Middle-income senior housing strategies

[Jason Turgeon]

My wife and I have aging parents, so this is something that's been on our minds anyway. Now this article in today's Boston Globe discusses the huge need for affordable housing with resources for some sort of assisted living and it has me thinking. 

The wealthiest of seniors are well taken care of by the private sector in nursing homes and lesser forms of assisted living situations that start at $5000 per month and can rapidly escalate. I have a friend whose uncle is paying nearly $11k a month to a private nursing home. And the poorest seniors qualify for subsidized nursing homes.

But what about the middle income seniors? The "retired teachers, trade union members, first responders, [and] government workers" listed in the article?

Per the article, "the study projects that by 2029 about 14.4 million middle-income seniors — nearly double today’s number — will lack the financial resources for housing and personal care assistance.... [there needs to be] a national push to accelerate construction of assisted living units for middle-income residents...and spark new payment models for middle-income assisted living."

Obviously this will be a partnership enterprise. We here on these forums are interested in real estate, not providing nursing care services. But with the right strategies and partners, there could be a way to do some real good and capitalize on a huge market of underserved people.

What are some strategies you all have seen that work for middle-income senior housing? What new things could/should we (as real estate investors) try? What about these "new payment models?" How could partnerships with care providers be structured to benefit everyone?