‘Silver tsunami’ Knoxville agency prepping to support aging population

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)— Knoxville’s population is growing, and according to a recent study it is not slowing down. Tennessee’s population is projected to approach eight million by 2040 and it looks like the senior population will be increasing the most.

“Its something we’ve kind of known for a while now with what they call kind of the silver tsunami coming forward,” said Director of Community Action Committee Office on Aging Dottie Lyvers.

According to the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, those who are 75 and older could be the fastest-growing subset of the senior population by 2040.

“It’s just a continuation of a trend that we already see happening,” said Boyd Distinguished Professor of Health Economics, Matt Harris. “There is a narrative out there that there’s tons of retirees moving to Tennessee, and there are some. But most of the aging population that we see in Tennessee is simply just getting older because there were more live births in 1964 than there were on any year in record from there until 2006.”

Over 100,000 people currently living in Knox County are aged 60 or older, according to Lyvers.

“Right now, we can’t meet some of the needs,” she said. “So, it will certainly impact that, but it’ll really push us to seek out more partners and more funding to help meet those needs.”

With this growing subset of population, the need for healthcare, housing, or transportation could be in high demand.

“Seeing an influx of individuals moving here as well, because it’s a great place to live, that certainly added on to those needs, especially in regard to housing and affordable housing for individuals as well,” said Lyvers.

Lyvers said they have been preparing for this kind of increase. Currently CAC has more than 20 programs and services that support older adults in Knox County, but working with community partners and funding will play a large role in the resources they can provide.

“The challenge that comes with is that we’ve got to make sure that that we’re prepared,” said Harris, “and that we’re doing the planning that our government is doing to be able to support the people that move to these areas.”

However, while Harris said they do project this increase, it is unknown exactly how large the population will be.

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