With average life expectancy the highest it has ever been, it is no surprise that more than 40 million people over the age of 65 are currently living in the United States (U.S.). In fact, global life expectancy has increased by about six years over the past two decades. And that number will only continue to rise as advancements in healthcare and technology enable people to live longer, fuller lives.
The importance of planning for senior living and care cannot be understated, particularly now that life expectancy is at an all-time high. A Place for Mom (APFM), the nation’s largest senior living referral service, understands this fact and, as reported in March 2016, Communiqué PR is partnering with them to support PR efforts around a series of research findings, tools, and quarterly reports to help people prepare for senior living. As the second part of this series, APFM just released new research about how long it takes to find a senior living solution, and Communiqué PR had the opportunity to drive media coverage and awareness around this important topic.
New Research
APFM’s new research examines the different factors that impact senior living search time, showing that care needs are the key indicator of search length, while finances, relationships, time of year and search-area income level also have an impact. Below are some of the key findings from the data:
- 50 percent of families searching for a senior living solution find one within 46 days, and nearly a quarter find one within three weeks
- The urgency of care needed by a senior is the strongest predictor of how long it takes to find a senior living solution, and is twice as important as all of the other factors combined
- Seniors searching without the support from family, friends or a professional take about twice as long as someone with assistance (51 days for retirement communities; 47 days for assisted living)
- Seniors with higher incomes and larger monthly budgets for senior living typically take more time to find a senior living, unless they need assisted living, which creates the need for an immediate solution (11 days faster than families in similar situations with lower monthly budgets)
- Families searching for senior living in wealthier areas find it faster than seniors searching in middle-income areas, while families searching in low-income areas also have faster search lengths because limited resources and options cause them to move into the first community they can afford
- The peak search times for senior living solutions are immediately following end-of-year holidays (6 percent longer than the average month) and August (7 percent longer) after family members see aging loved ones
- Nearly five percent of seniors take one and a half years to move into a senior living solution, while three percent take two or more years
This data is based on a sample of more than 125,000 families APFM helped move into retirement communities, senior apartments, assisted living communities, residential care homes or memory care communities in the U.S. between 2012 and 2015. The statistical models are built from thousands of competitions between simpler models containing only a subset of the predictors. Predictor importance is measured by the percent of competitions won by a particular set of predictors. In addition to building these statistical models, key summary statistics were queried from APFM’s database.
Planning Tool
As a part of the new research, APFM also created a new tool that gives families an estimate of how long it will take to find a senior living solution based on their situation. Aptly named Chart Your Course, the tool helps families plan their senior living search by showing them the typical search length for consumers with similar care needs, finances and relationships to the senior. Chart Your Course is free to use and accompanies the Senior Living Cost Index tool, which APFM developed earlier this year and allows families to map and rank senior living costs by county, state and region.
Media Interest
National, regional and trade media all covered the story, demonstrating the news value of hard data and interest in senior-related topics across the country. Because of APFM’s efforts to educate the public about the length of senior living searches, millions of families across the country now have new information and better resources to help them plan for the future. Highlights from the media coverage include:
- MONEY Magazine: 4 Ways to Ease the Search for Assisted Living
- McKnight’s Senior Living: Care needs greatest determinant of senior living search length
- Long-Term Living Magazine: Window-shopping or moving in? Seniors take their time choosing housing
- Senior Housing News: Top Factors Slowing Down Senior Living Move-Ins
Congratulations to APFM for their continued efforts to help people find the right senior living solution.
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