Two Million Residents Live in Aging Care and Counting
The U.S. population is aging and therefore the aging care facility resident population with it. Today, there are more than 46 million older adults age 65 and older living in the U.S.; by 2050, that number is expected to grow to almost 90 million. Currently, this translates to more than 2 million residents in aging care communities and this number is expected to double by 2030.
This steep incline reflects aging of the baby boomer generation. The first boomers reached this age range in 2011 and the last will cross this age by 2030. Between 2020 and 2030 alone, the time the last of the baby boom cohorts reach age 65, the number of older adults is projected to increase by almost 18 million. Based on U.S. Census data, this would translate to 1 in 5 Americans projected to be age 65 years old and over by 2030.
Access to health care and aging care facilities is critical for aging gracefully. Knowing that an estimated 60% or more never get an outside visit from a friend or family member once they enter a facility, we need to make change happen now and over the next decade to ensure this rapidly growing demographic isn’t left continuously a forgotten part of our society.
As SoulRaphians, we are reimagining how to keep this aging population of senior residents connected to love. We exist to shift the idea of how our older population in America ages. End of life living doesn’t have to mean facing death alone one day at a time. In the technological times we live in, every day that someone is alive is a day they should be enjoying living life in community.
References:
(1) “Demographic Changes and Aging Population,” Colby, S., & Ortman, J., U.S. Census Bureau, 3/2015
(2) “America’s Aging Population,” (PDF) L. Jacobsen, M. Kent, M. Lee, and M. Mather, Population Reference Bureau
(3) “Long Term Care Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report,” Grand View Research,
(4) “Size and Demographics of Aging Populations,” NCBI
(5) “The ‘elder orphans’ of the Baby Boom generation,” Storrs, Carina, CNN
(6) Population image: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census, Population Estimates and Projections, 2008
*Sources cited: October, 16 2020
