This article was originally published by McKnights Senior Living.
Author: Lois A. Bowers | 1/5/2026
Happy new year! What’s on your mind as the new year gets underway?
The sheer size of the older adult population, supply and demand, affordability and artificial intelligence are the issues on the minds of senior living leaders at organizations counseled by AKCG as 2026 begins.
The public relations firm recently shared with me insights it had solicited from the leaders of client companies.
“The defining issue for the aging sector in 2026 is the widening gap between the rapidly growing older adult population and the limited supply of senior housing and care options,” said Brian G. Lawrence, president and CEO of New Jersey-based life plan operator FellowshipLIFE.
The need for senior living is increasing, he said, noting the growing older adult population, low construction activity and a declining number of family caregivers, among other factors.
“At the same time, providers will continue to navigate inflation, wage growth, workforce shortages, insurance cost escalation, and aging physical infrastructure — all of which restrict the aging sector’s ability to add needed capacity,” Lawrence said.
To meet demand, he said, FellowshipLIFE has expanded to a multisite system over the past few years.
“2026 must be a year where the field shifts from incremental growth to bold, strategic expansion,” Lawrence said. “If we don’t do this, we risk widening the supply gap beyond recovery.”
For Virginia-based Pinnacle Living’s CEO, Chris Henderson, affordability will be “an ever-increasing challenge” for providers as the expectations of prospective residents increase, but he predicts that “2026 will be full of new opportunities.”
“Construction, renovation and capital costs, increasing labor and benefit costs, and the shrinking workforce are all major issues that we have to face in the field of senior living,” he said. “It will be easy for many organizations to stagnate in 2026 because of these issues, but we know demand for services will increase exponentially.”
Answers, Henderson said, are to focus on partnerships, manage resources effectively and develop systems to “do more with less.”
Meanwhile, Delaware-based Kendal Corporation’s CEO, Vassar Byrd, said that the biggest issue facing the industry “isn’t a problem; it’s a force.”
“New generations of residents are arriving at communities with scale, power, networks and expectations that the aging-services field has never seen. They aren’t simply a new customer segment; they are a social movement,” Byrd said. “The opportunity, and the challenge, is whether we can successfully partner in this movement or be overwhelmed by it.”
To succeed, the CEO said, “providers must shift from a top-down model to a truly collaborative, trust-based partnership. Residents expect transparency, expertise and shared decision-making in the aspects of aging that most impact how they want to live their lives.”
Along the way, Byrd said, providers and older adults will be doing “the most meaningful work we can do together.”
For Kevin DeAcosta, president and CEO of Pennsylvania-based Aspire for Well-Being, which includes The Highlands at Wyomissing, Aspire for Well-Being Home Care and Aspire for Well-Being Healthcare Staffing under its umbrella, artificial intelligence is a big issue not only for senior living providers but also for other business types.
From a provider perspective, AI is already streamlining the recruiting process and improving worker retention, and the immediate outlook points to even more areas of opportunity to utilize AI,” DeAcosta said.
An AI platform recently installed at The Highlands at Wyomissing, he said, uses application and job history information to help organize applicants based on their likelihood of being hired.
“Having this head start cuts down time spent combing through applications and increases interactions with strong, qualified candidates,” DeAcosta said, adding that the organization quickly has seen a “measureable impact.”
Whatever challenges and opportunities your organization faces in 2026, I wish you success.
Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living, the winner of a 2025 Jesse H. Neal Award in the Best Range of Work by a Media Brand category.
