The Project Format of Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC): Case Studies of Mckean Senior Center and Sawangkanives

Abstract

Population aging is a global phenomenon because the people born in the baby boom period are becoming elderly. In Thailand, persons 60 years and older account for 18.86 percent of the population, with one in three living independently without a child. The trend of older people living alone is continuously increasing. Consequently, preparation before retirement requires consideration in various aspects, especially housing. The older people often prefer to age in place, but their levels of dependency affect the use of space. The Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) provides continuous support for all levels of dependency. CCRCs are often large-scale, which has an impact on the overall real estate for older people. This research article aims to study the CCRCs project format, analyze space usage behavior, and analyze the problems. To suggest guidelines for developing CCRC projects in the future by surveying and conducting in-depth interviews with older people, entrepreneurs, and caregivers in case studies of two projects: Sawangkanives Housing and Mckean Senior Center.

The study found that having continuous care systems makes older people choose the project because they want to stay in their familiar environment until the end of their lives. This is due to their familiarity with the space, the continuity of care, and the society that takes care of each other. Independent older people will help take care of the assistance or dependent group. But if it's too much, it can lead to neglect of self-care and worsening physical conditions. Therefore, there needs to be a balance in separating groups of older people based on their levels of dependency into separate residence areas and activity areas. In business terms, continuing care retirement community projects are complex to manage in terms of administration and physical environment. That is because the project must support different needs according to levels of dependency. And that is why limitations cause projects to be few when compared to other types of older people real estate projects.