Re-imagining Living Environments for an Aging Population
A Forward-looking Journey Map for Aging-in-Place
Over the next generation, the global population of persons older than 60 will double in size. Georgetown’s Aging Well Hub is a university-based network of industry researchers who are exploring the intersection of new policies and new markets associated with this trend. The recently released report: “Re-imagining Living Environments of the Future” is a forward-looking experience map identifying the lifestyle choices the Boomer generation will be faced with as more and more aging individuals seek to age-in-place in lieu of entering managed care facilities.
“We need to think about how this social challenge shapes future marketplaces; and we need to find new ways to produce comprehensive value for all stakeholders. If we do this, we can do well by doing good,” said Aging Well Hub founder Bill Novelli, Professor of Practice at the McDunnough School of Business. At the release event, Novelli outlined three primary challenges for market transformation: 1) the need for businesses and policy makers to truly understand the personal experience of aging persons; 2) the need to collaborate and innovate in unprecedented ways; and 3) the need to engage in future scenario planning by exploring how existing trends might project into the future.
Every day in the United States, over 10,000 people in the Boomer generation turn 65 with a net worth of a typical household being $193,000 and with $130,000 of that constituted as equity in their home. When faced with the prospect of traditional managed care costs ranging between $2,500-10,000 a month, it is easy to see that more than half of this population will not be able to cover their living expenses. This project takes as its point of departure the fact that the living environments that Boomers will need, simply do not exist today. This requires researchers to reimage new possibilities of future living environments that this growing segment of society will need to thrive.
The majority of older adults currently live in the suburbs, further underscoring the mismatch between the active lifestyle that Boomers want, and what is available to them. “While housing choices are central to aging-in-place, we are intentionally talking about living environments -- not housing alone -- in order to embrace the activities that make people feel relevant as human beings. Our population will not age well if they feel irrelevant,” said research director Liddy Manson, director of the Aging Well Hub. This project expands the research of aging-in-place to encompass a person’s connections to urban communities on the one hand, while also exploring the impact that new technologies inside the household are having on a person’s lifestyle choices.
The research created a specific persona – “Melinda” who is 67 years old and a recent widow who lives in the suburbs of Atlanta – in order to establish the experience journey map. Each of her individual characteristics and choices are supported by data which is most representative of the broader marketplace. “This is about looking at the built environment from an ecosystem approach. It’s not just about where you live, but how you live in your community. Human centered design is all about establishing empathy for the person making real decisions,” said Aviva Sufian, project participant and specialist leader at Deloitte Consulting.
“One of the things that industry representatives repeatedly identify as a weakness in this field is the lack of a multi-faceted understanding of the emotional, physical and financial experience of the range of relationships, especially the primary caregiver.” commented Diane Ty, project researcher. In the United States over 16 million people are unpaid caregivers who provide over 320 billion dollars of equivalent market value. In the case of dementia, over one-third of caregivers are daughters.
“Caregivers play the role of keeping older adults independent and engaged in their communities” said Dr. George Hennawi, director of the department of Geriatrics at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital.
“It’s important that the design industry develop its voice on this issue. It takes a lot of time to reposition the built environment and the stakes are huge,” said project participant Laura Lathem, design director at Gensler. Also commenting on the work was Jodi Alschefski, director of Hartford Corporate Excellence, “We provide home and auto insurance and we know that the past does not predict the future. This type of research is an excellent way for us to try to anticipate the decision points related to the built environment that will impact aging individuals. I feel really confident that Melinda could be one of our customers.”
To download the report: “Re-imagining Living Environments of the Future: A Forward-Looking Experience Map of Choices for Boomers”, please click here.
To learn more about the Aging Well Hub at Georgetown University, please click here.