According to a recent article in the Washington Post, increasing numbers of experts say that assisted living communities need to focus more on attracting men to their communities, as their design and décor is typically geared towards women.
“We certainly can seek ways to make facilities more gender-friendly,” aging expert Steve French told the news source. “It’s easier to develop plans for a guy once he is in the facility than it is to convince him he has to go.”
French added that men can be pickier and more difficult to please than women, who, upon moving to a new retirement community, are more likely to appreciate whatever the decorations and set-up is.
According to the media outlet, one trend which may help both men and women alike is the move toward specific retirement communities based on residents’ interests, religion, ethnicity, and even sexual orientation.
As the population in North America and across the world continues to age, the trend of making assisted living communities more specific will have a lot of room to grow: over the next few decades, the number of Americans over the age of 60 will expand by about 70 per cent.