January 23, 2025 • 34 mins
According to Ted Teele from Longevity Community Consultants, transforming senior living requires a radical shift to meet the expectations of baby boomers, and longevity communities offer a promising solution by embedding scientific wellness into aging. With a focus on prevention, personalized health strategies, and community engagement, these innovative spaces aspire to enhance overall quality of life for seniors.
• Exploring the rise of longevity communities
• Emphasizing the role of scientific wellness in aging
• Understanding the four P's: predicting, preventing, personalizing, and participating in health
• Highlighting the importance of health assessments in preventative care
• Discussing the role of technology in enhancing well-being
• Creating a supportive and fun environment for healthy living
• Identifying cognitive improvement clubs as a vehicle for attracting residents
• Leveraging marketing to change perceptions of senior living
• Understanding the financial benefits of longevity community models
• Proposing actionable strategies for senior living providers to attract baby boomers
White Papers:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-senior-living-providers-can-attract-56ere/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-blueprint-supporting-healthy-aging-2jw9e/
Ted Teele's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-teele-26b3421/
Longevity Community Consultants: https://www.linkedin.com/company/longevitycommunityconsultants
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ted Teele (00:07):
I think we all know and you hear about it all the
time senior living needs tochange to attract and inspire
baby boomers.
One of the points that I madeis if 90% of the target market
doesn't want a product seniorliving the change has to be
fundamental.
At the same time, there's thismajor trend in society around
(00:31):
longevity.
Billions of dollars are beingspent in that area and all of
the scientific developments overthe last 20 years have made the
idea of scientific wellnesspossible.
So if you believe all that,then the future of senior living
(00:55):
lies in embracing scientificwellness and the longevity
community concepts.
John Hauber (01:04):
Welcome to the Senior Housing Investors Podcast
.
If you are an owner operator,investor, developer or buyer of
senior housing, you've come tothe right place.
The best way to stay connectedwith us is to sign up for our
weekly newsletter athavenseniorinvestments.
com.
This podcast doesn't existwithout you, our community.
(01:26):
Thank you for listening andreach out to us anytime.
Today, we welcome Ted Teal backto the show.
Are you ready to learn aboutthe latest in longevity
communities?
Listen in, as our host, JohnHauber, has a great conversation
with Ted John.
(01:48):
Thanks, Kelsey.
Today's speaker is someonewhose story and mission continue
to inspire many in the seniorliving industry.
Ted Teele is a Harvard MBA, theformer CEO of Touchdown, a
leader in engagement technologyfor senior living and the CEO of
Longevity Community Consultants.
Ted's journey into the field oflongevity science began in 2019
(02:14):
when he underwent quintuplebypass surgery.
That life-changing experiencemotivated him to immerse himself
in the science of aging for hisown longevity and to find
innovative ways to help othersimprove cognitive skills and
live healthier, happier, longerlives.
He has since developed thegroundbreaking concept of
(02:37):
longevity communities andpublished two insightful white
papers of new blueprint forsupporting healthy aging and how
senior living providers canattract more baby boomers, both
of which are available with thelinks below the podcast.
Ted, welcome back to thepodcast.
Ted Teele (02:57):
It's an honor to be back.
I'm thrilled to discuss theseimportant issues with you and
your tremendous audience.
Discuss these important issueswith you and your tremendous
audience.
John Hauber (03:05):
Well, the last time you joined us, you introduced
the concept of longevitycommunities, and that episode
became one of our mostdownloaded interviews ever.
Congratulations on thatachievement.
Ted Teele (03:23):
Thanks, John.
That means a lot.
I think it reflects the growinginterest in transforming senior
living to better meet the needsand aspirations of baby boomers
.
John Hauber (03:30):
Absolutely.
Before we dive into your secondwhite paper, how senior living
providers can attract more babyboomers, can you tell our
audience what a longevitycommunity is and why are they
needed?
Ted Teele (03:50):
Great question, john.
Longevity communities will makeit easier and more fun for
people to enhance theircognitive skills and live
healthier, happier and longerlives.
John Hauber (04:00):
Well I'm curious, Ted, how will they accomplish
that?
Ted Teele (04:11):
The foundation of longevity communities will be
scientific wellness, asdescribed in the book the Age of
Scientific Wellness by thelegendary biologist Lee Hood and
his brilliant longtimeassociate Nathan Price, both
faculty members of the BuckInstitute for Research on Aging.
Scientific wellness is a 21stcentury approach to health and
wellness utilizing rigorousscience.
(04:34):
There are four P's ofscientific wellness.
The first P is to predictdiseases before they manifest
clinically.
As we all know, our healthcaresystem today is primarily sick
care and doesn't do a great jobof predicting or preventing
(04:54):
disease.
There are screening tests thatcan be done, but unfortunately,
generally checkups consist of aminimum of testing and screening
, with certain exceptions likecolon and breast cancer screens,
and they have you write downyour family history, which is
(05:14):
okay, but it would be so muchbetter if they looked at your
actual genes and looked at youractual risk factors.
Scientific wellness looks at alot more of your biology on a
regular basis and uses AI tocompare your unique biology to
many other anonymized healthrecords to predict disease.
(05:37):
Most people believe that you'rehealthy until you're sick, but
in reality there's a diseasetransition process that in many
cases lasts years.
That was true for my coronaryartery disease, which could have
been identified years ago if Iwas a patient of scientific
wellness approaches.
If I had known about thedisease much sooner, I could
(06:00):
have made adjustments whichmight have prevented the need
for my bypass surgery.
Sadly, 50% of the cases ofcoronary artery disease today
aren't identified until someonedies of a heart attack.
So the goal is to predict itand then, once you can predict
(06:22):
it, you want to prevent it.
By the way, one other thingthat's really interesting to me
it is now possible to findpancreatic cancer two years
before there are any clinicalsigns.
They can find it because thereis a unique aggregation of
proteins that only exists insidepeople who are in the disease
(06:44):
transition process forpancreatic cancer.
