Aging in Place Gains Momentum in the Seniors Home Care Industry
Residents often prefer to stay in their home regions versus moving to another part of the country.
Not all seniors are moving south to retire, and many aren’t lining up to enter their nearby seniors care facilities.
David Banta, Senior Living Practice Leader, Partner, BKV Group, tells GlobeSt.com that he is seeing a trend of people staying closer to home around old-growth Eastern cities as potential residents are more likely to stay in the region where they currently live versus moving to another part of the country.
In the DC Metro and Mid-Atlantic area, he said that demand has remained high despite numerous new communities coming online and the challenges of longer entitlement processes and regulatory requirements.
“Somewhat because of these regulatory requirements, we are seeing an uptick in our developer clients in these geographic areas, looking to repurpose existing buildings of all types to shorten the approval timeline,” Banta said.
“Aging in Place” (AIP) is part of that theme, Doug King, Healthcare Vice President Emeritus at Project Management Advisors, tells GlobeSt.com.
He calls it an interesting conundrum when looking at the high demand for senior housing next to the AIP trend that’s been picking up speed in recent years.
“New technology — including advancements in telemetry and telemedicine, updated design models for accessible showers and bathrooms and growing knowledge and application of design features with promote aging in place — has created opportunities for them to stay in their long-time residences for much longer than previously possible,” according to King.
He said that New York state has in place an AIP initiative that works with buildings to assess and finance in-unit and building-wide modifications to better enable senior residents to maintain safe, independent lives.
“At the same time, there is a growing interest in the healthcare provider community for developing capabilities to treat patients within their homes up to an ICU level of care,” King said.
“Insurance companies are supporting this trend, which has been bolstered by the COVID-era adoption of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) waiver program, which enabled hospitals and health systems to be reimbursed for providing hospital-level care within private residences.
“Yet, despite these trends and advancements designed to help more seniors stay put as they age (which has, interestingly enough, created a shortage of single-family homes for younger adults and families), demand for senior housing remains at a steady increase given the sheer number of Baby Boomers who are reaching retirement age every day,” he said.
“Many older adults have lower incomes, which prices them out of the ability to modify and stay within their longtime homes.”