Disruptive Aging in Place and the Forgotten Middle

There is good reason The Forgotten Middle, a recent report from Health Affairs, sponsored by the National Investment Center (NIC), is getting buzz. This report, written by researchers at NORC, documents what has long been suspected by some of us in the field of aging and the longevity market- there is a huge middle income component of the older demographic …

Harvard Report Data at Long Term Care Insurance Conference

The new report from Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Improving America’s Housing, 2019, shows that Americans over 55 spend $152 BILLION per year on improving their homes. These people are already remodeling. It seems a no-brainer to encourage these homeowners to update their homes for “modern longevity”.  Because these folks are ready, willing and able to spend their own money, …

Finding Passion in Las Vegas

I just got back from the International Builders Show (IBS) and the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Las Vegas. 60,000 people attend this show! You cannot see every booth. Even with smart phones, just meeting up with friends and colleagues is a trick. I walked over 20 miles in 2 ½ days. I came away more inspired than …

Aging in Place in the News

CNBC Nightly Business Report covered aging in place this week. I was interviewed by CNBC business reporter Diana Olick. Here is the clip. More detail on the story is available in this article on the NBR site. This coverage is in reaction to a Freddie Mac report accusing seniors who are aging in place of of causing a housing shortage that keeps millennials out of the …

Sexy House Disrupts Homebuilding Market

Sexy House* is changing homebuilding. Japan’s Sekisui House is the world’s largest builder, as well as a top US builder and developer. By introducing their new “Platform House Concept” at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, Sekisui shows how dramatic their new direction is. Their press release makes it very clear it is in response to increasing longevity and promotes aging …

Do you have a chocolate problem or an oxygen problem?

That’s the title of Seth Godin’s January 19 blog: “Run out of chocolate, and that’s a shame. Run out of oxygen and you’re doomed. […] If your day or your project or your organization focuses too much on finding the next piece of chocolate, you might forget to focus on the oxygen you actually need.” Which pushes me to riff: …

The Scale of our Aging Society

There are plenty of stories about the financial stability of social security and medicare, the impending caregiver ratio crisis and the business opportunities of the longevity economy. A couple things are often missing from the stories. One is a bold enough statement describing the scale of the problem. The second is solutions that stray from the story focus. No coloring …

Bias as a Barrier

I‘ve been promoting Aging in Place for years, mostly because it just makes sense.  Sometimes people say my work has been ahead of the curve. I never thought it would take so long to see shifts, pushing me to study the barriers to change.  A recent conversation helped me recognize three biases that are strong barriers to seeing home as …

HomesRenewed Team Blog #1

Welcome to HomesRenewed’s team blog. Housing older Americans is a complex issue requiring comprehensive and systematic solutions. HomesRenewed is a broad stakeholder coalition reflecting the complexity of the problem and the breadth needed to solve it. There are lots of issues. There are lots of stakeholders. There are lots of overlapping interests. But most importantly, all stakeholders share a vision …