International design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman recently announced the publication of its 2017 Survey on The State of Senior Living: âAn Industry in Transition.â For this, the third in a series of industry surveys conducted by Perkins Eastman Research, led by Associate and Senior Design Researcher Emily Chmielewski EDAC, nearly 200 respondents from mostly not-for-profit life plan communities share their expertise and insights on five key issues that âkeep them up at nightâ: Baby Boomer expectations, healthcare reform, staff recruitment and retention, for-profit competitive growth, and the needs of middle-income residents.
Some of the respondentsâ feedback for âAn Industry in Transitionâ was recorded at the 2016 LeadingAge Conference in Indianapolis, conducted at Perkins Eastmanâs exhibition booth, in which a random sampling of senior living providersâmostly from the not-for-profit sectorâvolunteered to answer an on-the-spot survey question about the key issues facing the industry.
Further survey results and feedback revealed that, among the key focus areas being examined, staff recruitment and retention was the #1 concern among respondents. On this topic, many of those surveyed expressed unease toward how wages significantly outpaced job empowerment, benefits, and/or training, while as many as one in three respondents cited recent improvements in recruitment and retention with the help of job role empowerment interventions. Boomer expectations and healthcare reform were close seconds in terms of respondentsâ chief concerns for their respective communities and the industry at large going forward.
The first two State of Senior Living surveys conducted by Perkins Eastman Research were published in 2009/10, in the immediate wake of the Great Recession, and in 2015, which was sub-titled âAn Industry Poised for Change.â The reason for the relatively brief turnaround time between the second and third surveys has to do strategic alliances, in particular the expressed importance of partnering with healthcare providers. According to the Surveyâs authors, âOur 2015 survey saw a remarkable gap between the current alignment with healthcare systems (29% had no relationship) and their belief that an alignment was in the future (74%). What a difference two years makes! Models involving strategic alliance, partnerships and primary referrals all saw significant growthâ during this time.
As a rapidly aging Boomer population reevaluates its priorities going forward, and senior living models readjust to accommodate greater demand for everything from urban settings and intergenerational apartment environments to a la carte services for middle-income residents, the 2017 surveyâs findings strongly indicate that strategic partnerships with healthcare systems is on the increase industry-wide. âGiven some of the shifts in concerns and priorities, we believe [this latest] survey does speak for an industry already in transition and not just poised for change.âÂ
âAn Industry in Transitionâ is available for free download here.
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