The need for senior care is ever-growing, and there is no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. The senior care industry will continue to create a demand for a variety of services to help meet the needs of older adults. From in-home care to assisted living and independent living, there’s a growing variety of options for seniors who need assistance. This variety of options has created a number of investment opportunities for those who are creative, business-minded, and can meet the needs of older adults. Business experts estimated that in the US, one of the aspects of the senior care industry, the home care market, is expected to rise from $100 billion in 2016 to about $225 billion by 2024. In order to capitalize on this market, investors can venture into the senior care investment from Interim Home Healthcare.
The United States is home to over 50 million seniors (aged 65 and older), that’s more than doubling the number of seniors in 1980. By 2030, that number is expected to increase to 70 million residents. With this expected rise in the senior population comes a rise in senior care challenges. Before we dive into the trends and possible investment opportunities in senior care, let’s take a look at the challenges in senior care.
Challenges In Senior Care
Senior care is characterized by a unique set of challenges that aren’t privy to younger patients. Seniors are prone to medical conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis, which often require the care and support of nursing aides. Other medical conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease are deteriorative conditions that also require close monitoring by caregivers.
In addition, the new medical challenges faced in the world today (COVID-19) have also greatly impacted the seniors in society. Furthermore, research has shown that by 2025, the United States will be confronted by a significant shortage of nursing assistants, home health aides, and other health care professionals. This shortage will affect the senior care sector and could cause a big issue in sustainably caring for seniors in the country. Due to this, conscious efforts are being made to make senior care more sustainable in the coming years.
Trends Worth Investing In the Senior Care Sector
- Smart Aging Technology
One of the most exciting trends in senior care today is the integration of smart-aging technology. Technology is changing the way that seniors receive care, and this will inevitably impact the senior care industry as a whole. The smart aging technology is user-friendly and offers increased independent living to seniors. These technologies are developed to support seniors with daily activities, such as creating reminders to take medications and eat. Most of these smart-aging technologies have voice-integrated technology that recognizes the user’s voice and assists with several tasks.
Some of these tasks include; submitting maintenance requests, notification of mail arrival, checking activity schedules, and more. Some smart aging technology can detect when their users fall, call for remote assistants, and request urgent responses. They usually come as wearable devices built with sensors and voice assistant technologies. Smart-aging technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that it can be difficult to keep up, but any investor who can do so will have incredible opportunities for success.
Tech to Combat the Shortage Of Medical Professionals
The nation was already experiencing a shortage in medical staff before the COVID-19 medical crisis, but the situation worsened after the outbreak of COVID-19. Towards the latter part of 2021, healthcare staff became overloaded with work due to staff shortage, and this shortage is expected to increase. This has caused a shift to several technology solutions to help reduce the workload on the available staff. Some of these technologies have been integrated into;
- Online medications platforms: They’ve been developed to reduce the complexity of scheduling appointments with medical caregivers.
- Electronic medical records: They provide easy updates and access to the medical history of a patient.
- Digital activity calendars: They help to remind seniors of their monthly, weekly, and daily activities.
Digital Therapeutics
Digital therapeutics is a type of mobile app designed to be used in conjunction with traditional practices to enhance patient care. It can be used as a stand-alone app or together with a doctor’s prescription to improve physical health, mental health, and social health.
Any investor with a great business mind can notice the well of opportunities in the Digital Therapeutics apps. The app can help in offering better care to seniors suffering from various chronic diseases.
