When reviewing a research report about the senior living industry, it’s important to read the findings critically. Was the sample size large enough to be meaningful? Were there additional variables that could have influenced results? Does the control group provide a true apples-to-apples comparison?
For research involving humans, longitudinal studies with larger samples and control groups generally yield more reliable conclusions. That is why the five-year Mather Institute Age Well Study has garnered attention across the senior living sector.
The study’s fifth and final year results are now available, and they reinforce earlier findings: residents of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs, also called life plan communities) consistently report stronger physical, intellectual, emotional, vocational, and social wellness than demographically similar older adults living in the broader community—typically in their own homes.
The Age Well Study: background and methodology
Mather is a non-denominational, not-for-profit organization based in Chicago that focuses on improving the lives of older adults. The organization operates independent living rentals and CCRCs, offers a range of in-person and online programs for older adults, and founded the Mather Institute in 1999 to conduct research and develop innovations for aging well.
In 2018 the Mather Institute partnered with researchers at Northwestern University to launch the Age Well Study, a five-year longitudinal project that used annual surveys to collect self-reported data on participants’ health and wellness. The study explored how living environment affects cognitive, physical, and psychosocial health, and overall wellbeing.
Across five years, more than 8,200 residents from 122 CCRCs nationwide completed surveys. Some questions remained consistent year to year, while others targeted a specific focus for each year:
- Year 1: Overall wellness
- Year 2: Physical health and healthy behaviors
- Year 3: Happiness and life satisfaction
- Year 4: Resilience and coping strategies
- Year 5: Changes in health and wellness
Responses from CCRC residents were compared with a demographically similar control group of community-dwelling older adults using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The researchers also compared responses between Year 1 and Year 5 to assess change over time.
CCRC residents show stronger overall wellness
The Year 5 results, released earlier this year, reinforce the study’s prior conclusions. For a fifth consecutive year, CCRC residents reported higher levels of physical, intellectual, emotional, vocational, and social wellness compared with the control group of community-dwelling older adults.
- CCRC residents reported better overall health and higher levels of moderate physical activity than their counterparts living in the community at large.
- On measures of social wellness, residents in CCRCs outscored community-dwelling respondents across the board.
- In the spiritual and vocational domain, CCRC residents scored lower on religiosity but were comparable or higher on measures such as purpose in life and retirement satisfaction.
- For emotional wellness—life satisfaction, optimism, and perceptions of aging—CCRC residents were comparable or significantly better than community peers, with the exception of depressive symptoms, where they fared less well.
- CCRC residents reported better self-rated memory and greater participation in intellectual activities than older adults living in the broader community.
Important caveat about the Year 5 dataset
One key caveat applies to the Year 5 analysis. Control group data came from the 2018 HRS (collected April 2018–June 2019) and the 2020 HRS (collected March 2020–March 2021). As a result, about 55 percent of community-at-large responses were provided before the COVID-19 pandemic, while 100 percent of the CCRC Year 5 responses were collected roughly two years into the pandemic.
The Age Well Study researchers noted that this timing difference complicates direct comparisons for Year 5 and may mean the two groups were not fully comparable that year. For example, declines in positive perceptions of aging among CCRC residents could be related to increased exposure to ageism and pandemic-specific stressors.
The report states researchers plan to update their analyses and comparisons once new HRS data become available to better account for pandemic impacts on community-dwelling older adults.
What seniors and senior living communities can take away
The Age Well Study offers several practical takeaways for older adults considering a move to a CCRC, and for senior living communities themselves.
First, despite pandemic-related challenges, CCRC residents continued to report strong wellbeing. Even when compared to community data collected before the pandemic, CCRC residents consistently reported better outcomes on most measures of health and wellbeing.
For CCRCs and other senior living providers, these findings validate that many programs and services—social engagement, wellness activities, purposeful opportunities, and access to care—can make a meaningful difference in residents’ mental, physical, and emotional health. The study also highlights areas for improvement: enhancing emotional support, addressing ageism, promoting positive views of aging, and supporting residents’ spiritual and vocational interests.
Overall, Year 5 of the Age Well Study delivers encouraging evidence that moving to a senior living community such as a CCRC can positively influence seniors’ wellbeing across multiple domains.