Robin Carnahan: “we are all familiar with our changing demographics. Those once a part of the baby boom are now well on their way to…”

“we are all familiar with our changing demographics. Those once a part of the baby boom are now well on their way to creating a senior boom. By the year 2020, one in six Americans will be age 65 or over. By 2040, the number of seniors aged 85 and older will more than triple from about 4 million to 14 million. This boom will create a dramatic increase in the demand for services for seniors especially long-term care. Long-term care is more than just health care. It includes any services that seniors need to maintain their quality of life, such as transportation, nutrition, or other supports that help seniors live independently. Long-term care can mean help with buying groceries, paying bills each month, getting dressed in the morning, getting a ride to the doctor's office, or taking medicine at the appropriate time. We need to make sure our society is ready to provide these kinds of services for seniors, and we need to make sure that we give seniors options. We need to be creative in what we offer. Last year I learned about an innovative option for providing long-term care services for seniors. The concept is based on naturally occurring retirement communities, NORCs.”