Uncovering barriers to choosing assisted living
Bait Ba'lev
Case Study
BACKGROUND
Bait Ba’lev is one of the largest players in Israel’s assisted living market. It’s a subsidiary of the second largest HMO in the country. They, like others in this space, see an interesting phenomenon - while their residents show high rates of satisfaction, only 12% of eligible customers end up choosing to move to an assisted living facility.
NEED
Executives at Bait Ba’lev wanted to better understand why so many potential customers end up choosing a different solution for their post-retirement life. More specifically, they wanted to know what are the underlying psychological barriers that prevent people from taking this step.
METHODOLOGY
We developed a mixed methods methodology that combined: 30 interviews, 20 observations in people’s homes and social gatherings, and a large sample survey aimed at quantifying findings. This large scale methodology enabled us to not only find commonalities between various customer profiles and locate the most common barriers, but also to identify specific segments with unique narratives.
DELIVERABLE
The research report, which was presented to various stakeholders throughout the organization, included three main parts: a detailed description of the key barriers that customers face when considering the option of assisted living, an overarching narrative of the needs and motivations of elderly people, and a list of recommendations for both the marketing and the service itself.
OUTCOMES
Practical outcomes included: changes to marketing messages, a relaxing of house guidelines, an addition of new activities etc. Fundamental outcomes included a core shift in how the organization views current and potential residents, thus leading to a fundamental reframing of the role that assisted living plays in an elderly person’s life.
“The project brought clarity. We now have the language to describe what we see, the confidence to make evidence-based decisions, and the tools to have smarter conversations about barriers with our facility managers. I still refer back to the research documents, they continue to provide answers as new questions arise.”
Mazi Oren, Deputy CEO, Bait Ba'lev
Images by: Context, Bait Ba'lev