March 6, 2012
Our founder and president Barth Holohan was interviewed by the Webster-Kirkwood Times for their article about how those 80 & older represent the fastest growing segment of society.
From “Aging Population Can Present Challenges”:
Move over 20-30-40- and 50-somethings of the world, there’s a lot more senior citizens than there used to be – those 65 and older now make up the largest part of the country’s population pie.
“Between 8,000 and 10,000 baby boomers are hitting 65 (years old) every day, but the fastest growing population are individuals over the age of 80,” said Barth Holohan, who is the founder and president of Des Peres-based Continuum, which provides private duty home care, nursing, retirement community programs, personal emergency response systems and geriatric care management to senior citizens.
The fact that people are living longer influences trends such as what type of housing is built to how families will manage the care of their elder counterparts.
“The marketplace is changing as it pertains to care for older adults,” Holohan said. “Thirty to 40 years ago you had a nursing home or you had people getting care in their home, but usually care in the home was done by a loved one. When people would stay in the hospital it was for a long period of time. Now, people are in the hospital for a short period of time, go to rehab, then go home with home care – and the services you have available to you in the home are extensive.”
The in-home care industry is thriving, and Holohan’s company is proof of that. “When we started 10 years ago I was the first employee … now we have over 200 staff and service over 400 clients,” he said, adding that growth in the industry has exploded in the past five years. People want to stay in their home and pay out-of-pocket for services. You will see this trend increase as baby boomers age and need more care.”
Read the rest of the article here!