The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) has released the Juneau Senior Housing and Senior Services Demand Study, completed by AgnewBeck Consulting and Northern Economics.
The report estimates current gaps and forecasts the demand for housing and services needed by Juneau’s seniors in the coming decades. The study’s goals were to estimate the number of Juneau residents that need and are likely to move into assisted living if it were available, as well as educate the public about senior housing and services available in Juneau, waiting lists, costs, barriers to development, projected needs, and business opportunities to serve Juneau’s retirees and elderly.
The six-month project determined the market demand for senior assisted living in Juneau supports an additional 56 units or beds today, with market demand for total beds projected to be 380 by 2042.
Analytical factors included State of Alaska population projections, the current use of senior housing and supportive services by age ranges, personal and household income data for Juneau, cost sensitivity analysis, the results of a 2010 Senior Survey completed by the Juneau Commission on Aging, and real-time preference polling at a community workshop held in Juneau in July 2014.
Some of the report’s key findings are:
• State of Alaska population projections show Juneau’s 85+ year old residents increasing from 285 in 2014 to 1,383 in 2042.
• 91 percent of Juneau’s current 85+ population use support services or reside in housing designed for the elderly.
• The active wait list at the 48-bed Juneau Pioneer Home was 97 in May, with over 1,500 on the inactive list.
• All independent senior housing facilities have wait lists.
• Juneau is estimated to have over 1,000 senior residents with Alzheimer’s disease by 2042.
The full report can be downloaded from http://www.jedc.org/2014-juneau-senior-housing.
The report was commissioned by Senior Citizens Support Services, Inc. as part of its efforts to bring senior assisted living to Juneau, with financial support by the City and Borough of Juneau, the Alaska Mental Health Trust and with project management provided by JEDC.
