In his book Ending Aging, the PhD scientist Aubrey Grey writes about fascinating breakthroughs now taking place through the advanced study of cells that promise to some day spell the end of aging as we know it.

It sounds fantastical of course, but it’s also true that in general people are already living longer, healthier lives, including on the Vineyard where the senior population is on the rise at a rate even faster than the rest of the state. Studies suggest that trend will continue.

And with the recent news that Windemere is taking steps to close Wildflower Court, its independent living facility, it has become painfully clear that more senior housing on the Island is urgently needed.

At Wildflower Court the problem came down to blunt economics: with only three residents and space for thirteen, the unit is losing nearly a million dollars a year. That kind of loss is unsustainable for the hospital which shares ownership of Windemere through its parent company Partners Health Care.

And while it seems counterintuitive that Wildflower Court would be so under utilized in light of the booming elderly population and the housing crisis in general on the Island, in fact it may not be the kind of elderly housing that’s needed. In other senior living communities on the Island, there is no room left at the inn. Three residential communities owned and operated by the nonprofit Island Elderly Housing are full with years-long wait lists. Even if new housing were built, government subsidies that help keep rents low for people with low and moderate incomes are scarce to nonexistent.

The current theme for senior living is aging in place, the idea that people can stay in their homes with assistance as they grow older instead of moving to nursing homes. On the Island many assistance programs are already in place that help elderly people stay in their homes. The nonprofit Vineyard Village at Home enlists volunteers to help with errands and driving people to doctor’s appointments. Meals on Wheels, a government-sponsored program administered through the councils on aging, delivers meals to home-bound seniors.

The Healthy Aging Task Force, an ad hoc Vineyard group formed two years ago, is working to create an integrated Islandwide system that will allow seniors to stay in their homes longer. Outreach and education has already begun through fall prevention programs and other efforts. Funding requests will come before voters in every Island town at annual town meetings this spring that aim to jump start a number of initiatives including a central website for elderly services. More explanation is needed about these programs and how they will advance the long-term goals of the task force.

Meanwhile, ideas have begun to emerge about innovative new communities for older Islanders. One such idea was imagined by Anna Edey, the West Tisbury sustainable living practitioner, author and lecturer who recently began to confront the question for herself of how she wanted to live as an older person. In an op-ed for the Gazette last year, Ms. Edey sketched a utopian living concept for seniors that included clustered living units on a small, energy efficient sustainable farm with healthy fresh food grown on Island soil.

Far less fantastical than the end of aging, Ms. Edey’s ideas have merit and are worth pursuing.

Where will we live when we’re old? It’s a question every Islander will confront sooner or later. There is clearly demand for creative alternatives.