Last Tuesday, the news about the economic crisis were suddenly better; as Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, explained, the economic free fall of the last nine months is nearing an end and the United States should begin a fragile recovery by the end of this year.
He also warned that the convalescence will be slow and some of the effects had not yet been seen.
As the recession tentacles reach deeper in our economy, we all try to foresee what the real impact will be for our market and ourselves.
The main issues in the long term care industry is that seniors take more time to move into a retirement community and that budget get cuts as managers lose visibility and are asked to be conservative. Therefore waiting lists are shortening and expenditures reduced to a bare minimum, a situation that is often referred to as a chicken and egg problem.
On the other hand, people in the senior care industry say homes for the elderly are still in demand for the simple reason that Americans continue to age; according to the US census of 2005, 50% of today’s American will spend some time in a retirement community. The Community Marketing blog, lists interesting numbers: in 2030, all the Baby Boomers (now aged 46-63) will be over 65. The percentage of the US population aged 65 and over will stand at close to 20%, with those 75 and over comprising almost 10% of US citizens.
From home care services and medical products to senior housing options like assisted living, the demand for products and services relating to the care of older Americans is growing exponentially.
According to Laurie Orlov’s blog, one answer to be more efficient is to differentiate oneself and seek new practices and ways of doing things: “those that want to be innovative and differentiate with the adult children and grandchildren of residents need to step up the pace and underpin services with useful technologies that exist now.”
As technology embraces needs of seniors and the ones that serve them, the industry needs to adapts itself and allow change to let them operate more efficiently. The activity department is often cited as the area in which methods and tools are outdated – for some, it hasn’t changed in 15 years!!
