Alzheimers Australia has just completed a study of retirement villages in conjunction with the Retirement Living Council. With the average age of village residents now at 81, one in eight residents will develop dementia.

GM of Alzheimers Australia NSW, Brendan Moore, is quoted “You have a sector that has prided itself on marketing and delivering independent living, but I don’t think that they can continue to just be bricks and mortar. By and large, the sector needs to respond to this in the near future. They’re a really important part of the housing”.

“We believe that once you make that decision, yes or no, you need to then incorporate that into your organisational strategy, your philosophy, and your operating model and into the facets of what you do as a retirement village.”

He says if the village is not going to support dementia, this must be made crystal clear in the village marketing and screening processes must be in place to assess potential residents.

Robin Lyons, Partner at Minter Ellison, has been highlighting for the past 12 months the potential risk village operators run as care support builds as a service in retirement villages.

Increased compliance regulation and staffing skills is inevitable.