And, of course, it's mucheasier to deal with a disease
when it's very small.
Sadly, most people who getpancreatic cancer don't find it
until it's stage three or four,and by then it's too late.
So, after predicting disease,the second P of scientific
(07:06):
wellness is to prevent disease,or at least to find it while
it's in the disease transitionstage and very small and much
more easily treated.
This leads to the third P,which are personalized
recommendations based on eachperson's unique biology and
health situation.
(07:27):
And the fourth P isparticipation, which is what
each of us needs to do for ourown health.
All of this is not easy today.
John Hauber (07:39):
Well, Ted, I took your advice the last time we
spoke and you and I hadmentioned a full-body MRI and I
went and got one, and itactually was able to point out a
few areas of concern, justlittle concern, moderate concern
(08:00):
.
So is that what we're talkingabout?
We're talking aboutpreventative right Find the
disease before it gets to apoint where it's hard to treat.
And that's what I'm hearing yousay, correctly, right?
Ted Teele (08:13):
Exactly, and doing things like full-body MRIs and a
lot of other screens.
It should be routine, that'scorrect, but they're not today.
Should be routine, that'scorrect, and, and, and, but
they're not today.
John Hauber (08:25):
So how do longevity communities in the future, or
even the ones today, make it alleasier?
Ted Teele (08:38):
I'm still working on the world's first longevity
community, right, but longevitycommunities will make it much
easier by bringing everythingpeople need into one convenient
place, from advanced AI-basedhealth assessments similar to
what you did, but much morecomprehensive to personalize
(08:59):
programming.
We'll create an ecosystem whereresidents can focus and other
participants what I callnon-resident members can focus
on improving their healthwithout logistical barriers.
It's not just providingservices.
It's about simplifying accessand creating a supportive
(09:21):
environment where it's actuallyfun to get healthier.
For example, the programmingand longevity communities will
include all the pillars ofhealthy aging described in my
first white paper.
Imagine walking into acommunity where you can
seamlessly move from a cognitiveimprovement club session to a
(09:43):
group fitness class, followed bya chef-prepared, health-focused
lunch with friends, with all ofthe results tracked by rigorous
science.
John Hauber (09:55):
So why is rigorous science important?
Ted Teele (09:59):
Well, let's look at it from two perspectives.
From the participant'sperspective, it can highlight
progress or identify new healthissues that need to be addressed
.
If you're looking at yourbiology every six months, you
can find issues that crop upthat you can address.
And from the community'sperspective, it will enable the
(10:22):
community to prove that it'senhancing cognitive skills and
improving health.
It's now possible, as you know,to assess someone's biological
age, so it will be possible tomeasure health improvements by
looking at how somebody'sbiological age changes every six
(10:43):
months or so.
Scientific Wellness they did anexperiment on a program with
about 4,000 people where thewomen actually aged backwards
when they were participatingaccording to their biological
age, and the men perhaps theyweren't as good at following
recommendations.
(11:03):
They continued to age, but at amuch slower rate.
For every chronological yearthat they participated in the
program, their biological ageincreased only three months.
The women actually wentbackwards six months.
You know you think about this.
(11:23):
Senior living providers haveinvested probably hundreds of
millions of dollars in wellnessprogramming but have never been
able to prove the healthbenefits.
Scientific wellness-basedprogramming can change that and
it's very important to change it.
John Hauber (11:41):
I agree.
So how does technology fit in?
Ted Teele (11:45):
So the Longevity Club technology will tie it all
together.
Each member will receivepersonalized recommendations
through an app that tracks theirprogress and keeps them
motivated, and the AI-based appwill also be able to answer
health-related questions basedon the member's unique biology
(12:07):
and health history.
In other words, you just don'thave to go to ChatGPT and ask a
general question about how todeal with heart disease or
whatever you have question abouthow to deal with heart disease
or whatever you havepre-diabetes or whatever you
have.
The app will know yoursituation and be able to answer
questions based on that.
The app will also usegamification to make it more fun
(12:33):
, like earning points formeeting activity goals.
Having groups compete againstother groups provide reminders
for activities that you aregoing to be interested in based
on your personalizedrecommendation.
This makes following apersonalized wellness plan
simple and fun.
The technology will also fostera community by encouraging
(12:55):
group participation, whichenhances accountability and
enjoyment.
John Hauber (13:01):
All right, ted.
Where's the fun?
Ted Teele (13:05):
Well, that is the question, because right now you
could do all these things byyourself, or most of them.
It's not easy, it's hardlogistically, but the fun comes
from going through theprogramming with your friends.
At the longevity communityWe'll create clubs around
(13:25):
certain healthy programming,like the Polar Bear Club for
cold plunges, which are so goodfor you from a biochemical
perspective, but everybodydreads it perspective.
But everybody dreads it.
But in Scandinavia they dosomething like that where they
all jump into the Baltic Seatogether and it's a ritual.
The longevity community willhave the polar bear clubs and
(13:46):
will have the brain game clubsfor cognitive improvement,
making it fun, and it'll make iteasy to invite people to join
your club and whole socialevents will be easy to make and
build friendships.
In other words, the longevitycommunity is a perfect
application of the communityconcept which senior living has
(14:09):
been doing.
But this takes it to the nextstep.
John Hauber (14:13):
Well sounds great.
As you know, ted, you and Ihave talked over the years about
biological age and real age and, as you know, I'm 57 years old
and I'm biologically 48 yearsold, based on my testing.
Do I really have to live at asenior community to participate
in the programming?
Ted Teele (14:34):
Well, I think for somebody your age, you know
there's a, you know I see therebeing two kinds of longevity
communities.
One is for the 75 and oldergroup, that kind of where you
have the life plan communitiesfor that age cohort, but then
there'll be a 55 plus longevitycommunity that you might be
(15:01):
interested in because of thefellowship.
You know, 38% of baby boomersare not married, for example,
and it's a great way to makefriends, maybe meet your next
partner, but it's much more funwhen you do it with other people
.
You and I are friends.
We trade notes all the time,but it's still hard today.
