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Today’s Senior Living Communities Are Not Your Grandma’s ‘Old Folks’ Home’: An Expert Guide to Shopping for the Right Fit

  • Jan 28, 2026
  • Meaghan Puglisi
  • 1-min Read

Senior living facilities have improved over the years and are as diverse as the people who inhabit them. Now, they’re more than just a place to go — they’re a place to grow. That’s what Lifespark CEO Joel Theisen shared in a piece he wrote in Kiplinger.

In my hometown, everybody called it the “old folks’ home.” It’s where my aunt worked long ago, and I used to tag along as a boy because I liked the people who lived there.

In the old folks’ home, ageist as that term is, people had roommates and ate community meals and maybe joined a weekly bingo game for entertainment.

Oh, how times have changed.

Four decades later, I’m an adult, and shopping for a new place for my mom, 85, and my dad, 87, to live was a stark reminder of just how much housing for older people has changed. The old folks’ home? Maybe it’s still out there, but it’s definitely not the norm.

The good news is, the marketplace has been transformed in a way that gives older people unprecedented choice over their style of living.

As a licensed nurse and CEO of a complete senior health company serving 5,500 people each day in their homes and in over 45 senior living communities, I know something about how senior living has improved over the years — and how to look for the best fit for you.

Read on for what his tips are in the latest issue of Kiplinger…

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