Businesses prepare to serve seniors seeking to age in place
| Saturday, May 16 2009 10:58 AM
Last Updated Friday, May 22 2009 06:47 PM
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Jenn Ireland / The Californian Lorie Aranda and JoAnn Malek sit down and chat in Malek's living room Friday afternoon before Aranda leaves for the day. Aranda is a caregiver that spends six afternoons a week helping Malek with the housecleaning and providing companionship.
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Business may be good now for John Vasinda's assisted living facilities, but he knows better than to count on it going strong in a few years.
His doubts stem from a pattern of senior citizens and their families arranging for care at home rather than a move into a group home.
So he's gradually transitioning his business from assisted living to in-home care, investing in technology to do things like drop medicine into a cup automatically for forgetful seniors.
"If you think about mom, dad, grandpa, whoever ... they want to be at home," said Vasinda, a Bakersfield employer of close to 300 people working in assisted living facilities, medical case management and in-home care.
His situation is representative of a segment of Kern's business community that is positioning itself to serve the needs of senior citizens -- even those who haven't yet reached their golden years.
As baby boomers retire, health-care professionals anticipate a wave of people needing special services over the next 20 years.
Not that the demand isn't here already. Scarborough Research says more than 10,000 Kern households will shop for assisted living facilities in the next 12 months.
This is good news for a whole range of businesses, from physical therapists to financial advisors to reverse mortgage brokers.
"The (senior services) industry over the next 20 to 30 years is expected to explode, basically, because of the aging populations that the entire United States has," said David Mazone, owner of Bakersfield's Right at Home, a franchise that serves people who need assistance in their own residence. He hopes to open two more offices over the next two years.
Adapting in tough economy
But the trick in some cases is getting through the current economic slowdown.
A company that equips people with emergency medical response alert equipment, Lifeline of Mercy Memorial Home Health, has experienced a bit of a downturn lately, which program coordinator Marlynn Verdugo attributes to the slowing economy.
She understands why people have to cut off the service, which at the basic level costs $37 a month.
"For a senior on a limited income where everything else is going up (in price), that can be difficult," Verdugo said.
But with all the expected growth, many businesses are determined not only to pull through the hard times, but branch out.
For example, Patty Gray, owner of Bakersfield's DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen, recently pursued a special industry certification and created a new division of her business, called LiveAble Solutions. It caters to seniors who would prefer to stay at home instead of move into a group facility.
The business helps people modify their homes, putting in wider doorways for wheelchairs, higher toilet seats for easier accessibility and other changes geared toward the "aging-in-place" set.
Gray said it's not always an easy sell. Some seniors don't want to face the fact that they could need outside help.
"There's a real psychology involved with this aging-in-place market," she said. "When we're talking to people, we're very careful ... about how we present our products."
For those who need to move
Clearly not everyone will be able to stay put. Some will move into other facilities, and they will need services as well -- such as those offered by Senior Care Placement Professionals. The free service puts people in touch with care facilities they can afford.
"I think there will always be a need for these communities," director Ashley Gallo said. "We run into a lot of situations where the families cannot keep (seniors) at home."
Gallo also runs a Bakersfield company called Seniors on the Move, which handles details of a move into a group home, doing the packing and making sure the seniors are comfortable from the moment they arrive in their new environment.
With so many companies looking to do business with seniors, there is also a threat of fraud, said Sandy Morris, a community relations specialist for the Bakersfield Police Department.
She said seniors are often targeted because they are seen as easy targets. Her recommendation is to have caregivers go through a thorough background check, including a fingerprint check and calls to previous employers for references.
Another local organization that expects to face greater demand for its services is Hoffmann Hospice, a Bakersfield nonprofit that connects terminal patients with home health aides, social workers, spiritual counselors and others.
Co-founder and administrator Tom Hoffman said he anticipates steady growth in the organization's clientele but nothing that will strain the supply of local nurses.
That's partly because nurses who have moved into other fields probably will return to the field out of concern for the growing number of people who need help.
"I think we'll be OK," he said, "because if you look at most people, they have big hearts."
