How Are Nursing Homes Affected by Retiring Baby Boomers?
- There are many types of nursing homes, including skilled nursing and assisted-living facilities. A nursing home is classified according to the level of care it provides and the relative health of its residents. Nursing homes are designed to provide 24-hour medical care and to help residents with day-to-day activities such as eating and bathing. Nursing home construction has accelerated in recent years in anticipation of increased future demand by the retiring baby-boom population. The increase in new facilities has contributed to a shortage of skilled nurses and other medical staff in the nursing home industry.
- Nursing Home Common Area
Retiring baby boomers will have a significant impact on the way nursing homes are designed and managed. The baby boom generation is characterized by higher levels of education and income than previous generations. Additionally, baby boomers are significantly more independent than previous generations and have a strong sense of personal identity. Baby boomers are demanding and have high expectations of companies that provide services to them. Nursing homes have responded by becoming less like hospitals and more like homes. Newer nursing homes are designed with a smaller number of rooms surrounding a common area, such as a kitchen or lounge. The rooms themselves have been designed to have a more residential feel and often include a separate sitting area with a couch or a table. Residents in newer nursing homes have significantly more freedom to choose when they wake up and go to sleep, when and what they eat, and what they do during the day. - The size of the baby boom generation will make it more challenging for nursing homes to accommodate future residents. Already, many baby boomers are putting down deposits to secure a place at some of the nation's most desirable nursing homes. Many of these nursing homes are assisted-living facilities, which provide residents with a smaller level of care and a higher level of freedom than traditional nursing homes. Assisted-living facilities are ideal for relatively healthy residents but are not appropriate for sicker residents, such as those with Alzheimer's Disease. It is unlikely these assisted living facilities will be able to care for sicker residents, which will place an enormous strain on the facilities' resources.