(15:24):
Longevity communities, thefellowship, the group activities
, the technology having it allin one place will make it easier
.
Is it absolutely necessary?
John Hauber (15:37):
No, it may not be necessary, but what I envision
is that if someone wants toparticipate in the longevity
community and I was an operatorof a senior living community the
more people that come in toparticipate in activities or in
(15:58):
health and wellness that arenon-residents these would become
my future residents, correct?
Ted Teele (16:05):
Right, that's an excellent point.
So longevity communities willbe structured as clubs with
resident members andnon-resident members.
So this is very attractive froma business model perspective
because A the world's firstlongevity community and others
(16:26):
are going to be able to get ahigher per month average revenue
than they otherwise would,because they're unique and
compelling and what's the valueof delaying or preventing
Alzheimer's, for example?
But you also have non-residentmembers.
That would contributesignificant revenue for the
(16:46):
community and, as you alluded,would create a pipeline for new
residents.
So it's kind of the best ofboth worlds Having the residents
brings in a lot of revenue, butalso the people that don't live
there, that senior living andactive adult communities today
don't get much revenue at allfrom people that don't live
(17:09):
there.
John Hauber (17:10):
Very cool, so let's pivot.
Okay, so tell us about your newwhite paper on how senior
living providers can attractmore baby boomers.
Ted Teele (17:22):
As you know, senior living has a significant
challenge.
90% of seniors, according to aPlace for Moms survey, say they
never want to live in a seniorliving community.
In a senior living communitywhich, if you have a product
which senior living does that,90% of your target market say
(17:44):
that they never want to use yourproduct.
That's a problem.
That's a branding problem thatthe whole industry suffers from,
and I'm sure you've heardeverybody listening to this call
probably is either experiencedpersonally or they've heard
stories where somebody comes andsays my mom really ought to
(18:04):
live in one of your communitiesbut she doesn't want to.
And when I've talked to peopleabout this, many of them have
said I don't want to live therebecause that's the place you go
to die, or God's waiting room.
I've heard that.
So the longevity communityconcept is a way to transform
(18:28):
the negative branding that'sreally difficult to change of
the place you go to die to apositive branding is the place
you go to enhance your cognitiveskills and live healthier,
happier and longer.
Now, obviously, to do that, youcan't just change your website,
(18:50):
you have to change your productas well.
So when I've talked to peopleabout the longevity community
concept, there's a lot ofinterest.
But some of my clients insenior living have asked me how
do I get from here to there in amore gradual way than going all
in on saying, hey, tomorrowwe're going to become a
(19:11):
longevity community, we're goingto make the big jump and do
that.
So a lot of people really likedit, make incremental changes
and so, thinking about that,that led me to write the second
white paper, which focuses onactionable strategies for senior
living providers to make thetransition to longevity
(19:33):
communities in a step-by-stepbasis where you can essentially
call it an experiment.
One big idea that I highlightedis of a cognitive improvement
club based on scientificwellness as the low-hanging
fruit for providers who want tosee high ROI while improving
(19:55):
resident satisfaction andoccupancy rates.
If you saw the TV program theman on the Inside, there was a
telling scene where one of theresidents was talking to Ted
(20:16):
Danson and he pointed to thememory care wing and he said
that's where none of us want togo right.
There's a lot of concern, youknow, in senior living.
If you go to somebody in seniorliving and say, tell them I'm
going to help you live a year,you go to somebody in senior
living and say, tell them I'mgoing to help you live a year.
That's not going to be veryinspiring to them, but if you
(20:39):
can tell them that you can helpdelay or prevent dementia or if
they don't have the kind ofissues with cognitive skills,
you can help them improve theirmemory and their cognitive
skills, that's motivating andtheir cognitive skills that's
motivating.
And there's a lot of evidencenow that dementia can be delayed
, slowed or even reversed insome cases, although obviously
(21:03):
if you have Alzheimer's andyou're at the late stages, you
know that's not what I'm talkingabout here.
But as with all diseases, itwill make a huge difference if
you identify risk factorsearlier, and that's part of the
Cognitive Improvement Club willdo that.
But so Cognitive ImprovementClubs can enhance mental acuity,
(21:25):
memory and focus for allparticipants, whether they have
existing cognitive challenges ornot and do that in a way with a
supportive group to make it alot more fun.
John Hauber (21:44):
And this directly ties into the core mission of
longevity communities thatyou've told me about, and that's
helping people thrive, not justage.
Correct, that's exactly right.
So why do you believe theseprograms offer such a high ROI?
Ted Teele (21:56):
Well, first, unless a community is 100% occupancy,
there's lost revenue that can berecouped by offering a more
compelling product to yourtarget market.
So even communities with 90%occupancy can be leaving a
million or more on the table.
If you could imagine whenyou're talking to a prospect and
(22:18):
you're a life plan communityand the prospect is looking at
four or five other places andyou're able to say we make it
easy and fun for you to improveyour cognitive skills, would
that be something that you'reinterested in?
Many people not everybody, ofcourse, but many people would be
(22:41):
interested in that and you canfill those empty apartments.
Second, as I mentioned before,there's an opportunity for new
revenue sources fromnon-resident members.
So if you set up one of theseclubs, then you could make it
available to people in thesurrounding community and it can
(23:02):
layer right on top of yourexisting life plan community.
You don't need to transform itinto a longevity community that
is going to do everything that Italked about earlier.
So the enhanced product wouldalso likely lead to lowering the
(23:22):
average age of admission andincreasing the average length of
stay, both of which, as youknow, are significant operating
metrics, and it probably will beable to increase the percentage
of new residents that areindependent living as opposed to
assisted living, which alsowould increase the average
(23:45):
length of stay.
John Hauber (23:47):
So, Ted, can you walk us through how a cognitive
improvement program might workin practice?
Ted Teele (23:53):
Absolutely, and my second white paper goes into
this in a lot of detail, but itbegins with a health assessment
specifically looking atcognitive health risk factors.
