Aging-in-Place Market Valued at $151B, But Still Overshadowed by Other Care Settings

Aging in place — which includes daily essential activities, health and safety awareness, care coordination, transition support and home-based care — is a $151 billion market.

That’s according to a new report from The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures.

“The [market growth] is driven from older adults themselves,” Jocelyn Ling Malan, business design partner at The Holding Co., told Home Health Care News. “It’s a huge space because people are looking to thrive in their older years. They’re looking for different solutions, products or services to help them live their best chapter.”

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The report examines and sizes the overall care economy, which The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures estimates to be a $648 billion market. This includes child care, household management, non-home-based long-term care, as well as aging in place.

Comparatively, the care economy is larger than the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and is set to see significant growth. The report singles out the aging-in-place industry as an especially hot growth area.

Source: The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures

Demographic shifts have, no doubt, played a role in the continued growth that the aging-in-place market is seeing. The number of seniors is estimated to double between 52 million in 2018 to 95 million in 2060.

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“There’s also a longevity aspect to this,” Malan said. “The life expectancy of older adults in the U.S. is increasing. … We’re living longer than ever, and we’re also working longer than ever, so there’s more money in the system.”

Additionally, roughly 70% of individuals have severe needs for long-term services and support, according to the Global Coalition on Aging.

Plus, 65% of seniors would prefer to avoid moving into a retirement home, according to the report.

The report determined that the aging-in-place market can be broken down into two subsets. About $60 billion of the market is comprised of businesses that offer personal care, care coordination, respite care, health and safety, awareness, transition support and social well-being services.

The remaining $91 billion of the market is home care provision for seniors and adults with disabilities. This includes home health, home nursing support, home therapy and durable medical equipment.

Given the spotlight the COVID-19 emergency has placed on home-based care and the overwhelming preference for aging in place, it is likely that both subsets of the market will see continued growth.

In fact, the aging-in-place market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 13%, according to the report.

“This is really exciting for us to continue to track and follow,” Malan said. “Once the pandemic is done, I think that will also have really interesting effects on what the aging-in-place and home-based care segment is going to look like.”

Source: The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures

In comparison, the non-home-based long-term care market is a $239 market. This includes nursing care facilities, retirement centers, assisted living facilities, hospice, palliative care and long-term care insurance.

The report also found that seniors have an increased level of overall use and savviness when it comes to technology. Specifically, 75% of seniors are using the internet, 53% of seniors own a smartphone and 59% of seniors have broadband access.

Looking ahead, Malan believes access to technology will fuel innovation in the aging-in-place market.

“The use of technology is important because it really unlocks a whole new wave of types of products and services that you can use to reach older adults,” she said. “I think a really huge myth is that older adults don’t know how to use technology at all — and that is a myth that we are trying to debunk.”

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