Any industry can be qualified on how open it is to the rest of the economy, how easy it is to access decision makers and understand the underlying rules, vocabulary and how it functions.

When looking at the confined spaces that our retirement communities are, one could assume that the senior care industry is quite closed up – which is true on some aspects, especially for residents – but less true when it comes to doing business with the actual entities that manage these facilities.

What makes an industry accessible is the amount of opportunity there are to actually meet, learn and network from the people that work in it. These opportunities are often created by an organization that sees value in doing so; either to promote certain ideas, generate value or drive business.

The Washington DC metro area is lucky to have some of the best organization to fill this role:

• The Proaging network, run by Mr. Steve Gurney, provides innovative tools for senior-serving professionals to better serve seniors, caregivers, and their families.
• The DC Senior Resource Group is a forum for members to meet and learn about critical topics facing seniors
• The Grass Root Organization for the Well-being of Seniors (GROWS) brings together social service and government agencies, businesses, religious organizations, eldercare professional and seniors for collaborative initiatives in addressing the needs of seniors

These entities provide places to meet with interesting people; but beyond the networking aspect and making business happen they are also great for two other reasons.
Firstly, they create the cement of the senior care industry by making its economy much more efficient: by creating a meeting place where issues can be discussed, compared, where word of mouth can happen and where people can learn about new products & services.
Second, they help catalyze the evolution of ideas around aging, aging in place and culture change. Some of these concepts are pushed by specific non-profits but these organizations are were these ideas are discussed, where they take root and where they actually happen.

The main reason why these places are so efficient is that the people managing these have clearly announced their objective and are driven with a high level of ethics.

We, at Linked Senior, are very happy to see leaders in the senior care industry drive innovation and change that is deeply needed in the environment that we are in. The motivation behind those organizations is of genuine change for the better as they inspire us all to make our industry a better one.