I'll just give you an exampleIf you have elevated
homocysteine, which they nevercheck, but if you have elevated
(24:14):
your homocysteine, your risk ofgetting Alzheimer's is higher
and that is actionable.
By taking a supplement you canlower your homocysteine.
So part of the healthassessment is involving blood
work plus a lifestylequestionnaire.
Involving blood work plus alifestyle questionnaire Based on
(24:35):
the results, we can create whatthey call a digital twin, and
the digital twin is essentiallya simulation where you could
actually calculate the mean timeto dementia and you can go to
somebody and say do you realize,if you change this, for example
smoking, or if you can helpsomebody sleep better, that can
(25:00):
push out your mean time todementia in a graphically
understandable way.
So the health assessment iscritical and, of course, based
on that, just like with thescientific wellness.
The third P is personalizedrecommendations, including
(25:21):
dietary changes.
For example, if you're low onomega-3 or vitamin D3 or vitamin
B12, those are also riskfactors that you can improve
with dietary changes.
And another big part of it iscognitive exercises Every single
day I do.
First thing in the morning I doa brain stretch using a product
(25:46):
called Brain HQ.
And actually there's a TomBrady.
He won three Super Bowls earlyin his career and then he went
10 years without winning a SuperBowl most people don't remember
that and he was starting tothink that maybe my cognitive
skills are declining, and ifyou're a quarterback in the NFL,
(26:09):
you have to make really quickdecisions.
And so he started using brainHQ and went on to win four more
Super Bowls, including at theage of 43, where he was five
years older than anybody elsehad ever been to win a Super
Bowl, and he felt that, eventhough his physical skills had
(26:31):
clearly declined by the 45 orwhatever he was, when he retired
he felt his mental acuity wasas sharp as ever.
And so you can do brain trainingand certainly that would be
part of the program along withphysical activity.
Aerobic exercise is actuallyreally good for cognitive health
(26:54):
as well.
To make it engaging, just likein the longevity communities,
we'll incorporate gamificationgroup activities.
Imagine residents attending abrain training session together
or a brain stretch, you mightcall it followed by a healthy
ketogenic meal, Because you knowthe ketone bodies are really
(27:15):
good for cognitive health and alively discussion, the sense of
community and fun amplifies theeffectiveness of these programs,
and one of the great thingsabout this whole thing is it is
not easy.
You can go out into thecommunity, you can get your full
body MRI, you can go to a gym,but there aren't a whole lot of
(27:41):
brain training programsavailable to people in this
country, and certainly notprograms that use scientific
wellness.
And again, the big advantage tothe senior living community
that implements this is, if youdo it in a rigorous, scientific
way, you can prove that it'sworking and then you can talk
(28:02):
about it.
John Hauber (28:04):
Well, it sounds fantastic and, as you know, part
of bringing residents andnon-residents into your
community is sales and marketing.
So how does marketing play inthe success of these initiatives
?
Ted Teele (28:20):
Well, that's very important and thanks for
bringing it up Again.
Marketing is critical.
Some people think, okay, wejust have a program, but you
also have to change the brandingto reflect that.
You need to proactivelycommunicate the benefits of the
cognitive improvement club orthe longevity community,
(28:44):
potential residents in theirfamily, including the adult
children, who are often majorinfluencers or the decision
makers, and it's a great thingto be talking about.
If you're a salesperson in asenior living or life plan
community where you can actuallytalk about this program that
(29:05):
you're doing, you know it willreally help your sales process.
It will really help your salesprocess.
But, as I mentioned earlier,having the rigorous science
behind it and highlighting thescientifically validated
benefits and the value of thegroup participation can shift
perceptions of senior livingentirely.
John Hauber (29:29):
I agree.
On a related topic.
You mentioned in your secondwhite paper that cognitive
improvement clubs could helpturn around underperforming
communities.
Can you elaborate?
Ted Teele (29:41):
Yeah well first thing , john, you provide a very
valuable service in terms ofhelping people that are looking
to do acquisitions in the seniorliving area not just this
podcast, but your activitieswith Haven and I'm very
impressed with what you do.
But there's a lot of peoplelooking to acquire
(30:03):
underperforming assets in seniorliving and once you acquire it,
certainly you can make changesin operational efficiency and
you can spend a lot of money onrenovations, and that's
important too.
But if you implement acognitive improvement club, you
(30:24):
can add a compelling newcapability not typically
available elsewhere in thecommunity, and so that can help
occupancy and improvesatisfaction, and those two
factors are huge in terms ofturning it around.
So the idea is someone couldbuy a community, a company, or
(30:44):
take over, maybe from a realestate investment trust, a
portfolio of underperformingcommunities or even whether it
could be assisted living, lifeplan, memory care, but you could
take over and you could layerover a program like this as a
way to turn it around.
That's the idea that it couldbe.
(31:06):
As you could put that and I'msure people will do that as part
of their strategies is toimplement something like this,
and some of my clients areactually working on that right
now.
John Hauber (31:18):
Cool.
So before we wrap up, is thereone key message you would like
to leave with senior livingproviders or the investors in
our community that are thinkingabout becoming senior living
providers?
Ted Teele (31:35):
I think we all know and you hear about it all the
time that senior living needs tochange to attract and inspire
baby boomers, and one of thepoints that I made is if 90% of
the target market doesn't wantthe product senior living, the
(31:57):
change has to be fundamental.
And at the same time, there'sthis major trend in society
around longevity.
Of dollars are being spent inthat area and all of the
scientific developments over thelast 20 years have made the
(32:18):
idea of scientific wellnesspossible.
So if you believe all that,then the future of senior living
lies in embracing scientificwellness and the longevity
community concepts.
And if you're interested inbrainstorming enough to
participate and profit from thistransformation, I would love to
(32:41):
talk to you.
John Hauber (32:42):
Well, ted.
Once again, thank you so muchfor joining us today and sharing
your vision For our listeners.
We'll link to Ted's whitepapers in the show notes.
