The memory care segment in continuing care retirement / life plan communities has been steadily growing over the past decade, answering a “clear need” from its resident base, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
Given recent trends and momentum, the number of memory care units in CCRCs is expected to increase over the next several years to meet the growing demand of the baby boomer population, Lisa McCracken, head of NIC’s research and analytics team, wrote in a recent blog post. That growth will require changes of operators, she said.
In the second quarter of 2014, approximately 3% of total CCRC units were devoted to memory care, according to NIC. By the second quarter of 2024, that amount was 4.2%. The total number of memory care units within CCRCs grew by 1.4% in the past year alone, compared with 1.9% growth in memory care units across non-CCRC communities. McCracken called that “meaningful growth.”
“Although memory care units within [CCRCs] represent only 4.2% of the total units, they play a meaningful role in the housing and care continuum for older adults,” McCracken wrote. “This growth in a community’s physical footprint must be accompanied by intentional design elements, robust workforce training and innovating programming that is supportive of the unique needs of this population.”
The reasons for the growth of memory care units can be attributed to several factors, including the growing population of older adults with cognitive impairment. Another contributing factor is the downsizing of the skilled nursing footprint within CCRCs, resulting in providers repositioning the former SNF space for other uses. In most cases, McCracken said, the added memory care is licensed as assisted living memory care rather than as a skilled nursing memory care unit.
From the second quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2024, the total number of skilled nursing units within CCRCs fell by 1.8%. McCracken noted that this decrease is on top of SNFs downsizing or even closing in recent years.
Occupancy for memory care units also is growing. As of the second quarter, CCRC memory care occupancy was 89.7% — 3.7% higher than a year ago — compared with 85.1% memory care occupancy for non-CCRCs, which increased 2.7% from last year, according to NIC. Memory care occupancy for entrance-fee CCRCs was 90.3% in the second quarter, and it was 88.9% for rental CCRCs.
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics states that 44% of assisted living residents had diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia as of 2022.
According to the National Center for Assisted Living, 18% of assisted living communities provide Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia-specific programs in a dementia care unit, wing or designated floor. And 11% of assisted living communities only serve adults with dementia.
