The Minnesota State Demographic Center contends, "that aging is the dominant demographic trend in Minnesota and the nation: Dramatic changes will be seen in 2008 and beyond, by 2030 our senior population will double." Couple this with the rising health care crisis where hospitals lack the capacity today on the east coast to treat seniors; and assisted care will continue to be the solution to the challenges facing our entire population, especially if we are able to incorporate memory care, transitional care and independent living in these facilities.

The challenge for care-providers is integrating these diverse functions under one roof, and then managing the clientele, staff and maintenance. It becomes critical to overcome these hurdles, and to do so the design team and the provider/owner team must work in unison. Kaas Wilson Architects has the combined experience of several decades of collaboration with these providers and owners to help realize their goals.

It is crucial the architect understand who may be the residents. We find that today 75% of elderly over 85 in Minnesota have a disability and most elderly coming to an assisted living are currently living alone. Therefore, common areas must foster and stimulate interaction, nutrition, exercise and interest, while being inviting and accessible to people with motion limitation, poor eye sight and memory loss. Kaas Wilson Architects incorporate these ideas in every assisted-care project. Our portfolio of past projects demonstrates our success.

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