ALFA Rebranding to Address Blurred Lines of Senior Living

Recognizing a shift in the evolution of today’s senior who has needs blurring between various care segments, the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) plans to take a more all-inclusive senior living approach in its rebranding efforts.

Those changes could begin to take form in the coming months as the senior living trade association plans to tackle several initiatives at a meeting between its board of directors this September, ALFA Chairman Brenda Bacon told SHN.

“When you look at the fact that as much as five years ago you could draw a line between an independent living and assisted living community, we find now that has very much changed,” she said.

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With senior living providers incorporating a various care types under one roof, including home care services, the need became more clear for ALFA to consider a name change.

“It was time to change what we call ourselves to better communicate in terms of changing the way we talk about our industry, as one that is senior living and not assisted living or memory care specifically,” she said.

While one of the pivotal objectives ALFA plans to undertake in the coming months involves establishing a Special Branding Committee to determine a new name that better reflects the association’s updated focus, as outlined in a letter Bacon sent in May to ALFA members, it is unlikely a new name change will arrive by the September board meeting.

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“When an organization changes things like its name, logo and mission, that has to be communicated to many different constituencies,” Bacon said. “I doubt that could be done by September, but by then we will certainly have things to consider over the next 2-3 months.”

While September may be too early to tackle the rebranding initiative, it is possible that ALFA may use the first quarter of 2015 to begin transitioning its brand change, Bacon said.

“Our industry is growing a great deal,” says Bacon. “As consumer awareness of the industry grows and it becomes a greater choice for more people, that raises our profile. We have a responsibility to take our trade association to the next level.”

Written by Jason Oliva