Emerging Trends in the Senior Living Industry

Some changes were already underway within the senior living industry and many more have been added as a direct result of the pandemic. In this Learning Bites episode, Matt Del Vecchio, owner of Lianas Services Retirement Home Search and Transition Support, joins us to discuss some of the trends currently underway.

Here is our discussion;

These are some of the highlights of our conversation;

What is senior living / senior housing?

• There are three categories within the senior living housing industry. They are;

  • Independent living

  • Assisted living

  • Long Term Care

• During the pandemic, the independent living and assisted living managed quite well during this time. Where there were major problems and significant deaths was in the long term care sector

Emerging Trends

• As a result of the experience of the pandemic, infection control within all the senior housing facilities has substantially improved. PPE, visitation policies, infection control procedures have all improved. For example, the flu season was almost non existent this year due to the improved infection control measures

• In long term care, the level of care is improving but we still have a long way to go. The staff to resident ratios are slowly increasing as a result of increased focus and investments

  • Interesting to note that COVID was not the cause of these issues. In fact COVID was the trigger to identify to the general public that in long term case we have many exposures and a great deal of work to do 

Increasing Demand Due to an Aging Population

• There will be a supply / demand gap as the population ages however independent living and assisted living are primarily private industry based and they are building residences and growing their inventory

• However long term care is primarily government funded and will require a great deal of investment and money and as the population needs grow we will need a great deal more long term care and home care support. This will likely be more challenging

Use of Technology

• Virtual meetings with family members, loved ones has increased substantially due to COVID. As well, smart speakers (ie Alexa) has also increased. 

• Anticipate that as time goes on and the acceptance of technologies by those who will need these services in the future this will only increase

The Opportunities and Risks

• Baby boomers are aging and are also trend setters. They are also not going to accept the status quo. As a result, they will push the boundaries of what they want and will accept from the senior living industry

• Over the next twenty years there will be an increase of 50% of those individuals 65 years of age and over. This is an incredible wave of people aging that will likely require some care at some point. If we are relying on government to provide this support, there is some risk as the amount of money and resources is going to be substantial

• Baby boomers are starting to advocate for better care and this will need to continue in order to ensure that the changes that are needed are done