Vital Involvement and the Baby-Boomer Cohort: A New Approach to Eldercare within Assisted Living Facilities

America's largest cohort is growing older. This group, known as the baby-boomers, is quickly becoming a strain on our healthcare system, as 10,800 adults turn 65 every day. These individuals not only constitute the largest cohort our country has seen, but they will also live longer than any previous generation, with 1 in 9 individuals planned to live to 90 or older (Collins, 2010). While many assisted living facilities are aware of this impending "boom" in resident numbers, some do not fully understand the changes in culture and the demands that will occur with this incoming population. The boomers have transformed the basis of our society. In their early years, they created a new culture of rock'n'roll, sex, drug experimentation, political activism, and tolerance. They have consistently advocated for what they desire, and this trend will not change in their later years. While assisted living facilities plan how to accommodate this generation, they must consider possible changes that they can make to their service plans (Berg, 2013). This may be done by adopting a theoretical framework as a guide, one excellent example being Erik Erikson's Vital Involvement theory. This project explores how vital involvement can impact the baby-boomer cohort and assisted living facilities by implementing three principles: (1) while professionals are involved with meeting the needs of older adults, they are also influencing the ongoing development of these adults; (2) while professionals are influencing older adults, these older adults are influencing them; and (3) professionals should program in ways that maximize elders' opportunities for vital involvement and optimal psychosocial health -- rather than emphasizing strategies that simply delay institutionalization and permit survival