Statistics and Trends

STATISTICS AND TRENDS BY VIEWPOINT

Consumer Perspectives

  • Eight of every ten adults ages 45+ and nine of every ten adults 65+ plan to stay in their current homes as long as they possibly can. This suggests that the agingin- place model will remain strong (AARP, 2010).
  • At least 70% of people over the age of 65 will require some amount of long-term care with more than 40% needing care in a nursing home (U.S. Department of Human Services, 2010).
  • Residents of age-qualified communities with added special advantages such as organized transportation, communal meals and social activities report a 90% satisfaction rating about the communities in which they live (National Association of Home Builders and the MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2011).
  • 90% of Americans 65+ have already integrated two key elements of comfortable aging and living into their homes. 82% have a full bath on the main level of their homes and 81% either have a bedroom on the main floor or room that could be converted into one in the event that they become injured or would prefer to live on the main level (AARP, 2011).
  • 95% of builders reported that at least some of the customers buying in 55+ communities are resistant to accessibility features in the homes they built, and 5% reported that most are resistant (MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2009).
  • 70% of builders reported that some of their 55+ buyers are willing to pay extra for technology options and upgrades, 26% reported most of their 55+ buyers are willing to pay extra, and only 4% reported that none of their 55+ buyers would

pay extra (MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2009).

  • Residents in all types of senior living facilities are likely to want more choices in lifestyle enhancements and socializing opportunities and fewer restrictions on schedules and rules (Progressive Retirement Lifestyles, 2011).

In-home Care and Independent Living

  • Technology that allows people to age-in-place will be popular. Incorporating some of the ‘stay-at-home’ technology into the senior community is advisable (Progressive Retirement Lifestyles, 2011).
  • An estimated 7.6 million people in the U.S. receive home health care (National Association for Home Care & Hospice, 2008) and one-third of U.S. households have at least one unpaid family medical caregiver present (National Alliance for

Caregiving, 2009).

  • 85% of seniors will require some kind of in-home caregiving services at some point in their lives (SeniorCare Marketer, 2011).
  • 84% of the long-term-care hours needed by the senior population are provided by unpaid caregivers (Paying for Senior Care, 2011).
  • 6.3% of Americans over age 60 live with a younger relative (Paying for Senior Care, 2011).
  • After age 65, an American has more than a 70% chance of needing help with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as dressing, bathing and using the bathroom (American Society on Aging, 2010).
  • 30% of caregivers caring for family members are themselves 65 or over; 15% are 45–54 years of age (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010).
  • 78% of people in the U.S. who receive care at home get all their care from unpaid family members and friends; 14% receive care from a combination of family and paid assistance; 8% rely on formal care alone (Thompson, L., Long-

Term Care: Support for Family Caregivers. Long-Term Financing Project, 2010).

  • 79% of people who need long-term care live at home or in community settings (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,    2010).

Assisted Living Facilities

  • Assisted living facilities are offering higher levels of care to attract residents with heavier care needs and beginning to parallel the services offered by nursing homes. This raises the possibility of more government regulations, therefore

decreasing the facility administrator’s flexibility in providing a consumer-driven product and service. Costs would likely increase (Progressive Retirement Lifestyles, 2011).

  • The average age of people in assisted living facilities is 86. On average, most residents are white females (Art Carr, Progressive Retirement Lifestyles, 2011).
  • People are waiting until they are older and in more need before considering assisted living and expressing to facility administrators that they want this to be the last move they make. Assisted living facilities are making an effort to develop

relationships with home health care service companies and hospice agencies to address that desire (Brenda Roberts, Director of Quality Assurance, Michigan Assisted Living Association, 2011).

  • The facilities with smaller campuses are bringing in services like home health are, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, pharmacies, and hospice to provide on-site support to the residents (Brenda Roberts, Director of Quality Assurance,

Michigan Assisted Living Association, 2011).

  • Assisted living has become more popular because adult children need support caring for their senior parents in the form of meals, medications, mobility, and socialization (BJ Burns, Director of Marketing, The Arbor Company, 2011).
  • The government has begun to recognize the role of assisted living in supporting senior health by delegating Medicaid dollars through a waiver program to help seniors pay for care (Brenda Roberts, Director of Quality Assurance, Michigan

Assisted Living Association, 2011).

Nursing Homes/Skilled Nursing Homes

  • Nursing homes have decreased in number because of the rapid development of alternatives: assisted living, independent living, homemaker services, and home health aides (Progressive Retirement Lifestyles, 2011).
  • Over 90% of institutionalized seniors live in nursing homes, making this the most common institutional setting for seniors (U.S. Census Data, 2010).
  • In approximately 30 states, the “Money Follows the Person” program is attempting to transition about 34,000 Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities who have been in institutional or other long-term care to community-based care in

homes, apartments or group homes between 2007 – 2011. (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2009)

Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC)

  • There are currently 1,861 CCRCs in the United States (Ziegler Capital Markets, 2009).
  • The number of older adults living in CCRCs has more than doubled from 350,000 in 1997 (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 1997) to 745,000 in 2007 (Tumlinson, A., Woods, S., & Avalere Health, LLC, January 2007).
  • Major downturns in the U.S. economy in two key segments, housing and the credit market, have increased pressure on the financial condition of the CCRC industry. Specifically, declining housing prices have slowed the pace at which

seniors may feel comfortable selling their homes and moving into retirement facilities (United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, 2010).

© 2013 Society of Certified Senior Advisors

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