Dealing With Alzheimer's And Dementia In Our Industry

The issue of elderly care in our country is one which is growing and pressing. We’re all living longer, which means extended health care needs and a more varied range too. But it’s the care of our older generations which is taking centre stage in the headlines right now, and for good reason. There are many improvements required, higher levels of investment needed, and new thinking in how social care and the NHS work together.

The UK glazing industry has some responsibility when it comes to dealing with the elderly, specifically the B2C side of the sector, where installers are selling direct to home owners. I’m not sure if there are national codes of practise or legislation when it comes to installers selling to elderly home owners, it’s something I need to research. But if there isn’t, then there needs to be.

My experiences

In the past few months I have come across home owners that are dealing with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Either in elderly couples where one of the two is suffering from the disease, or a single home owner where another family member has been present. I would say that I am now seeing people suffering from these conditions more than I ever have done in my 12 years of sales. And it’s upsetting to see.

In the past few weeks I have seen three couples where either the husband or the wife has been suffering from the conditions. Some worse than others, but all showing the signs. As people, they are perfectly OK to talk to, but you know that what you’re saying will soon be forgotten. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated in any way less than you normally would. You’re still in their home, they deserve the same respect and courtesy a professional sales person should always give.

When there is a couple where the other member of that partnership is able to care for the other person, when it comes to sales, there is some level of protection against rogue sales people who may try to exploit or simply be ignorant of the situation in front of them. It is those who are living at home who may be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s that may be most at risk.

For example, I met a lovely old lady just a few weeks ago who had just downsized to a small bungalow. She wanted all her windows and doors replacing. So we spent a nice hour and a half talking through the options, looking at the work required, showing her the product options that would tick her boxes. She was on her own, and she did say that she was beginning to forget things. However, on the surface she still looked sharp as a tack to me. She had a long background in the construction industry, so I was able to go into some quite detailed things with her and we were able to talk about those detailed points quite easily. A great appointment all round. I left to go put her quote together and I said that I’d drop it off on my way home before the end of the week, and she said that was fine. So a few days later on my way home I knock at her door to drop the quote off. Unfortunately she had no idea who I was. I had to explain who I was again, when I came to see her, and what I was doing at the door. Something clicked at that point and she told me to come in to go through the quote with her. Sadly she continued to be confused. She thought I had already give her a quote, then she thought I had been earlier on in the day. It was clear that she was suffering some early stages of a physiological problem.

On my second visit to this lady one of her granddaughters was present. And it got me thinking, if this lady had been at home on her own, it would have been very easy for a less than honest sales person to take advantage of her situation to engineer a sale out of her. It would have been completely inappropriate. For me, I would not have signed this person up without another family member being present. This other family member would be briefed completely on the contract, on what work is proposed, and only then, once both parties are happy and the relative is confident, then I would sign her up. Protection for all parties and a safe way to do business for the home owner.

Official guidelines

Sales within our industry to those suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia is something I want to look into much more. With a growing elderly population this is an issue that is only going to grow and become more and more important.

I am not sure if there are any guidelines that exist specifically within UK glazing when it comes to dealing with the elderly and those suffering from mental health issues, but if there isn’t, there absolutely should be.

In 2016, you may remember the video that went viral of a sales person being confronted in the home of an elderly lady by her son who said he had mis-sold her two new entrance doors when a repair to her existing front door would have been sufficient. If you don’t, you can catch up on that post here.

What it demonstrated is the need for our industry to truly to get to grips with how we go about selling to the elderly and with those struggling with mental illnesses. In response to the video, Zenith stated that there was an internal policy when dealing with the old and vulnerable, not that I’ve seen it.

What I am calling for though is official tough guidelines for our industry that every single company selling home improvement works to home owners have to abide by. If there is already, then I don’t think they’re strong enough. I don’t see anything in place which could actually prohibit dishonest sales people from taking advantage of vulnerable people.

This is an issue that I believe will become more and more important to us as an industry in the coming years. In fact I’m surprised that it doesn’t seem to be much of an issue already. I may reach out to charities and organisations dealing with Alzheimer’s and Dementia to help shed more light on this issue. There is much mileage in this issue, both for home owners and us as a sector. I want to explore the ways in which we can improve our dealings with the elderly and vulnerable, and see how much of a problem there might be already.

Your experiences and thoughts on this issue are very welcome via the comments section below.