Section A: Problem Description-katetutor

The topic is on the Adult Living Industry.

About adult living

The industry of adult living is concerned with the care and housing of senior citizens, usually over 55 years old, in the United States. This industry consists of several organizations that offer the services including the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC), Alliance for Aging Research, American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), Leading Age, Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) and many others. Each of these organizations plays different roles in the adult living industry. The National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) is aimed at ensuring that the needs of American senior citizens in terms of care and housing are met(). The aim of this industry is improve the quality of housing and care of the senior citizens through facilitating proper decision making on matters of investment.

The adult living industry facilitates proper decision making through research, provision of best data, professional education and networking ().Alliance for Aging Research aims at improving the lives of the aging citizens through provision of advanced behavioral and biomedical research on health and aging. The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) is concerned with provision of leadership within the housing sector of the adult living industry especially in matters concerning legislation, regulation, education and exchange of strategic business information. ASHA is also responsible for promoting the merits of adult housing. Generally, the above organizations aim at provision of information and support to the adult living industry.

Mission statement

The adult living industry consists of many organizations providing services to the elderly and each of these organizations has a mission statement on which their operations are based. One of the companies in these industries with a clearly stated mission statement is the Capital Senior Living which states that the company aims at providing quality housing and services to its clients (Capital Senior Living, 2018). The company aims at enriching the lives of the senior citizens through provision of a suitable environment that promotes their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. The Capital Senior Living encourages its clients to participate in the various programs and activities they offer. The company strives to provide good nutrition to the elderly residing in their facilities as well as socialization to help the residents to be happier. Another company with a mission statement is the Sunrise Senior Living whose mission statement states that their goal is to help achieve quality life for the elderly in the country (Sunrise Senior Living, 2018). generally, the mission statements of each organization in the adult living industry aims at making the life of the elderly better in terms of health and psychology.

Services

The industry of adult living aims at assisting the elderly or people with disabilities (Batavia, DeJong, &McKnew, 1991). The industry ensures proper management and operation of the organizations running the senior housing communities. Services offered include life enrichment, resident centered programming and short-term accommodation of various lifestyles. This industry provides daily meals, supervision and security, basic housekeeping, social programs, transportation, laundry services, health and exercise programs as well as medical services to the senior citizens and those living with disabilities (Hay, et al, 2002). Apart from providing care and housing services to the senior citizens, the adult living industry also provides consultation and management services to the owners, investors and operators of the adult living companies (Løwendahl, (2005). Consultation and management services to the owners, operators and investors helps them to make sane decisions towards the achievement and surpassing the goals that they have set in the adult living industry. The adult living industry has a great number of individuals who have extensive knowledge and expertise on matters relating to care and housing of the elderly and those people living with disabilities.

Market

Adult living industry operates across the United States. The adult living industry continues to grow with about a million American senior citizens over 55 years old. The number of the senior citizens living in such facilities is expected to rise and double by the year 2030().there has been a rise in the number of the elderly seeking senior housing and care due to the economic changes that have been taking place whereby losses in stock prices and loss of accounts resulted in loss of substantial amount of the planned income of the Americans approaching retirement (). The adult living industry consists of very many companies offering housing and care for the elderly and the disabled. This has resulted in high competition among the organizations. The high number of companies offering similar services in the adult living industry is due to low barriers to entry of companies in to this industry. The group of the old people in the adult living facilities is mostly retired and has more females than males. The number of females being housed in these facilities is about 69 percent with the males being only 31 percent. The most dominant age for the female population in the adult living facilities is 85 years old. The region that has the greatest number of individuals living in these adult living facilities is the southeastern portion of the United States, which consists of 23 percent of all the facilities in the adult living industry in America.

Revenue

Due to low barriers to entry of new companies into the adult living industry, it has become hard for the organizations to maintain high profit margins (Eisenhardt, & Sull, 2001). The only barriers to entry of organization into the industry include licensing and regulation, low cost structure for non-profit companies and economies of scale. Not for profit organizations benefit more from the tax exempted expenditures and charity contributions that finance their operations. On the other hand, the “for profit” organizations have to find reliable sources of capital for their business in the adult living industry and expect to make profit out of their operations. The main source of revenue for these adult living facilities is from elderly individuals who pay these facilities using their own wealth or from the family members of the senior citizens (Logan, & Spitze, 1994). The adult living industry mostly takes in individuals who live above the median wage in their respective regions. In order for the individuals with low income to afford living in the adult living facilities, the facilities need to lower the rates.

