By Steve Moran

It is the one thing every aging expert is talking about. The single topic you are almost guaranteed to hear discussed at every senior living company and every aging services company — and it’s not AI.

Give up?

It’s “healthspan” — the amount of life we all have to live where we are healthy, happy, and productive. Increasing a person’s healthspan is a win for society and everyone.

Here is Why Healthspan Matters More Than Ever

  • It represents a much higher quality of life for people
  • It allows people — older people — to contribute more to society
  • It reduces the cost of healthcare to society
  • For senior living, it means longer length of stays and lower costs
  • For senior living operators, it becomes a valuable marketing tool

The Lightbulb Moment

This morning I was drafting an email invitation to join me on Foresight TV to one of the speakers at Mary Furlong’s Longevity Summit that just concluded. She had talked about longevity and healthspan, and suddenly this light flashed in my head.

While the number is still fairly small, more and more communities are really focusing on ways to increase the healthspan of residents. Even when people are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s, it’s possible to extend a person’s healthspan. But the earlier people get started working on their healthspan, the more successful they will be — and they will add many more years or months to their healthspan.

The Untapped Opportunity: Beyond Residents

If we are already doing it — focusing on it, helping residents with healthspan — why not expand that to family members and even team members?

For Families: If you include families, it would be an extra incentive to say yes to senior living and yes to your community. When they benefit from your healthspan programming, they will tell their friends. And you can charge for the services.

For Team Members: It provides a powerful incentive to work in your community, to invite their friends to work in your community, and to stay working with you.

The Real Question

Maybe we should be talking about healthspan for families, team members, and the broader community — not just residents.

What if your senior living community became the healthspan hub for your entire neighborhood?