Have you wondered what assisted living facilities in the future will be like for our generation? Planning for retirement has never been more pertinent as most millennials are starting this process now rather than later. It’s no doubt the cost of assisted living will rise in the future, but one of the largest changes we will see from today’s senior living communities is updated technology, music, telemedicine, food, and more acceptance of culture and sexual orientation from our generation.

Technology is always evolving. Seniors today are starting to become accustomed to tablets, laptops, smartphones, email, Skype calls and more, but can you imagine how it will be for our generation that is brought up with it? One thing about the future is for certain… video games will be a MUST in assisted living facilities. I have seen Wii games currently in assisted living facilities and even other video players such as XBox, but I can bet it will be a priority in the next 50 years to have these gaming systems in every room. Also, this may be a long shot, but caregiver robots may be a trend of the future. There’s already talk of robots cooking full course meals, who’s to say there won’t be robots for personal care as well? Medicine ties into technology too. With innovative technology, physician’s will be able to treat patients without having to travel to the facility.

Some of the dining areas or resident Cafe’s may include Starbucks coffee with most flavors such as assorted vanilla, mocha, latte’s etc. It won’t be uncommon to see Keurig machine’s in each resident apartment as well as a Nutra-Bullet of some sort.

Music is ever changing. We hear Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby today when we walk into assisted living facilities and during their lively activities. The lovely music of the 40’s and 50’s reminds us of that era and the beauty of how different those times were. For the millennials music choice, hip hop and rap has grown significantly over the last couple decades. I believe we will hear Drake, Eminem, and other rappers voices as well as rock bands such as Nirvana, Metallica, and Linkin Park (to name a few).

One of the largest changes that will impact society, in my opinion, is acceptance. This generation’s viewpoint on certain topics is extremely different from baby boomers. Catering to the LGBT community will become common in senior living. It seems past generations did not particularly speak about these individuals or really accept those apart of it. The thought of creating an assisted living for the LGBT was honestly unheard of. Opening a facility with these ideas in mind seem like a great start towards the future. What other amenities do you look forward to seeing in assisted living facilities?

Savanna Chrostowski
Marketing Director