The baby boomers are here. The question is whether senior living operators are ready for them.
Comparing the senior living industry to the Titanic heading toward the iceberg, International Council on Active Aging CEO Colin Milner said Wednesday during a webinar on transforming senior living that people talk about and see the challenges coming, but they don’t do anything about it.
Perception, Milner said, is one of senior living’s greater challenges. And the baby boomers are challenging the senior living model as it exists today.
“Perception is killing us,” Milner said. “As we move forward, we need to look at how we become relevant to the boomer and older adults, in general. We need to change senior living — we need to look at it overall.”
It’s no secret that length of stay across the senior living industry has decreased in the past four years, driven by higher-needs residents and older adults waiting longer to enter communities than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Milner said. The way to increase that length of stay, he added, is to help people remain healthier longer. Research shows that individuals will remain in a community 2.6 years longer if they are healthy, he said.
Meeting the demand for autonomous living
One of the greatest wants boomers are bringing to senior living is the desire for autonomous living — being able to do the things they want to do when they want and with whom they want — Milner said. For senior living providers, he said, that means helping residents age well and be healthy by focusing on lifestyle. Some 70% of boomers said they would prefer to feel healthier rather than live longer, he said, citing a consumer trends report from The New Consumer.
Looking at the variety of communities that are emerging — featuring multiple generations, serving the middle market, highlighting dementia villages, being located near a university or college, catering to the LGBTQ population, featuring pocket neighborhoods or themes, focusing on luxury, or stressing communal living — Milner said that the industry is trying to find a solution by growing from the typical model.
“Today, aging is different than it was previously,” Milner said. “The question is are we ready for it? When you have consumers coming in, not seeing themselves as old, the way we program and deliver things needs to change.”
Over the past 60 years, the average life expectancy has continued to grow, he pointed out. The challenge, Milner said, is that health span — improving health and well-being — has not kept pace. Although people are fitter and healthier, most have some form of chronic health issue, he said, adding that the issue may not slow people down, but it means that many will spend 50% of their life in moderate to poor health.
“We’re in the middle of a health span revolution,” Milner said. “How do we help people to earn their health span? The way we do it is through a wellness model.”
This spring, ICAA released a report revealing that senior living executives recognize the need to deliver services for active adults as well as those with physical limitations. That realization, Milner said, led to the development of wellness centers and upgraded community centers as well as a wider scope of program and activity offerings.
Opening the doors
Milner said that the senior living industry needs to change the perceptions of people who are embracing aging in place by repositioning the way the services are delivered.
One way some senior living communities have changed their service delivery, he said, is by opening their doors to the surrounding greater community. From providing access to state-of-the-art wellness centers to offering events and activities, inviting the greater community into senior living communities creates diverse opportunities for revenue generation and community enrichment, Milner said.
Active Wellness, a fitness management company, for example, has worked with some senior living communities to create wellness hubs geared toward health span and longevity, along with expertise in fitness, he said. The studio model is embedded in the senior living community, but it is open to the greater community through memberships.
Active Wellness Chief Operations Officer Michele Wong said during the webinar that the model can help senior living communities generate revenue by offering memberships to individuals in the surrounding community. She said it’s also an opportunity to bring members of a younger demographic into an intergenerational space to educate a new generation about the benefits of living in a senior living community focused on wellness.
