Sizing Up The Market For Assisted Living: New Report from Harvard Medical School.

Thanks to Kathy Mills from Factix Research, LLC whose blog post alerted me to this excellent new report.

The report's abstract is: (Get full report here)

"Assisted living has emerged as an important housing and long-term care option for older Americans. To date, development of this sector has occurred largely without government financing or regulation. In this study we used primary data that we collected on county-level assisted living supply to gain a fuller understanding of this sector nationally. Reflecting their reliance on private resources, assisted living facilities are located disproportionately in areas with higher educational attainment, income, and housing wealth. As this sector evolves, policymakers will have to contend with issues related to access to services, public financing, quality of care, and regulatory oversight."

Kathy sums is up perfectly:

"If you're in the assisted living industry, you may want to check out this new study: Sizing Up the Market for Assisted Living. It contains data on the national level, which is difficult to find elsewhere. The researchers provides some helpful statistics and interesting maps, including a map detailing the correlation between assisted living penetration and an area's sociodemographic traits. The data was based on the market as of 2007. "

Comments

[Kathy Mills]

Glad you were able to find it on my blog and thanks for the mention. I thought it was a great report!

[Jason the Assisted Living Guy]

The "sociodemographic traits" are not terribly surprising. High end businesses are located among wealthy, well-educated individuals. Some of these facilities are comfortable and even luxurious. Those who worked and saved for decades can afford to reward themselves with a high standard of living in their twilight years. If anything, this report underscores the necessity of personal planning and wise investment. I think we can look at the success of these facilities and be inspired to teach younger working Americans about how they, too, can be ready to retire happily. Simply put: the government will not be able to shoulder the cost of a comfortable Assisted Living center for every retiree.