Be sure to check them out formore insights, and if you wish
to reach out to him, we've got alink down below to his personal
LinkedIn page and to thelongevity community consultants
(33:06):
page.
Ted, it's always a pleasure.
Ted Teele (33:10):
Thanks, john.
You and I have been talkingregularly over the last 15
months and trading notes andyou're a real innovator in this
longevity area and I've reallyenjoyed our discussions and I'm
really looking forward tocontinuing those discussions but
also updating you through thispodcast on our progress in the
(33:35):
future.
John Hauber (33:36):
Well, our community appreciates it.
Thanks everyone for tuning into the Senior Housing Investors
Podcast.
Until next time, take care,thank you.
I think we all know and you hear about it all the
time senior living needs tochange to attract and inspire
baby boomers.
One of the points that I madeis if 90% of the target market
doesn't want a product seniorliving the change has to be
fundamental.
At the same time, there's thismajor trend in society around
(00:31):
longevity.
Billions of dollars are beingspent in that area and all of
the scientific developments overthe last 20 years have made the
idea of scientific wellnesspossible.
So if you believe all that,then the future of senior living
(00:55):
lies in embracing scientificwellness and the longevity
community concepts.
John Hauber (01:04):
Welcome to the Senior Housing Investors Podcast
.
If you are an owner operator,investor, developer or buyer of
senior housing, you've come tothe right place.
The best way to stay connectedwith us is to sign up for our
weekly newsletter athavenseniorinvestments.
com.
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(01:26):
Thank you for listening andreach out to us anytime.
Today, we welcome Ted Teal backto the show.
Are you ready to learn aboutthe latest in longevity
communities?
Listen in, as our host, JohnHauber, has a great conversation
with Ted John.
(01:48):
Thanks, Kelsey.
Today's speaker is someonewhose story and mission continue
to inspire many in the seniorliving industry.
Ted Teele is a Harvard MBA, theformer CEO of Touchdown, a
leader in engagement technologyfor senior living and the CEO of
Longevity Community Consultants.
Ted's journey into the field oflongevity science began in 2019
(02:14):
when he underwent quintuplebypass surgery.
That life-changing experiencemotivated him to immerse himself
in the science of aging for hisown longevity and to find
innovative ways to help othersimprove cognitive skills and
live healthier, happier, longerlives.
He has since developed thegroundbreaking concept of
(02:37):
longevity communities andpublished two insightful white
papers of new blueprint forsupporting healthy aging and how
senior living providers canattract more baby boomers, both
of which are available with thelinks below the podcast.
Ted, welcome back to thepodcast.
Ted Teele (02:57):
It's an honor to be back.
I'm thrilled to discuss theseimportant issues with you and
your tremendous audience.
Discuss these important issueswith you and your tremendous
audience.
John Hauber (03:05):
Well, the last time you joined us, you introduced
the concept of longevitycommunities, and that episode
became one of our mostdownloaded interviews ever.
Congratulations on thatachievement.
Ted Teele (03:23):
Thanks, John.
That means a lot.
I think it reflects the growinginterest in transforming senior
living to better meet the needsand aspirations of baby boomers
.
John Hauber (03:30):
Absolutely.
Before we dive into your secondwhite paper, how senior living
providers can attract more babyboomers, can you tell our
audience what a longevitycommunity is and why are they
needed?
Ted Teele (03:50):
Great question, john.
Longevity communities will makeit easier and more fun for
people to enhance theircognitive skills and live
healthier, happier and longerlives.
John Hauber (04:00):
Well I'm curious, Ted, how will they accomplish
that?
Ted Teele (04:11):
The foundation of longevity communities will be
scientific wellness, asdescribed in the book the Age of
Scientific Wellness by thelegendary biologist Lee Hood and
his brilliant longtimeassociate Nathan Price, both
faculty members of the BuckInstitute for Research on Aging.
Scientific wellness is a 21stcentury approach to health and
wellness utilizing rigorousscience.
(04:34):
There are four P's ofscientific wellness.
The first P is to predictdiseases before they manifest
clinically.
As we all know, our healthcaresystem today is primarily sick
care and doesn't do a great jobof predicting or preventing
(04:54):
disease.
There are screening tests thatcan be done, but unfortunately,
generally checkups consist of aminimum of testing and screening
, with certain exceptions likecolon and breast cancer screens,
and they have you write downyour family history, which is
(05:14):
okay, but it would be so muchbetter if they looked at your
actual genes and looked at youractual risk factors.
Scientific wellness looks at alot more of your biology on a
regular basis and uses AI tocompare your unique biology to
many other anonymized healthrecords to predict disease.
(05:37):
Most people believe that you'rehealthy until you're sick, but
in reality there's a diseasetransition process that in many
cases lasts years.
That was true for my coronaryartery disease, which could have
been identified years ago if Iwas a patient of scientific
wellness approaches.
If I had known about thedisease much sooner, I could
(06:00):
have made adjustments whichmight have prevented the need
for my bypass surgery.
Sadly, 50% of the cases ofcoronary artery disease today
aren't identified until someonedies of a heart attack.
So the goal is to predict itand then, once you can predict
(06:22):
it, you want to prevent it.
By the way, one other thingthat's really interesting to me
it is now possible to findpancreatic cancer two years
before there are any clinicalsigns.
They can find it because thereis a unique aggregation of
proteins that only exists insidepeople who are in the disease
(06:44):
transition process forpancreatic cancer.
And, of course, it's mucheasier to deal with a disease
when it's very small.
Sadly, most people who getpancreatic cancer don't find it
until it's stage three or four,and by then it's too late.
So, after predicting disease,the second P of scientific
(07:06):
wellness is to prevent disease,or at least to find it while
it's in the disease transitionstage and very small and much
more easily treated.
This leads to the third P,which are personalized
recommendations based on eachperson's unique biology and
health situation.
(07:27):
And the fourth P isparticipation, which is what
each of us needs to do for ourown health.
All of this is not easy today.
