Leading a growing company in the field of Senior Care has been a welcome challenge for me personally. Of all the endeavors that life has given me, I believe this challenge and opportunity is one that is of the utmost need in our society at this very moment. And in fact, it is a challenge that I have come to realize has provided me a sense of satisfaction, enjoyment, and gratitude. The opportunity of taking care of seniors, it seems, is something I am really good at. It's not without its challenges, but anything worthwhile will never come easy. It's even more reason to fully and wholeheartedly accept this as a calling.
Leaning in to what you are good at has continued to be a constant challenge in a world that grasps for our attention. I am in fields and businesses that require my attention. Business, finance, and investments. I have chosen to commit a great amount of my time and resources into senior care because of my affinity to the senior population, but also because of the growing need. If not us, then who will provide the quality care that our most senior population needs?
In an age of growing complexities, ever increasing information, and the fast-paced development and adoption of new technology, there comes a point when we need to step back and realize where we are at.
Where we are at is a junction of the need to look far ahead and develop technologies that will move mankind forward, and perhaps even save it from the perils of what the future will hold: Climate change, adoption of Artificial Intelligence, limited resources, and a changing landscape of the workforce as we know it. But this is also a junction where the literal old guard still has decades to impart its wisdom, and the need to preserve this wisdom. Our final act for our current senior population indeed is the need to preserve their dignity.
The old guard, I speak of is of course our growing and aging population. The baby boomers that have been at the forefront of our economy since the 40s, and will continue to impact our society for the decades to come. These individuals are retiring and these individuals are, for lack of a better term, growing old. It is incumbent for us to realize that this is a great opportunity to provide for them the service and dignity that they deserve and to also glean and accept from them the wisdom that they have acquired throughout their lifetime. This whole segment of society, because of medical advancements, will stay in this senior group for a third of their lifetime. That's quite a long time if you ask me.
It means that traditional retirement models may not suffice in terms of retirement planning, but also in terms of just living. It is not an exact science, nor is it an exact mathematical model when we put it in terms of finances.
A good core of our businesses revolves around the senior community. As Golden Pines Senior Living continues to make an impact, I've come to realize that senior living is more of an art than it is an exact science.
So what are five areas that maybe we can all focus on as a society?
I think we should start to look at holistic wellness programs, innovative home designs for aging in place if that can be an option, meals and integrating with social experiences, leisure activities that will engage their cognition and social aspects of senior living, and then finally community engagement. I believe if we can tackle these 5 key areas of Senior Living, then we can provide the service and give dignity a helping hand. Let's expand on these 5 key areas that I believe would contribute to a successful plan for senior living...
1. Holistic Wellness Programs
Wellness for an older adult has to mean more than whether their medications are right. It's the body, the mind, and how someone actually feels when they wake up.
On the physical side it's movement scaled to the person. Not a gym. Balance work, walking, chair exercises, whatever keeps someone steady on their feet, because a fall is the event that changes everything.
On the mental side it's giving people something to think about. Puzzles, conversation, reading, learning something. A brain that isn't asked to do anything declines faster than one that is.
And on the emotional side it's the hardest and most overlooked. Older people carry grief. They've lost spouses, friends, sometimes children. Staff who understand that are worth more than any program on a schedule.
2. Design That Lets People Stay Themselves
Good design in senior living is mostly invisible. Wider doorways, grab bars where someone actually reaches, thresholds that don't catch a walker, lighting that doesn't leave shadows on a stair.
The point of every one of those choices is independence. Every thing a person can still do for themselves is a thing they don't have to ask for, and asking is what wears people down. A well-designed room means someone needs us less, which sounds bad for our business and is exactly the goal.
3. Meals, and Who You Eat Them With
Food matters more than people outside this work expect. It's the anchor of the day, sometimes the thing residents look forward to most.
But the meal is only half of it. The other half is the table. Eating alone every day does something to a person. A shared table gets someone out of their room, into a conversation, and gives the day a shape. We pay attention to dietary needs because we have to. We pay attention to who sits with whom because that's the part that actually helps.
4. Something Worth Getting Up For
Activities get treated like filler. I think they're closer to the point.
Art, music, gardening, a book club, cards, learning to use a tablet to see grandchildren. What all of it is really doing is giving someone a reason to be up and dressed and expected somewhere. Purpose doesn't retire. People need to be needed at eighty-five the same as they did at forty.
5. Not Sealing Them Off From Everyone Else
The worst thing we do to older people as a society is put them somewhere separate and then stop coming.
Bringing generations together fixes more than any program can. School groups visiting, church groups, family events, younger people who just show up. Seniors have decades of experience nobody's asking about, and there are younger people who badly need to hear it. Both sides get something. We're the ones who have to build the bridge, because it doesn't build itself.
That's the art of it. Not a formula, not a checklist. Just paying attention to the whole person and remembering that dignity is the actual product.
