Elder Friendly Partnership

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Elder Friendly Partnership
Good For Consumers. GREAT For Business! www.elder
friendlypartnership.org
Presented byVicki Dalle Molle and Stacie
Baertsch
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About Elder Friendly Business Certification
(EFBC)

• Developed by Elders in Action, an East Multnomah
  County, Oregon, nonprofit advocacy organization,
  in 1993. It was expanded and made available for
  national use in 1999. Fifteen cities in 9 states
  have adopted the program.
• Program mission is to help businesses better
  serve older adults. In Olmsted County people with
  disabilities are included as a target population
  for the Elder Friendly Certification Program.

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About EFBC (cont.)

• EFBC assessment identifies and provides ways to
  improve the accessibility, customer service and
  layout of local businesses to attract and
  acknowledge older and disabled consumers.
• Once certified Elder Friendly, businesses will be
  able to display the Elder Friendly decal, which
  proves to existing and future customers that they
  come first. In Olmsted County, those consumers
  include seniors and people with disabilities.

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ELDER FRIENDLY PARTNERSHIP

• The Elder Friendly Business Certification program
  is available in Olmsted County through the Elder
  Friendly Partnership.
• The partnership is a collaboration of Senior
  Citizens Services, Inc. (Rochester Senior
  Center), Southeastern Minnesota Center for
  Independent Living (SEMCIL), the Southeast
  Minnesota Area Agency on Aging (SEMAAA), and the
  Olmsted County Vital Aging Commission (VAC). 
• The Rochester Senior Center and SEMCIL serve as
  the principal partners on the project. 
• The program is being piloted in Olmsted County
  and may expand to neighboring counties in
  Southeastern Minnesota.

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• WHY
• Elder Friendly?

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ELDER FRIENDLY PARTNERSHIP

• Senior citizens frequently have mobility or other
  impairments which make access to buildings and
  services difficult.  People with disabilities
  routinely encounter a multitude of barriers in
  the community. 
• These consumers constitute a large part of the
  sales revenue for retail and other business
  services. 
• As this population continues to grow, wise
  business owners will want to improve access to
  their business and services.
• Smart Business Elder Friendly!

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ELDER FRIENDLY PARTNERSHIP
The certification program benefits older adults
and people with disabilities by

• Promoting independent living.
• Empowering older and disabled volunteers.
• Promoting relationships between senior and
  disability services and local businesses.
• Identifying businesses that have met Elder
  Friendly standards.

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The certification program benefits businesses by
ELDER FRIENDLY PARTNERSHIP

• Increasing their bottom line.
• Providing opportunities to positively improve
  customer service.
• Providing a competitive advantage to businesses
  positioning themselves to target a growing
  demographic.
• Helping businesses to establish reputation for
  valuing older and disabled customers.
• Advertises the business within the aging and
  disability services community.
• Provides Educational Tip Sheets for employee
  training.

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• HOW ARE BUSINESSES EVALUATED?
• Trained seniors and volunteers with disabilities
  will anonymously evaluate interested area
  businesses based on the following categories
• Access to the Site By Phone
• Physical Access to the Site
• Layout of the Site
• Customer Services
• Website

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Why Should Businesses Care?
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Businesses are taking steps to better serve older
customers and individuals with disabilities.

• Many large chain stores provide motorized
  shopping carts for their customers.
• Seating in locations where people wait, such as
  the pharmacy or for transportation.
• Personal shoppers obtain requested products, then
  provide home delivery.
• Non-glare, non-skid floor surfaces.
• Price tags are made in larger print.
• Training employees on how to work with older
  customers and individuals with disabilities.
• Large print, clear contrast directional signage
  to assist with readability.
• Parking for individuals with limited mobility in
  addition to handicap parking.

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• Based on information from the Washington Business
  Group on Health, Americas aged 50 have
  tremendous consumer power.

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The following statistics illustrate clearly that
the 50 consumer market is worth caring about.

• Spend over 800 billion a year
• Constitute 42 of all consumer demand
• Have half of all discretionary income
• 77 of all financial assets
• Purchase 25 of all toys
• Spend more at grocery stores per person
• Purchase the most over the counter drugs
• Spend the most on personal care items

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Fact Sheet

• Nearly one of every six Minnesotans (15.8) has
  at least one kind of disability, according to
  data from the 2000 U.S. census.

As reported by MSCOD
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• According to the 2000 US Census, the statewide
  average of Minnesotans age 65 and was just over
  twelve percent. (12.1)

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Fact Sheet 65 years and older
13.9
40.4
27.8
21.1
10.5
10.9
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Elder Friendly Partnership

• Good For Consumers
• GREAT For Business!

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Visit our website www.elderfriendlypartnership.org
Phone [phone]