John Hauber (07:39):
Well, Ted, I took your advice the last time we
spoke and you and I hadmentioned a full-body MRI and I
went and got one, and itactually was able to point out a
few areas of concern, justlittle concern, moderate concern
(08:00):
.
So is that what we're talkingabout?
We're talking aboutpreventative right Find the
disease before it gets to apoint where it's hard to treat.
And that's what I'm hearing yousay, correctly, right?
Ted Teele (08:13):
Exactly, and doing things like full-body MRIs and a
lot of other screens.
It should be routine, that'scorrect, but they're not today.
Should be routine, that'scorrect, and, and, and, but
they're not today.
John Hauber (08:25):
So how do longevity communities in the future, or
even the ones today, make it alleasier?
Ted Teele (08:38):
I'm still working on the world's first longevity
community, right, but longevitycommunities will make it much
easier by bringing everythingpeople need into one convenient
place, from advanced AI-basedhealth assessments similar to
what you did, but much morecomprehensive to personalize
(08:59):
programming.
We'll create an ecosystem whereresidents can focus and other
participants what I callnon-resident members can focus
on improving their healthwithout logistical barriers.
It's not just providingservices.
It's about simplifying accessand creating a supportive
(09:21):
environment where it's actuallyfun to get healthier.
For example, the programmingand longevity communities will
include all the pillars ofhealthy aging described in my
first white paper.
Imagine walking into acommunity where you can
seamlessly move from a cognitiveimprovement club session to a
(09:43):
group fitness class, followed bya chef-prepared, health-focused
lunch with friends, with all ofthe results tracked by rigorous
science.
John Hauber (09:55):
So why is rigorous science important?
Ted Teele (09:59):
Well, let's look at it from two perspectives.
From the participant'sperspective, it can highlight
progress or identify new healthissues that need to be addressed
.
If you're looking at yourbiology every six months, you
can find issues that crop upthat you can address.
And from the community'sperspective, it will enable the
(10:22):
community to prove that it'senhancing cognitive skills and
improving health.
It's now possible, as you know,to assess someone's biological
age, so it will be possible tomeasure health improvements by
looking at how somebody'sbiological age changes every six
(10:43):
months or so.
Scientific Wellness they did anexperiment on a program with
about 4,000 people where thewomen actually aged backwards
when they were participatingaccording to their biological
age, and the men perhaps theyweren't as good at following
recommendations.
(11:03):
They continued to age, but at amuch slower rate.
For every chronological yearthat they participated in the
program, their biological ageincreased only three months.
The women actually wentbackwards six months.
You know you think about this.
(11:23):
Senior living providers haveinvested probably hundreds of
millions of dollars in wellnessprogramming but have never been
able to prove the healthbenefits.
Scientific wellness-basedprogramming can change that and
it's very important to change it.
John Hauber (11:41):
I agree.
So how does technology fit in?
Ted Teele (11:45):
So the Longevity Club technology will tie it all
together.
Each member will receivepersonalized recommendations
through an app that tracks theirprogress and keeps them
motivated, and the AI-based appwill also be able to answer
health-related questions basedon the member's unique biology
(12:07):
and health history.
In other words, you just don'thave to go to ChatGPT and ask a
general question about how todeal with heart disease or
whatever you have question abouthow to deal with heart disease
or whatever you havepre-diabetes or whatever you
have.
The app will know yoursituation and be able to answer
questions based on that.
The app will also usegamification to make it more fun
(12:33):
, like earning points formeeting activity goals.
Having groups compete againstother groups provide reminders
for activities that you aregoing to be interested in based
on your personalizedrecommendation.
This makes following apersonalized wellness plan
simple and fun.
The technology will also fostera community by encouraging
(12:55):
group participation, whichenhances accountability and
enjoyment.
John Hauber (13:01):
All right, ted.
Where's the fun?
Ted Teele (13:05):
Well, that is the question, because right now you
could do all these things byyourself, or most of them.
It's not easy, it's hardlogistically, but the fun comes
from going through theprogramming with your friends.
At the longevity communityWe'll create clubs around
(13:25):
certain healthy programming,like the Polar Bear Club for
cold plunges, which are so goodfor you from a biochemical
perspective, but everybodydreads it perspective.
But everybody dreads it.
But in Scandinavia they dosomething like that where they
all jump into the Baltic Seatogether and it's a ritual.
The longevity community willhave the polar bear clubs and
(13:46):
will have the brain game clubsfor cognitive improvement,
making it fun, and it'll make iteasy to invite people to join
your club and whole socialevents will be easy to make and
build friendships.
In other words, the longevitycommunity is a perfect
application of the communityconcept which senior living has
(14:09):
been doing.
But this takes it to the nextstep.
John Hauber (14:13):
Well sounds great.
As you know, ted, you and Ihave talked over the years about
biological age and real age and, as you know, I'm 57 years old
and I'm biologically 48 yearsold, based on my testing.
Do I really have to live at asenior community to participate
in the programming?
Ted Teele (14:34):
Well, I think for somebody your age, you know
there's a, you know I see therebeing two kinds of longevity
communities.
One is for the 75 and oldergroup, that kind of where you
have the life plan communitiesfor that age cohort, but then
there'll be a 55 plus longevitycommunity that you might be
(15:01):
interested in because of thefellowship.
You know, 38% of baby boomersare not married, for example,
and it's a great way to makefriends, maybe meet your next
partner, but it's much more funwhen you do it with other people
.
You and I are friends.
We trade notes all the time,but it's still hard today.
(15:24):
Longevity communities, thefellowship, the group activities
, the technology having it allin one place will make it easier
.
Is it absolutely necessary?
John Hauber (15:37):
No, it may not be necessary, but what I envision
is that if someone wants toparticipate in the longevity
community and I was an operatorof a senior living community the
more people that come in toparticipate in activities or in
(15:58):
health and wellness that arenon-residents these would become
my future residents, correct?
Ted Teele (16:05):
Right, that's an excellent point.
So longevity communities willbe structured as clubs with
resident members andnon-resident members.
