As discussions about senior living evolve to include a variety of environments, from assisted and independent living to aging in place, the 2017 Environments for Aging Expo & Conference was collocated with the MedTrade Spring show, an annual expo focused on the home medical equipment market. Both shows, which are owned by Emerald Expositions, gathered at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay this past week.

The two shows opened their expo floors to attendees to foster discussions and increase awareness of available products and services, and some of the educational sessions were targeted to both audiences, including the closing keynote. Speaker Louis Tenenbaum, a leading authority on aging in place, took to the stage to share his ideas for further bridging the gap between these two markets as a way to meet the needs of America’s aging population. “This growing demographic means there’s room for everyone,” said Tenenbaum, founder of HomesRenewed, a coalition of businesses, government, not-for-profits, and consumer stakeholders.

Citing past industry disruptors, such as the digital camera’s impact on Kodak or Uber’s effect on the transportation industry, Tenenbaum made the case for the professionals in the senior living community and those focused on aging in place to come together to transform the industry and take advantage of this “great business opportunity.” “We’re stronger together,” he said.

During his presentation, Tenenbaum showed a slide that broke down the senior demographic by wealth and how much of the population that segment represents. For example, there are 3.6 million wealthy seniors, representing 9 percent of the population, while Medicaid eligible seniors represent 18 percent. Tenenbaum calls the “innovation and opportunity zone” those middle- and upper-middle income seniors, which account for 58 percent of the senior demographic. He questioned why there’s a big focus on a market for people who can’t afford many of the senior housing options being developed today.


The opportunity—or “elephant in the room,” as he called it—is helping influence seniors who are aging in place to upgrade their homes in an age-friendly way and make housing safe and accessible for seniors, their families and friends, and the caregivers taking care of them in these residential settings. “The need is huge, the opportunity is huge,” he said.

For designers, architects, interior designers, and other professionals in senior living, the opportunity to serve those in the middle could mean influencing the design of the houses where seniors currently live or working on new residential developments to make sure they incorporate senior-friendly design features. He also said there’s a need to focus on regulatory changes and public policy. “If we work together we can turn an underserved population into a viable market,” he said. “The disruption is actually integration.”