Fellowshiplife Launches Genetic Testing To Help Senior Living Residents Catch Health Issues Earlier

Nonprofit senior living operator FellowshipLife recently launched a new, voluntary genetic testing program for residents and their families aimed at identifying chronic health risk factors, including for dementia.

The Personalized Genetic Wellness program is available to all residents across the nonprofit senior living provider’s network of five life plan communities in New Jersey as part of the expansion of the company’s medical group offering primary care services to residents and the public.

Through the genetic testing program, FellowshipLife clinical teams are able to screen for various types of risk factors including heart health factors like high cholesterol or cardiomyopathy, cancer risk, neurological markers for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Lewy-body dementia.

The screening can also detect risk factors for immunodeficiency disorders, lung conditions, autism spectrum disorders and the program can evaluate how an individual’s genetic makeup impacts their response to medications.

This is in an effort to detect risk factors of chronic diseases as early as possible, according to FellowshipLife Vice President of Clinical Operations Laura Sharp.

“The integration of genetic testing helps to drive precise medicine that allows us to proactively address disease prevention and early disease detection and treatment,” Sharp told Senior Housing News. “It’s definitely taking on in terms of interest and there’s excitement on the entire team to be able to help people based on this approach.”

Fellowship Medical Group physicians use the testing to develop a personalized prevention plan of care with older adults based on the results.

Senior living operators are in 2026 finding ways to improve clinical care through early detection, while simultaneously pushing for deeper personalization of health and wellness services.

The cost of genetic testing has become more affordable and in most cases can be covered by private insurance or Medicare through an assessment process, Sharp said.

“We’re now able to test an individual’s genetic makeup to determine the best treatment choices in terms of prescribing medication for that patient, which medication will be most effective and involve the least risk of side effects,” Sharp added.

Sharp sees the genetic testing as a “quicker route” to identifying disease risk factors and establishing prevention or treatment plans, something the Fellowship Medical Group views as a “very powerful advancement” in its medical practice.

In memory care settings, the genetic testing program is able to screen for 64 risk factors associated with neurocognitive disorders, including vascular dementia, cerebellar ataxia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Once in memory care, the genetic testing program can help identify risk but does not identify whether a disease is present, and is “more helpful” for family members that are able to also undergo a voluntary screening for potential risk factors associated with their loved one’s cognitive change.

By being offered to families, Sharp sees an opportunity to use the genetic testing program as a way to improve resident and family satisfaction, while personalizing services to meet each individual’s needs as they arise.

“It gives families the best opportunities to help minimize the effects of the disease if they carry that gene mutation,” Sharp said. “It does help people to have control with regard to their futures.”

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