So this is very attractive froma business model perspective
because A the world's firstlongevity community and others
(16:26):
are going to be able to get ahigher per month average revenue
than they otherwise would,because they're unique and
compelling and what's the valueof delaying or preventing
Alzheimer's, for example?
But you also have non-residentmembers.
That would contributesignificant revenue for the
(16:46):
community and, as you alluded,would create a pipeline for new
residents.
So it's kind of the best ofboth worlds Having the residents
brings in a lot of revenue, butalso the people that don't live
there, that senior living andactive adult communities today
don't get much revenue at allfrom people that don't live
(17:09):
there.
John Hauber (17:10):
Very cool, so let's pivot.
Okay, so tell us about your newwhite paper on how senior
living providers can attractmore baby boomers.
Ted Teele (17:22):
As you know, senior living has a significant
challenge.
90% of seniors, according to aPlace for Moms survey, say they
never want to live in a seniorliving community.
In a senior living communitywhich, if you have a product
which senior living does that,90% of your target market say
(17:44):
that they never want to use yourproduct.
That's a problem.
That's a branding problem thatthe whole industry suffers from,
and I'm sure you've heardeverybody listening to this call
probably is either experiencedpersonally or they've heard
stories where somebody comes andsays my mom really ought to
(18:04):
live in one of your communitiesbut she doesn't want to.
And when I've talked to peopleabout this, many of them have
said I don't want to live therebecause that's the place you go
to die, or God's waiting room.
I've heard that.
So the longevity communityconcept is a way to transform
(18:28):
the negative branding that'sreally difficult to change of
the place you go to die to apositive branding is the place
you go to enhance your cognitiveskills and live healthier,
happier and longer.
Now, obviously, to do that, youcan't just change your website,
(18:50):
you have to change your productas well.
So when I've talked to peopleabout the longevity community
concept, there's a lot ofinterest.
But some of my clients insenior living have asked me how
do I get from here to there in amore gradual way than going all
in on saying, hey, tomorrowwe're going to become a
(19:11):
longevity community, we're goingto make the big jump and do
that.
So a lot of people really likedit, make incremental changes
and so, thinking about that,that led me to write the second
white paper, which focuses onactionable strategies for senior
living providers to make thetransition to longevity
(19:33):
communities in a step-by-stepbasis where you can essentially
call it an experiment.
One big idea that I highlightedis of a cognitive improvement
club based on scientificwellness as the low-hanging
fruit for providers who want tosee high ROI while improving
(19:55):
resident satisfaction andoccupancy rates.
If you saw the TV program theman on the Inside, there was a
telling scene where one of theresidents was talking to Ted
(20:16):
Danson and he pointed to thememory care wing and he said
that's where none of us want togo right.
There's a lot of concern, youknow, in senior living.
If you go to somebody in seniorliving and say, tell them I'm
going to help you live a year,you go to somebody in senior
living and say, tell them I'mgoing to help you live a year.
That's not going to be veryinspiring to them, but if you
(20:39):
can tell them that you can helpdelay or prevent dementia or if
they don't have the kind ofissues with cognitive skills,
you can help them improve theirmemory and their cognitive
skills, that's motivating andtheir cognitive skills that's
motivating.
And there's a lot of evidencenow that dementia can be delayed
, slowed or even reversed insome cases, although obviously
(21:03):
if you have Alzheimer's andyou're at the late stages, you
know that's not what I'm talkingabout here.
But as with all diseases, itwill make a huge difference if
you identify risk factorsearlier, and that's part of the
Cognitive Improvement Club willdo that.
But so Cognitive ImprovementClubs can enhance mental acuity,
(21:25):
memory and focus for allparticipants, whether they have
existing cognitive challenges ornot and do that in a way with a
supportive group to make it alot more fun.
John Hauber (21:44):
And this directly ties into the core mission of
longevity communities thatyou've told me about, and that's
helping people thrive, not justage.
Correct, that's exactly right.
So why do you believe theseprograms offer such a high ROI?
Ted Teele (21:56):
Well, first, unless a community is 100% occupancy,
there's lost revenue that can berecouped by offering a more
compelling product to yourtarget market.
So even communities with 90%occupancy can be leaving a
million or more on the table.
If you could imagine whenyou're talking to a prospect and
(22:18):
you're a life plan communityand the prospect is looking at
four or five other places andyou're able to say we make it
easy and fun for you to improveyour cognitive skills, would
that be something that you'reinterested in?
Many people not everybody, ofcourse, but many people would be
(22:41):
interested in that and you canfill those empty apartments.
Second, as I mentioned before,there's an opportunity for new
revenue sources fromnon-resident members.
So if you set up one of theseclubs, then you could make it
available to people in thesurrounding community and it can
(23:02):
layer right on top of yourexisting life plan community.
You don't need to transform itinto a longevity community that
is going to do everything that Italked about earlier.
So the enhanced product wouldalso likely lead to lowering the
(23:22):
average age of admission andincreasing the average length of
stay, both of which, as youknow, are significant operating
metrics, and it probably will beable to increase the percentage
of new residents that areindependent living as opposed to
assisted living, which alsowould increase the average
(23:45):
length of stay.
John Hauber (23:47):
So, Ted, can you walk us through how a cognitive
improvement program might workin practice?
Ted Teele (23:53):
Absolutely, and my second white paper goes into
this in a lot of detail, but itbegins with a health assessment
specifically looking atcognitive health risk factors.
I'll just give you an exampleIf you have elevated
homocysteine, which they nevercheck, but if you have elevated
(24:14):
your homocysteine, your risk ofgetting Alzheimer's is higher
and that is actionable.
By taking a supplement you canlower your homocysteine.
So part of the healthassessment is involving blood
work plus a lifestylequestionnaire.
Involving blood work plus alifestyle questionnaire Based on
(24:35):
the results, we can create whatthey call a digital twin, and
the digital twin is essentiallya simulation where you could
actually calculate the mean timeto dementia and you can go to
somebody and say do you realize,if you change this, for example
smoking, or if you can helpsomebody sleep better, that can
(25:00):
push out your mean time todementia in a graphically
understandable way.
