My friend Bob Kramer likes to go on stage and talk about how seniors housing is about to get disrupted in a major way, and that if you don’t change, you will be “disrupted” out of business. Pretty harsh words, but he is most likely talking about the top 10% of the market, the market that most everyone likes to target.
His point is that people are living longer and in better health, and he calls it purposeful longevity as opposed to accidental longevity of the past. They want to contribute to their community as opposed to simply take from it. As part of that, Bob believes seniors housing communities need to provide a sense of purpose to their residents, adding life to their years, not years to their life. It is more than just keeping them clean, safe, fed, and toileted until they die. And he questions whether these services represent a good value proposition.
One problem I have is that a “purposeful” life is going to be different for everyone, so how do you deal with 100 different purposes in a community? And not just that, how do you staff for that, and train them to help people attain purposeful lives? And….you still need to keep them clean, safe, fed and toileted, among other services.
The other issue I have is that seniors can have a purposeful life without moving into your community, staying in their own residence, which is often the main competition to seniors housing. It still seems to me one of the key benefits of seniors housing is enhanced socialization. Having a purposeful life is the cherry on top.
I don’t think this lack of a purposeful life in seniors housing is why occupancy has taken so long to rebound, even with the lowest level of development in more than 10 years. Something else is going on, and at some point it will have an impact on values and demand. One thing that Bob and I agree on, with our combined 75 years in seniors housing, is that change is coming. Who will adapt, and how, will be fun to see.
