Kids are heading back to school and we have less than a month to go of summer. Between deadlines at work and (maybe) planning that one last hurrah for the summer, we hope you have allocated a bit of time to catch up with the most engaging content in this week’s Monday roundup.
First, we’ll look at the improvements LeadingAge suggests we make to long-term care and support services.
In the second overview, we’ll gear up for the amenity wars with Property Management Insider and learn about the ways you can upgrade your community.
Most Clicked: LeadingAge’s New Vision for Long-Term Care and Support Services
Long-term care and support services (LTSS) for older adults need to be revamped according to a white paper recently published by LeadingAge.
Our country’s current LTSS system design “places enormous pressure on families, and leaves older adults disconnected and depressed,” according to LeadingAge. “Most alarming, the system is ill prepared to meet the needs of a rapidly growing older population.”
Thus, LeadingAge proposed three essential features that the organization believes are necessary in order to create a more viable LTSS system:
- A universal approach to coverage: Spread financial risk over a large population, thus lowering expenses for individuals.
- A catastrophic benefit period: Benefits begin after an individual finances their own care for two years through private insurance or out-of-pocket spending.
- A “managed cash” benefit structure: Beneficiaries use a cash payment to purchase services and support related to individual needs and preferences.
Talk about improving the long-term care system is nothing new for professionals in the senior products and services industry. However, we need to continue educating older adults and their families about long-term care services and support including the associated costs. After all, as much as 15% of seniors will have lifetime LTSS costs of $250,000 or more, as depicted in the graph below.
Source: LeadingAge’s A New Vision for Long-Term Services and Supports
What LTSS options does your community offer to seniors? We’re seeing that Lifecare at home services, such as North Hill’s (Needham, MA) Connected for Life, are becoming more popular in the senior products and services industry.
With an increasing number of older adults electing to remain at home for their retirement, Lifecare at home has proven to be an innovative offering that allows seniors living at home to benefit from the same long-term care and support services as those living in a Life Plan Community. These benefits include, but are not limited to, greater financial predictability and personal care coordination.
If your company is not already providing services to help older adults plan and coordinate for long-term care, this is something you may want to consider introducing soon.
Click here to read A New Vision for Long-Term Services and Supports in its entirety.
Most Shared: The Amenity Wars
State-of-the-Art clubhouses, fitness centers, pools, movie theaters and walking trails; these are just some of the amenities you can find at modern continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) as developers do their best to come out on top of the amenity wars.
Recently, Property Management Insider published an article recapping key points from the National Apartment Association’s Adding Value in the Age of Amenity Wars report.
The report confirms that amenities play a large role in whether prospective residents will choose to live in your community or a competitor’s. While the study was related to apartment communities that aren’t age-specific, there are some takeaways that can be applied to CCRCs and active adult communities.
A direct mail piece Creating Results produced for a 55+ community focusing on the amenities.
Developers are spending more on upgrading amenities that promote social interaction. As we’ve recommended in the past, it’s important to lead with lifestyle when promoting your communities, but your lifestyle must match what you’re promoting.
We recommend that you keep up-to-date with your shared amenity offerings; For many people, a basic clubhouse won’t do anymore, especially when communities are regularly offering expansive clubhouses with multiple rooms and studios for social activity.
While community amenities are important, it’s also important not to overlook improvements that can be made in individual residences. For example, having in-home washer and dryer units can go a long way in adding value for residents. It eliminates the inconveniences associated with using communal units, making the lives of residents a little bit easier.
Click here to learn more about the ongoing amenity wars.