So the health assessment iscritical and, of course, based
on that, just like with thescientific wellness.
The third P is personalizedrecommendations, including
(25:21):
dietary changes.
For example, if you're low onomega-3 or vitamin D3 or vitamin
B12, those are also riskfactors that you can improve
with dietary changes.
And another big part of it iscognitive exercises Every single
day I do.
First thing in the morning I doa brain stretch using a product
(25:46):
called Brain HQ.
And actually there's a TomBrady.
He won three Super Bowls earlyin his career and then he went
10 years without winning a SuperBowl most people don't remember
that and he was starting tothink that maybe my cognitive
skills are declining, and ifyou're a quarterback in the NFL,
(26:09):
you have to make really quickdecisions.
And so he started using brainHQ and went on to win four more
Super Bowls, including at theage of 43, where he was five
years older than anybody elsehad ever been to win a Super
Bowl, and he felt that, eventhough his physical skills had
(26:31):
clearly declined by the 45 orwhatever he was, when he retired
he felt his mental acuity wasas sharp as ever.
And so you can do brain trainingand certainly that would be
part of the program along withphysical activity.
Aerobic exercise is actuallyreally good for cognitive health
(26:54):
as well.
To make it engaging, just likein the longevity communities,
we'll incorporate gamificationgroup activities.
Imagine residents attending abrain training session together
or a brain stretch, you mightcall it followed by a healthy
ketogenic meal, Because you knowthe ketone bodies are really
(27:15):
good for cognitive health and alively discussion, the sense of
community and fun amplifies theeffectiveness of these programs,
and one of the great thingsabout this whole thing is it is
not easy.
You can go out into thecommunity, you can get your full
body MRI, you can go to a gym,but there aren't a whole lot of
(27:41):
brain training programsavailable to people in this
country, and certainly notprograms that use scientific
wellness.
And again, the big advantage tothe senior living community
that implements this is, if youdo it in a rigorous, scientific
way, you can prove that it'sworking and then you can talk
(28:02):
about it.
John Hauber (28:04):
Well, it sounds fantastic and, as you know, part
of bringing residents andnon-residents into your
community is sales and marketing.
So how does marketing play inthe success of these initiatives
?
Ted Teele (28:20):
Well, that's very important and thanks for
bringing it up Again.
Marketing is critical.
Some people think, okay, wejust have a program, but you
also have to change the brandingto reflect that.
You need to proactivelycommunicate the benefits of the
cognitive improvement club orthe longevity community,
(28:44):
potential residents in theirfamily, including the adult
children, who are often majorinfluencers or the decision
makers, and it's a great thingto be talking about.
If you're a salesperson in asenior living or life plan
community where you can actuallytalk about this program that
(29:05):
you're doing, you know it willreally help your sales process.
It will really help your salesprocess.
But, as I mentioned earlier,having the rigorous science
behind it and highlighting thescientifically validated
benefits and the value of thegroup participation can shift
perceptions of senior livingentirely.
John Hauber (29:29):
I agree.
On a related topic.
You mentioned in your secondwhite paper that cognitive
improvement clubs could helpturn around underperforming
communities.
Can you elaborate?
Ted Teele (29:41):
Yeah well first thing , john, you provide a very
valuable service in terms ofhelping people that are looking
to do acquisitions in the seniorliving area not just this
podcast, but your activitieswith Haven and I'm very
impressed with what you do.
But there's a lot of peoplelooking to acquire
(30:03):
underperforming assets in seniorliving and once you acquire it,
certainly you can make changesin operational efficiency and
you can spend a lot of money onrenovations, and that's
important too.
But if you implement acognitive improvement club, you
(30:24):
can add a compelling newcapability not typically
available elsewhere in thecommunity, and so that can help
occupancy and improvesatisfaction, and those two
factors are huge in terms ofturning it around.
So the idea is someone couldbuy a community, a company, or
(30:44):
take over, maybe from a realestate investment trust, a
portfolio of underperformingcommunities or even whether it
could be assisted living, lifeplan, memory care, but you could
take over and you could layerover a program like this as a
way to turn it around.
That's the idea that it couldbe.
(31:06):
As you could put that and I'msure people will do that as part
of their strategies is toimplement something like this,
and some of my clients areactually working on that right
now.
John Hauber (31:18):
Cool.
So before we wrap up, is thereone key message you would like
to leave with senior livingproviders or the investors in
our community that are thinkingabout becoming senior living
providers?
Ted Teele (31:35):
I think we all know and you hear about it all the
time that senior living needs tochange to attract and inspire
baby boomers, and one of thepoints that I made is if 90% of
the target market doesn't wantthe product senior living, the
(31:57):
change has to be fundamental.
And at the same time, there'sthis major trend in society
around longevity.
Of dollars are being spent inthat area and all of the
scientific developments over thelast 20 years have made the
(32:18):
idea of scientific wellnesspossible.
So if you believe all that,then the future of senior living
lies in embracing scientificwellness and the longevity
community concepts.
And if you're interested inbrainstorming enough to
participate and profit from thistransformation, I would love to
(32:41):
talk to you.
John Hauber (32:42):
Well, ted.
Once again, thank you so muchfor joining us today and sharing
your vision For our listeners.
We'll link to Ted's whitepapers in the show notes.
Be sure to check them out formore insights, and if you wish
to reach out to him, we've got alink down below to his personal
LinkedIn page and to thelongevity community consultants
(33:06):
page.
Ted, it's always a pleasure.
Ted Teele (33:10):
Thanks, john.
You and I have been talkingregularly over the last 15
months and trading notes andyou're a real innovator in this
longevity area and I've reallyenjoyed our discussions and I'm
really looking forward tocontinuing those discussions but
also updating you through thispodcast on our progress in the
(33:35):
future.
John Hauber (33:36):
Well, our community appreciates it.
Thanks everyone for tuning into the Senior Housing Investors
Podcast.
Until next time, take care,thank you.
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