By Steve Moran

Senior living has a massive identity crisis that no one wants to talk about. Never was this more evident than at the spring 2025 NIC conference.

On the first day we heard a new version of the song we have been hearing for a decade or more: The boomer age wave is going to be so big that it will take a massive building effort to meet the demographic needs of my generation. I do so want this to be true.

The next day on the main stage, Dr. Joe Coughlin, founder of the MIT AgeLab, and Bob Kramer, co-founder of NIC, had an inspiring conversation about how senior living could be this amazing, highly desired product that was sought out, even lusted for by the vast majority of older people who want the very best out of their last few years.

And yet in that same conversation/presentation, Coughlin talked about the many advancements in aging technology and services that are allowing people to live home alone.

Rose-Colored Glasses

I am fearful that as an industry, we are looking at what we do and the demand for our services through rose-colored glasses, to the detriment of the industry, the detriment of older people, and the detriment of society. The reality that I see:

  • Most people are doing all they can to avoid moving into senior living until they have to. This has not changed in the 15 or so years I have been writing about the industry. It persistently remains a last resort choice.
  • While occupancy rates have improved substantially from their COVID low — and they do feel so much better — sub 90% is hardly anything to write home about, and there is some evidence to suggest that nationwide, the overall occupancy rate is significantly lower than it is in the constellation of communities that make up the NIC data.
  • I am not convinced we believe in our own product. We don’t believe in our own product. I have been asking industry thought leaders if they know any retired senior living executives who have moved into senior living as a lifestyle choice. I have been told there are maybe one or two but have not been able to confirm that. Let’s suppose there are a dozen. Where are the rest of them? It suggests that our leaders see senior living as a need-driven health care product, not a lifestyle product. I do know there are a fair number of leaders who have moved their moms and dads into senior living, but in those cases it is about need, not lifestyle.I recently asked a thought leader about their plans for senior living and they sort of whispered, “Age 90.” Not a very compelling endorsement.
  • We don’t tell enough stories about improved lives — perhaps because we don’t really believe it improves lives.
  • It feels like we are flailing around looking for a successful product, with success being defined primarily by making lots of money. Way back when, it was independent living, then came big assisted living communities, followed by memory care communities that were supposed to be like printing money. Today we are back to independent living and active 55+ as the newest gold mine.

Perhaps the real problem is that, given the nature of how capital flows into senior living, the goal is more about creating pots of gold than providing optimal experiences for older people and their family members.