Is There a “Diversity Problem” in Senior Living?

Steve Moran, who writes for Senior Housing Forum, a website that offers itself as a “place for conversation and collaboration,” always seems willing to take on sensitive topics.  Recently, in a commentary piece entitled Black Consumers and Senior Living, he nonetheless began:

I am terrified to be writing and publishing this article.  It seems that writing anything about race is fraught with all kinds of downsides and very little in the way of upside. Except that we have an ethnic problem in senior living.  Today, based on resident populations, only white people (and Asians) seem to like senior living.

He addresses provider attempts to “explain away” the problem and arguments about whether “Blacks and Whites have different world views.”  Ultimately, recognizing the need for both sensitivity and fearlessness, he concludes, “[I]f senior living is really a great thing, and I believe it is, then we have an obligation” to make it available to everyone.  

Certainly there are “marketing” reasons to reach out to a broader circle of perspective clients to offer supportive, attractive community living.  But, I think Steve’s short post is a good start on other fundamental questions about what consumers want, need, expect, and cherish as they approach some invisible line that makes them eligible for senior living.