Pathway Senior Living has a new name and logo. The Chicago-based provider, which operates 24 communities across Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, will be known as “Pathway to Living,” effective today.

About seven years ago, Pathway set about creating its “Viva!” operating model and company culture, and the time came for a new name to better reflect what the company has now become, COO Maria Oliva told Senior Housing News.

“It starts with the premise that life needs to be valued and meaningful at every stage,” Oliva said. “The way we approach that is to create environments where our residents come to live with purpose.”

That sense of purpose is instilled by learning about residents’ aspirations, and helping them achieve these aspirations by doing things with them, not for them, she said. The Viva approach encourages active engagement in a wide range of activities, from learning new skills to horseback riding and hot air ballooning.

“We decided it was time for the company name to reflect what makes us different,” Oliva said.

Part of the change was to drop the word “senior.” This is in response to a widespread recognition that consumers do not connect strongly with the “senior” terminology, and also was a way to differentiate Pathway and emphasize its mission of being a place where older adults are not defined by their age, and do not lose their identity or purpose.

“I think we’re really making progress in appealing to the influencer today, who is doing the legwork [that goes into] buying this product,” Oliva said. “That consumer relates to the fact that senior living is not a last resort. It should be a normal progression of where you live at that stage of life, to allow you to be happy, healthy, and independent, as opposed to dependent on family.”

The company stuck with “Pathway” intentionally in its new name, keeping that brand equity. Individual communities will still be known by their current names, as well; only the corporate parent is switching over to the new branding.

The new logo also is a blend of old and new. It’s more colorful than the former all-green logo, but incorporates similar imagery of paths.

“We really wanted, in a creative manner, to still connect people to this brand based on the life path they may be on,” Oliva said.

Written by Tim Mullaney