What Do Senior Care Services Look For in a Market?

The in-home senior care industry has seen unprecedented growth in recent years, as the baby-boom generation has begun flooding the market. An estimated 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 years old every day, and by 2050, nearly 20% of the U.S. population will be age 65 and older. 

This shift in the age distribution of our country is accompanied by a significant change in the way baby boomers are aging. Not only are they living longer than their parents, they’re also healthier than past generations, allowing them to remain in their homes longer. 

According to the National Council on Aging, 90% of seniors say they plan to remain in their homes for the next five to ten years. A number of studies support that decision: Home health care offers many advantages over hospital-based health care, including financial, social and overall quality of life. 

With the U.S home care market expected to grow to $225B by 2024, in-home senior care companies are pushing to meet the demand. Here’s where four top senior home care brands are growing:

Griswold Home Care: Minnesota

According to a new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations, Minnesota boasts the third-highest life expectancy in the nation. At 80.7 years, only Hawaii and California have higher life expectancy rates. As Minnesotans live longer, demand for home health care is also expected to increase.

Griswold Home Care, the 168-unit in-home care franchise that helps seniors achieve better health, comfort and happiness, has its sights set on the Twin Cities, with a goal of inking 15 new deals this year.

The 40-year-strong brand recently signed a deal in Anoka County with Brett and Nicole Myhre, who started thinking about partnering with an in-home care franchise after experiencing some of the drawbacks of long-term care facilities during the pandemic.

“We became really passionate about the importance of in-home care after my grandmother, who was quarantined in a nursing home during COVID-19, was unable to meet our daughter and her great-granddaughter when she was born in 2020,” Brett said. “That’s when we discovered our area is quite underserved in terms of quality in-home care services provided by brands like Griswold.”

According to Nicole Kosmaceski, Griswold’s Franchise Development Manager, the brand seeks franchisees whose goals align with the brand’s mission to serve. “We call it ‘Griswoldness’ — people who demonstrate a high degree of empathy and caring,” she said. “We were fortunate to find those qualities in Brett and Nicole Myhre, our first franchisees in the Twin Cities. As we seek to expand in the Twin Cities area, we’re hoping to find franchisees with a similar focus and passion.”

Right at Home*: North Carolina

North Carolina is home to three of the best cities in the country for retirees — Asheville, Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem — all of which earned top spots on a recent list of the top 25 places to retire thanks to their temperate climates, air quality, doctor-to-patient ratios and bike-friendly environments. They were also noted for having no Social Security or inheritance taxes.

For North Carolina-based franchisee Kenneth Helmuth, who owns a Right at Home location in Raleigh-Durham, the greater Durham area — known as the Triangle — has been an ideal market to grow the Right at Home brand and build a reputation for exceptional care. 

“I see the amazing continuity of care that Right at Home provides in this area,” he said. “That quality of care is part of the culture that we’ve maintained while we have grown over the years. I am proud to be able to provide our North Carolina communities with Right at Home’s exceptional level of care and am excited to continue growing with the brand.”

The brand name that’s become synonymous with compassionate care for aging seniors, Right at Home offers a huge opportunity for its franchise partners, but it also comes with the opportunity to impact the lives of people in their communities, said Kevin Porter, Right at Home vice president of field operations. 

“When you’re taking care of seniors, you’re not just helping them — you’re helping the entire family,” he said. “You’re taking the stress away and giving everyone peace of mind. And like our mission statement says, you’re improving the quality of life for those you serve.”

Seniors Helping Seniors®: California

Home to America’s only Blue Zone —  geographic areas around the world where people have low rates of chronic disease and live longer than anywhere else — California boasts the second-highest life expectancy in the nation. At 80.9 years, only Hawaii has higher life expectancy rates. 

With two locations in California, Seniors Helping Seniors®— an in-home senior care franchise that employs active seniors to help their fellow seniors age in place — has seen success in The Golden State. 

According to Greg DeMaad, who owns a Monterey, California location with his wife, the brand’s unique model immediately resonated with them and their entire community.

“The concept of peer-to-peer assistance was something we fell in love with right away when looking into the opportunity to franchise with Seniors Helping Seniors®,” said DeMaad. “We recently took care of one amazing woman who passed away in November at the age of 103. She was thrilled that she didn’t have to go into a facility, and our caregivers were by her side when she passed. We were so proud to offer her that comfort. We also hired a 96-year-old caregiver—the oldest caregiver employed by Seniors Helping Seniors—and it was so inspiring to see her desire to help others.”

San Diego-based franchise owner Matt Obermueller brought an intimate understanding of the needs of seniors and their families to the brand. “After helping my father through health issues, I came to Seniors Helping Seniors® with a personal passion for helping the senior community,” he said. “Seniors Helping Seniors® creates an incredible opportunity to help caregivers through their retirement while providing seniors with valuable and loving friendships.”

TruBlue Total House Care: Florida

A recent Wallethub study named Florida as the No. 1 best state to retire, but that’s no surprise to many retirees. The state boasts the highest population of people age 65 and over in the country. 

TruBlue Total House Care, an emerging home-maintenance franchise, has carved out a lucrative niche as the only franchise brand focused on providing maintenance services for seniors and busy families. 

Believing that aging in place starts with a safe home, the company offers ongoing in-home support to help seniors remain at home for as long as possible. Now, the brand is preparing for widespread growth throughout the country, aiming to more than triple its size from 55 units to 200 franchise units by the end of 2023.

With 55 locations in operation across eight states, the brand is actively seeking new franchise owners in the Florida cities of Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville and Naples, where demographics point to a need for TruBlue’s unique model that addresses the growing trend of aging in place. 

“As a country, we are experiencing a change in how and where people want to grow old,” said Sean Fitzgerald, TruBlue’s president. “Plenty of companies have identified the growing desire from seniors to remain at home and, as a result, these companies have started offering more advanced in-home care services that address the medical needs that come with aging at home. However, almost no one is offering home maintenance specifically for seniors, despite staggering demand. We’re virtually alone in this segment, and we’ve seen tremendous growth as a result.”