Building the Future of Senior Living

Posted by Donna Mae Scheib on September 20, 2017

Building the Future of Senior Living

By 2025, Americans over the age of 65 are projected to be around 63 million in number, and nearly 8 million of these seniors will be over the age of 85 (Perkins, Hoglund, & Perkins Eastman Architects, 2013). This age group is the fastest growing demographic in the United States. Internationally, there is a similar trend with more and more of the world’s population stretching into increased ages as people, on average, are living longer. China, for example, is predicted to have around 436 million seniors at the age of 60 and above by 2050. As we look into the future, the importance of providing affordable and sustainable living care for seniors is a prevalent part of our society and should not be ignored. Let’s take a look at some popular senior living trends to consider when building, renovating or expanding senior living facilities.

What Choices are You Offering Your Residents?

Recognizing the diversity of the U.S. population, as well as the desire for seniors to still remain independent as possible even in a senior living facility, revolves around the choices that are available within the facility (Perkins, Hoglund & Perkins Eastman Architects, 2013). These choices include those related to a range of daily living tasks and activities that allow senior residents the freedom to choose how they interact with their new home and senior living community. Here are some examples of choices that could offer this freedom:

• Activities: Include a range of activities that allows a variety of choices for every senior member if they choose to participate. Consider your location and surroundings—Are there specific ethnicities or cultural norms to include in what activities you offer?
• Dining: Having multiple options for meal choices throughout the day or an a la carte menu available in your dining facility gives residents many choices for meals. Consider having a themed “build it yourself” meal choice where a “taco bar,” “salad bar”, etc. is available once a week for an individualized meal choice.
• Supportive Features of Living Amenities: Toilets, showers, kitchen, hallways—provide anything you can think of that has supportive features for residents and that helps them to live independently or offers them the choice of whether to ask for assistance or not.

What Will Your Senior Living Community Value as Residents?

A key part of marketing your senior living facility is to know your consumer. What will your residents and their families most value about your housing and your community?

• Privacy: Statistics have shown that most older Americans, when searching for senior housing, would prefer a smaller, more private room over sharing a larger room with a roommate.
• Comfort: Create the atmosphere of hospitality in your residential community. When developing future building plans, remember that small and cozy is more comforting to seniors than residing in a great “institution.”
• Mental Health and Wellness: Be aware of seniors’ mental and physical health needs. Offering well-designed walking paths, a variety of exercise classes, and a positive attitude promoting health and wellness throughout the senior living community is an attractive feature of your facility.
• Learning Opportunities: Your residents will value the opportunities to flourish intellectually. Hold seminars and open-forum discussions, and create partnerships with local community colleges and universities to offer different courses.
• Vibrant interaction with the outer community: Entering into senior living is a hard decision and many feel as if they will be isolated from friends, family, and their community. Give your senior residents a chance to interact with all generations and to attend functions and events within your city or rural area. Partner with a volunteer group to give the opportunity for seniors to find value and camaraderie in giving back to their city.

Though there are many considerations for creating a thriving environment for your senior living facility, building lasting relationships with your residents and their families will be a huge source of positive associations with your senior living community. Embrace the diversity of the seniors and staff, think about the future by developing solutions to accommodate an aging population, and consider what would be most important to you when looking for senior living housing!

Resource

Perkins, L., Hoglund, D., & Perkins Eastman Architects. (2013). Building type basics for senior living (Second edition. ed., Building type basics). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

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