Summary of senior living trend takeaways:
Even though summer is a slower season for industry events, senior living is still buzzing with change. Here, we recap some of the key trends and conversations that emerged from the summer conference season, and what they mean for the industry in the final quarter of the year and beyond.
Senior living is at a powerful inflection point. Healthcare and hospitality are converging; communities are expected to not only offer clinical care, but a personalized lifestyle centered around holistic wellness.
The recent NIC Conference in Austin reinforced this senior living trend. Many of the operators at the conference shared a common strategy: gain a greater understanding of the incoming generation of senior living residents and family members, and adapt to serve them. While new senior housing development has stalled, operators have shifted their focus to refreshing services, modernizing lifestyle experiences, and testing adjacent models to meet expectations that differ from prior generations.
Despite being limited in development opportunities, business growth is available—but it won’t be evenly distributed. The edge goes to teams that read demand early and adjust offerings and messaging quickly.
A growing body of research supports that proactive care, including catching signs of isolation and cognitive decline early, improves quality of life while lowering healthcare costs. By 2030, it’s predicted that nearly every Medicare beneficiary will be in a value-based care arrangement; a shift that will require tighter alignment among providers, operators, and residents.
This development was highlighted at Accushield’s Value-Based Care Workshop in Atlanta, where LifeLoop CEO, Rob Fisher, hosted a session alongside Stephanie Boreale (SVP of Health Strategy & Wellness at Watermark Retirement Communities), Chris Hyatt (CEO of New Perspective), and John Shafaee (Founder and CEO of ALIS). The conversation centered around the connection between social wellness and value-based care goals, examining how social determinants of health directly impact clinical and operational outcomes. Social interventions can help prevent isolation and reduce the risk of health issues ranging from heart disease to depression, while potentially delaying cognitive decline.
Workshop sessions and discussions amongst over 100 senior living leaders in attendance affirmed a clear takeaway: senior living communities can no longer afford to operate in parallel to the healthcare system; they must be a key player within it. By embedding proactive engagement and wellness into daily operations, operators can generate meaningful social return on investment and tangible resident wellness.
While we’re still in the early stages of linking health outcomes with healthcare savings through value-based care models, senior living leaders are keen to demonstrate the ROI of their strategic initiatives; in particular, when it comes to technology.
A couple of recent industry reports clarified executives’ sentiments around new technology adoption: the Argentum Technology Report found that 74% of respondents citing lack of demonstrable ROI as the biggest barrier to adopting new technology, while the LeadingAge CAST/Ziegler CTO Hotline Survey found that operational efficiency is the main motivator behind new technology initiatives.
To justify investment, leaders are looking for ways to demonstrate that technology saves time and improves business outcomes. Our Principal Researcher, Lydia Nguyen, PhD, highlighted these objectives in her talk at Center for Innovation. She framed the current reality that senior living teams face, where administrative overload leads to staff burnout and turnover. At the same time, there’s growing demand for personalized, high-quality care. To meet these expectations while supporting staff, Lydia cited practical ways that technology can remove friction from workflows and give time back for connection.
When communities adopt technology that improves operational efficiencies, the ROI becomes clear. As staffing shortages continue to strain senior living teams, operators will increasingly benefit from technology that save staff time and help them deliver better care.
The operators and industry providers making the most progress share a common mindset: be proactive. At the community level, that means systems that enable teams to spot risks early and personalize experiences at scale. At the enterprise level, it means choosing partners who innovate to meet not just today’s needs, but tomorrow’s desires.
Senior living is a marathon, not a sprint. Through well-woven partnership and thoughtful innovation, together we can power a new era of aging where we don’t just react to sickness, but proactively ignite purpose, passion, and joy.
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