August 5, 2025

National Assisted Living Week: A Timely Opportunity for Recognition, Celebration, Education

About Brookdale Senior Living

Brookdale Senior Living offers multiple care levels for seniors in more than 600 communities nationwide. Brookdale helps you find the right care plan for yourself or your loved one. With amenities such as transportation services, salons and private dining rooms and activities such as gardening, fitness classes and trivia nights Brookdale caters to a wide range of interests and needs.

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Most Americans will do little if anything to commemorate National Assisted Living Week. There will be no fireworks, parades or star-studded concerts in conjunction with this annual observance, set for September 7–13, 2025. But Brookdale Senior Living welcomes the week as an important opportunity for:

Recognition. The National Center for Assisted Living^®, part of the American Health Care Association^®, established National Assisted Living Week in 1995 — 30 years ago — “to recognize the role of assisted living in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities.” That role is increasing: An estimated 1 million Americans currently reside in assisted living communities, and the number continues to grow as our population ages.
Celebration. We should celebrate these valued community members as well as the dedicated healthcare professionals, care partners and family members who empower them to live their best lives, regardless of the physical, cognitive, social and/or emotional challenges they may face.
Education. Much of the public remains unclear about what exactly an assisted living community is and all it offers. Even some healthcare professionals are unaware of the ways such communities can collaborate with HCPs to keep senior adults healthier and out of the hospital and ER.

Thanks to ongoing innovations in prevention, chronic condition management and value-based care, it’s more feasible than ever for assisted living communities and HCPs to fulfill their common goal: enabling older adults to live well every step of the way. The future looks bright.

The Future of Assisted Living

This time of rapid growth for the assisted living industry comes with challenges — staffing, regulations and changing consumer demands, for example — similar to those faced by the healthcare industry. Appropriately, both industries are navigating major shifts in their approaches to care as a result of factors such as:

Technological advances. Among the technologies shaping the future of assisted living are smart home technologies that monitor residents’ health and environment, helping to improve safety and emergency responsiveness. There are wearable devices and unobtrusive environmental sensors that monitor an individual’s health metrics and/or movement patterns in real time, facilitating proactive care and early detection of health issues. Artificial intelligence and robotics are enabling an increasing range of functions, including medication management, fall prevention, communication and companionship, and help with daily living activities.
Changing care models. There is a rising demand for in-home care and for hybrid care models that offer multiple levels of care. In addition, many senior living communities now offer a range of specialized services tailored to residents’ lifestyles and interests, such as wellness, culture and entertainment. But perhaps the most significant change in care models is the ongoing shift toward value-based care (more on that shortly).
An increased focus on personalized care. Consumers expect choices these days, and that extends to their health. As older adults take a more active role in their own health management, including shaping their treatment plans and wellness routines, they also are looking for living experiences tailored to their unique needs and preferences. The most successful senior living communities are focusing on the well-being of the whole person: physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.

Another promising development has been on the Medicaid front. A growing preference for community-based care, along with its cost-effectiveness, has led Medicaid to expand coverage of long-term care services and supports (LTSS), especially through home- and community-based services waivers. This reflects a realization that covering long-term care makes more sense than having to pay for repeat hospitalizations and ER visits.

Although Medicaid typically does not cover room and board in an assisted living community, it sometimes pays for care services within that community. Medicaid waiver programs in many states help cover personal care and other support services in assisted living settings for those who qualify. (The current Medicaid situation is fluid, so stay tuned to Capitol Hill.)

Brookdale: Today, Tomorrow and Beyond

Brookdale and its Brookdale HealthPlus^® care model have been at the forefront of adapting to industry shifts and meeting the increasing needs of America’s older adults. The Brookdale HealthPlus model is centered on wellness; it includes the additional support of an RN (Registered Nurse) Care Manager who works to help improve health outcomes, help reduce the number of unnecessary hospitalizations, and provide care coordination for residents and families.

Brookdale HealthPlus is currently available in 126 communities in six states. Brookdale is equipped and prepared to remain the industry leader by continuing to expand Brookdale HealthPlus to new communities, further demonstrating the benefits of value-based care over traditional assisted living.

Value-based care shifts the focus from volume to outcomes, aiming to reduce costs and improve health through prevention, chronic care and real-time monitoring. Brookdale’s HealthPlus care model is aligned to value-based care as it provides enhanced support with chronic condition management; a focus on preventive, proactive care; and the additional support of an RN Care Manager to assist with care coordination. This innovative approach has resulted in better outcomes, such as 80% fewer urgent care visits, 66% fewer hospitalizations and a 61% higher annual wellness visit completion rate (Cite the source of these statistics)

Care coordination is essential to success and can significantly improve health outcomes and quality of life for older adults. Quality care coordination helps to ensure that all healthcare needs are addressed in a cohesive manner. By facilitating communication among providers, specialists and third-party services, effective care coordination helps to prevent care gaps, reduce hospitalizations and manage chronic health conditions. For older adults who have many individuals on their care teams, this approach helps to maintain continuity and support overall health and well-being.

Prevention entails being vigilant about the most preventable causes of ER visits among older adults — falls, medication errors and adverse drug reactions, urinary tract infections, neglected hygiene, acute illnesses — and taking the necessary steps to help prevent them. Steps like removal of environmental hazards, informed medication management, keeping residents hydrated, assisting with bathing and other personal care, and appropriate vaccinations go a long way toward keeping residents healthy.

Effective chronic condition management requires that care team members know their residents, understand their unique needs related to their well-being and present chronic conditions, and do what they can to help maintain optimal wellness. Routine physician visits combined with honest and omnidirectional communication (care coordination) help to keep the entire care team on the same page. Patient care meetings often include discussions of options such as physical therapy, home health, palliative care or hospice, as appropriate.

Engaging the entire care team is important to achieve positive outcomes. Brookdale works closely with all individuals supporting resident care to facilitate informed, person-centered care for residents and their families. Collaboration with the provider and health plan, along with various third-party services, helps to ensure that residents receive supportive, collaborative care.

To make a referral, schedule a visit or simply find out more about Brookdale HealthPlus communities, reach out to us.

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