Why does Madison need Independent Living?
A. I think the community needs Independent Living and its network of senior providers because we’re going toward — and are in — uncharted waters of this tremendous growth of folks in their late 70s, 80s and 90s. It’s not unusual to be introduced to folks who have passed the 100-year mark. This is totally a new world of what they call the “old old.” People have lived that long because of advances in health care and lifestyle. So we’re learning a great deal about what it is to live a good life in those age brackets. What we’re also learning is that the cohort of older adults in the 55 to 75 (range) is a very different group of individuals from the group in that age bracket when I started in this business 20 years ago. And we’re learning that some of the needs are different, some of the skill sets of those individuals are different in terms of their access to technology and actual use of technology. I think people in their 50s to late 70s are healthier and still active in the community
