Austin Mongtomery, reporter for Senior Housing News, sheds light on what it will take to meet the rapid demand of memory care to serve seniors fully. He writes, “All signs point toward the rapid growth of demand for memory care in the coming years. To meet the market, providers must pursue transformation and innovation while addressing daunting challenges related to issues such as staffing and supply constraints.
As it stands, an estimated 6.7 million older adults 65 and older in the U.S. live with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. By 2050, that number is projected to double to 12.7 million.
At the same time, the senior living industry is grappling with hiring new workers to help provide the intensive care that memory care requires. By 2030, an additional 1.2 million additional care workers will be needed to care for the growing population of people living with dementia, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor.
Meanwhile, the memory care sector is still recovering, having been rocked first by a period of oversupply and then the shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the evolution of technology and medications, as well as the continued rise of value-based care, mean that the old ways of doing business no longer suffice.
A nod to Lifespark in this article as an example of how providers that offer memory care are harnessing technology, along with more robust models of integrated care, to make value-based care plays.
