By: merritt k
It’s no secret that memory care and senior living operators are preparing for a big influx of new residents. With regard to demand ahead, “the sky’s the limit,” Sonida Senior Living (NYSE: SNDA) CEO Brandon Ribar told Memory Care Business earlier this year.
But operators’ growth plans hinge on how well they can staff their communities and care for residents. That is why, as operators plan to grow and evolve in the future, workforce issues are still top of mind for most.
According to Census data, the U.S. population aged 65 and over grew at a rate almost five times faster than that of the general population from 1920 to 2020. Moving into 2025 and beyond, this trend is expected to continue.
It will take many more workers to care for new and potential senior living residents. That is especially true in memory care, where residents typically have more care needs than in independent living or assisted living.
As cited by senior living industry association Argentum in a 2023 staffing report, the Bureau of Labor estimates the senior living industry will need an additional 1.2 million care workers by 2030 to meet the needs of the incoming generation of older adults.
As a result, memory care operators face a number of challenges in meeting increased demand for their services, as well as possibilities for growth.
Demand keeps staffing at the forefront
Michala Gibson, a registered nurse and one of the co-founders of Prairie Elder Care, said that one of the biggest challenges facing operators moving forward is staffing. Prairie Elder Care — which operates a unique program in Overland Park, Kansas on a working farmstead — opened a third home on-site in 2023.
Throughout 2024, the company grew its day program in a freestanding location, purchased an outpatient care company. Today, the company has a waitlist for new residents, with plenty of demand for its services.
Gibson noted that it can be difficult for operators to attract and retain employees, given the rigorous demands of working in memory care:
“We’re asking, how can we take better care of the people providing hands-on care for our residents?” she said.
Gibson’s concern is well founded. A recent series of surveys by senior living workforce company Kare earlier this year found that 34% of senior care workers are at high risk of “toxic stress,” versus 17% of the general population.
Chris Coelho, COO of Abe’s Garden, a memory care operator based in Nashville, Tennessee, echoed Gibson’s thoughts on staffing.
“We’re really working on retention and what we can do to keep people happy,” he told MCB.
Since expectations and responsibilities can vary between operators, “it’s important that care workers feel like they have the tools and knowledge they need to carry out what we’re asking of them,” he added.
Abe’s Garden is currently in the midst of an expansion, adding 20 beds each to its assisted living and memory support programs at their campus in Nashville. The company also is taking on management of an assisted living program elsewhere in the state, in Knoxville. Like Prairie Elder Care, Abe’s Garden currently has a waitlist due to strong demand for its programming.
As he said earlier this year during the annual Memory Care Business BRAIN Conference, Abe’s Garden is training staff to better “address unmet needs” of residents. The company also builds in career pathways for high school students to advance burgeoning careers in the industry.
“Engagement is our number-one focus,” Coelho said, “providing purpose for the residents that live here, no matter which service they’re using.”
In addition to expanding their physical community footprints and workforces, memory care operators are also looking at ways they can provide additional outreach to the general public. Gibson said that there is a need for education and resources earlier on in the development of memory issues, noting that there is currently a great deal of focus on the later stages of dementia.
“People don’t talk about it because it’s not comfortable,” she added, emphasizing the need for providers to reach out and educate aging adults and their families about memory loss. “There are these invisible losses that happen early on, and as health care providers we don’t see them.”
Memory care operators face the challenge of helping to educate people and their families dealing with memory needs, as well as working with EMTs, public safety officers, and other community resources to develop broader awareness of aging-related cognitive changes, Coelho said. He also stressed the importance of meeting people where they are in their dementia and family caregiving journeys.
For smaller operators especially, expansion into home care and in-community resources can provide a means of growth without the difficulties and expense of purchasing or constructing additional facilities, Coelho said.
Providing home care and day programs can also allow operators to bring their services and philosophies to seniors with memory needs who, by choice or necessity, are living alone or with family members.
“We’re asking, ‘how can we meet people in their neighborhoods and provide resources and support for those living at home?’” Coelho said. “Survey after survey says people want to continue living at home, but people also want good quality of life, so we want to bring the engagement of people living on our campus to people where they’re at.”
Moving into 2025, Abe’s Garden, Prairie Elder Care, and other memory care operators can expect increased demand for their services. Operators are gearing up for more business in several ways, including by converting units to memory care in anticipation of demand.
Attracting and retaining staff will remain a major challenge, and memory care operators are weighing different methods of keeping staff well, such as providing additional mental health benefits. Additionally, operators are looking at ways they can expand their offerings beyond the addition of beds to existing facilities or the acquisition or construction of new ones. Flexibility and choice are two current big trends in memory care that will continue in the new year.
“Prairie Elder Care started 10 years ago and we have seen a lot of changes since then,” Gibson said. “Seniors want more choice and control over where they age and what that looks like to them. They want to be involved in those decisions. We’re sometimes dealing with mistrust, where the family or resident feels like they’ve lost control, so we’re trying to give that back and bring them more into the conversation.”
