APPRISE” in all capital letters, or “APPRISE Program” with the first letter only capitalized in the second word.

• Please include the toll-free number on all materials • Spell out numbers under ‘10” • Do not use periods between letters (e.g., CMS) versus C.M.S. • Always spell out the word and include the acronym after in parenthesis



Throughout your training with APPRISE you’ll be given a host of web links, or hard copies of publications we often use to deliver service. Your Mentee Guide also includes a list of reading materials for these sources.

We encourage volunteers, regardless of their role at APPRISE, to explore these websites and see what you can find. The good news is that there is plenty of information out there to share with clients, so we never have to reinvent the wheel. Also, federal and state resources have been fact checked thoroughly and rarely have errors. When offering information to clients, be sure to use official or trusted sources. We pride ourselves on providing the public the most accurate information possible.

And, if you don’t know the answer, let them know and that we will get back to them after you do the research. The answers to most questions can be found in the publications you will receive during training or on these websites.



APPRISE is the best kept secret in aging and we are pursuing opportunities to change that.

Outreach and networking meetings can happen with as little as one other person. The goal is to share information about APPRISE and determine whether there is a mutually-beneficial partnership, formal or informal, that can be established.

Health fairs are easy places to participate. Volunteers staff tables, distribute information about APPRISE and Medicare, and answer any questions they can. If they don’t know an answer, then refer to the source publications they have on hand and give the beneficiary a copy. They also suggest beneficiaries call their local program to talk with a local counselor for more detailed help.

APPRISE also has community education toolkits for volunteers who are interested in public speaking. The topics in the toolkit series include:

• Get Ready for Medicare • Save Money on Medicare • Fine Tune Your Medicare Coverage • The Affordable Care Act & You • Long-Term Care Options

They include slide decks, speakers notes, handouts, and outreach templates. Specialized training, with a minimal time commitment is offered to volunteers who want to get certified to do this kind of public speaking. Using local media channels, the agency’s web site, and social media are great ways to spread the word. Talk to your local coordinator if you want to help.



As volunteers, we need your help in tracking the valuable work we do.

The Public and Media Events Form (PAM) is a short form we use to gather information that helps us track our outreach and marketing work.

The information you collect gets entered into a national SHIP database and is compared with all other SHIP program work nationwide. It is included in quarterly performance measure reports for your local program.

It’s very important that a PAM form be entered for each and every event.

If more than one person is staffing the event, decide together who will complete and submit the form and include everyone’s name on that one form.

Copies of this form can be found in the Appendix of your APPRISE Volunteer Handbook.



The PAM is short and sweet -- only one page, front and back. So, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete.

Ask your local coordinator who is responsible for entering the data into the database. If it is you, be sure to get access and training on how to do so. The information should make it into the database as soon as possible after the event takes place, so you don’t miss a data reporting deadline.



Medicare beneficiaries need our APPRISE services.

We encourage you to talk with your mentor and local coordinator to think of ways to raise awareness together.



• If you have questions after this training module, you can either use your reference tools, check with your mentor or local program coordinator to help you understand anything that is still confusing you.

• Thank you for completing Module 2: APPRISE Marketing Communications. You are now ready to take your certification exam for this module and move onto Module 3: Health Insurance Terms and Concepts.



apprise marketing communcations slides · marketing matters because it not only helps us get the...

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