Iowa’s senior living communities continue to reinvent themselves to meet the needs of a changing demographic, and an organization that represents them has changed as well.

“As we live longer and we have more people who are seniors, there is going to have to be a more economic approach to how we provide services,” said Dana Petrowsky, president and CEO of LeadingAge Iowa. The association is made up of 146 nonprofit senior living communities and care providers throughout the state.

Founded in 1964 as the Iowa Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the nonprofit organization’s mission is to “expand the world of possibilities for aging.” It changed its name in February to LeadingAge Iowa to better align itself with its national partner, LeadingAge, which represents 5,500 nonprofit service providers nationwide.

As part of its new strategic plan completed this year, the organization plans to focus on expanding home- and community-based services available for seniors, resident safety for those in long-term care, and using health information technology that will allow the exchange and secure access of patient health information throughout the state.

Iowa has one of the oldest populations in the country; it ranks fourth in the nation in the percentage of people over the age of 85 (2.6 percent) and fifth in the percentage of residents 65 and older (14.7 percent).

“The average age of people we provide services to in our communities is 85, so the Baby Boomers will be entering that in the next 10 to 20 years,” Petrowsky said. “Not only are there going to be more seniors, but the percentage of the population they represent is going to increase. So as we think about how to provide services to people as they age, we’re also going to have to think about what their preferences are. And the Boomers are pretty particular about what they want and where they get it; they’re savvy consumers.”

Another key question for providers: As the aging population represents a larger portion of the population as a whole, where will they find the work force to care for these people?

“So as we look at how to approach this age tsunami – as some people are calling it – and the financial issues we’re challenged by, we know we’ll have to provide some methods of providing services to people in their homes that are less expensive,” Petrowsky said. “So we’re talking to our members about how we can increase our home- and community-based services to help sustain people at home as long as they can.”

Many of LeadingAge Iowa’s member senior communities have been around for six decades or more and have reinvented themselves many times. One example of how they have adapted is the explosion of assisted living apartments in the state, which were non-existent prior to the mid-1990s but now number more than 18,000 units across the state. Another reinvention under way: the expansion of home-based services for seniors being provided by retirement communities.

“They are reinventing themselves to meet the needs of the community,” Petrowsky said, “and we see that as our role, to help them reinvent themselves.”