Creating An Online Community For Caregivers

Background:  There are 42.1 million people in the U.S. who are caregivers for their aging relatives and friends, spending hours upon hours every week providing an estimated $450 billion worth of care. Yet despite their numbers, many caregivers often feel isolated and frustrated.   They often see themselves as “just” daughters or friends helping their loved ones. They don’t realize they are part of a larger caregiving community, and that there are information and resources developed specifically for them. 

Program background: As the leading association for those 50+, AARP is on a mission to raise awareness among caregivers that there is a community and resources available to help them better care for themselves and the ones they love. 

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Ms. Bradley will discuss the results of how AARP developed and nourished this community both online and through social media, including:

• Identifying deep, rich target insights and what this means for your community
• Developing a comprehensive strategy to shape your community communications
• Learning from your community to continue to refine your approach
• Measuring the effectiveness of your community and determining success

Ms. Bradley will use cross-platform examples to help illustrate these lessons, including: website, mobile, tablet, Facebook and Twitter.

Conclusions:  Ms. Bradley will discuss how why creating an online community was important to communicating with AARP's target audience of caregivers, many of whom are too busy to connect and support each other offline.

Implications for research and/or practice: Ms. Bradley will provide a better understanding of how leveraging digital communities can engage and ultimately impact an audience's attitudes and behaviors.