The estimated number of adult living facilities currently in the United States is about 30, 000 and the number of residents is over 1 million. This has resulted in the generation of revenue of over $36.8 billion by the year 2009. A census done in the year 2007 showed that retirees contributed 58 percent of the total revenue in the adult living industry while 42 percent of the revenue was derived from the elderly (Ortiz, 2007). There was a drop in the number of residents of the adult living facilities by 2 percent in 2008 due to delayed movement of the senior citizens into the retirement communities (). This drop in the number of individuals living in the adult living facilities results in a drop in the revenue collected.

Risks

Adult living facilities are associated with many risks including medical and psychological. The risk factors may be internal or external. The internal risk factors include cognitive impairment, mental illness, malnutrition, substance abuse, medical comorbidities; increasing age etc. The external factors on the other hand include unsanitary living conditions, poverty, and lack of resources, inadequate housing, and lack of social networketc. (Culo, 2011). Since the elderly are prone to most of these risks listed above, it is important for health providers to visit the elderly at home to ascertain the individuals who could be affected. It is common for older people to try to hide the problems they face due to the fear of being taken into institutions. Through proper health care, any risk factors can be noted and proper action taken. The types of risks that may occur are tolerable, intolerable, potential or actual. Intolerable risks usually involve dangerous behavior or actions that may result in harm. This includes physical aggression, severe self-neglect, abuse etc. it is important to provide support and assistance to the residents of the adult living facilities whenever they are faced with intolerable risks.

All risks require intervention due to the vulnerability that the individuals in the facilities face. If the risk identified is related to financial issues, it is important that an assessment on financial capacity be done (Culo, 2011). Most of the elderly are incapable of managing their finances and this requires intervention by an attorney, the courts, public guardian and trustee. In the case of psychiatric or cognitive problems, it is important to do a medical intervention so that the condition is treated. If abuse is involved, the law should be followed and the relevant agencies be alerted for help.

Use of proceeds

Income earned from running the adult living is channeled towards maintenance and service provision of the residents. The management of the facilities has to ensure that the housing is suitable and that optimum care is provided for the elderly and those with disabilities. Housing costs have increased over the years due changes in the economy. The annual income for an adult living facility is estimated to be around $34300 while cost for the services provided is about $3000 per month (Senior Living, 2015). This is the maintenance cost of the elderly over 65 years old living in the adult living facilities.

Outlook

Adult living facilities are vital for the country especially when it comes to taking care of the elderly. The facilities are operational due to the presence of a large number of elderly people and those retirees who seek to live in these facilities. The demand for these facilities is high and therefore the income per annum is considerably high. The adult living industry manages the operations of each adult living facility and ensures that the services offered are standard. The adult living facilities are helpful for the elderly and those living with disability.

References

Batavia, A. I., DeJong, G., &McKnew, L. B. (1991). Toward a national personal assistance program: The independent living model of long-term care for persons with disabilities. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 16(3), 523-545.

Capital Senior Living, (2018).Mission Statement.retrieved from http://www.capitalsenior.com/about-us/

Culo, S. (2011).Risk assessment and intervention for vulnerable older adults. BC Med J, 53(8), 421-425.

Eisenhardt, K. M., &Sull, D. N. (2001).Strategy as simple rules. Harvard business review, 79(1), 106-119.

Gaugler, J. E., & Kane, R. L. (2007).Families and Assisted Living. The Gerontologist, 47(Suppl 1), 83–99.

Hay, J., LaBree, L., Luo, R., Clark, F., Carlson, M., Mandel, D., ...&Azen, S. P. (2002). Cost‐Effectiveness of Preventive Occupational Therapy for Independent‐Living Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50(8), 1381-1388.

Logan, J. R., &Spitze, G. (1994).Informal support and the use of formal services by older Americans.Journal of Gerontology, 49(1), S25-S34.

Løwendahl, B. (2005). Strategic management of professional service firms. Copenhagen Business School Press DK.

Ortiz, J., (2017).Assisted Living Facilities. SBDCNet. retrieved from http://www.sbdcnet.org/small-business-research-reports/assisted-living-facilities

Senior Living, (2015).How Seniors Housing Supply and Demand is Adjusting to Meet the Next Generation. Lancaster Pollard.retrieved from http://www.lancasterpollard.com/NewsDetail/tci-sl-how-seniors-housing-supply-and-demand-is-adjusting

Sunrise Senior Living (2018). Mission Statement. Retrieved from