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 SRES® QUARTERLY
NEWSLETTER
Trends in Senior Housing so you can
stay in your own home longer - with safety, independence,
comfort, and the ability to
function.
Aging in Place deals with
how to modify and adapt existing homes. Universal Design
primarily deals with the creation upfront of easily accessible
homes and products rather than after the fact modification.
Think of it as
pre-planning.
What is Aging in
Place?
-Remaining in your current home as
you grow older -
"Not having to move from one's present
residence in order to secure necessary support services in
response to changing needs." Journal of Housing for the
Elderly.
-A new variation is aging in your current
community, where your friends, activities, and organizations
are located but in a different house or condo, not your home
of thirty years where you raised your children.
The
National Association of Home Builders defines aging in place
as:
-remaining in one's home safely, independently,
& comfortably
-the pleasure of living in a familiar
environment throughout one's maturing years
-the ability to
enjoy the familiar daily rituals and special events that
enrich our lives
-the reassurance of being able to call a
house a home for a lifetime.
Do you live in a
NORC?
Over one-fourth of seniors live in Naturally
Occurring Retirement Communities, where residents have aged
together. Maybe you moved there for the quality high school,
raised your kids together, buried each other's parents,
created a tightly knit community, and stayed.
When
reviewing your goals, ask yourself, "Do I want to live in a
community exclusively comprised of peers? Do I want a blended
community of children, families, middle-agers, and
seniors?"
Where you are located at age 65 is probably
where you will stay. Seventy percent (70%) of seniors live out
their lives wherever they were at 65. Many plan for retirement
and relocate at 65 or earlier and then stay there. The early
baby boomers (born at the end of WW II) are moving in their
late 50's to early 60's to their vacation homes and then
staying put. Some are relocating and then commuting from the
planned retirement home to work during those last few years in
the work world.
An AARP study revealed that 89% of
homeowners prefer to remain in their homes, yet 80% of the
population will require special housing needs at some point in
time.
Modifications
can make it possible for you to stay in your own home for many
more years.
Specific
Remodeling
Breaking a hip is a common and
valid fear. Without aggressive physical therapy, the
consequences are serious. The obvious changes are handrails
and lights in the hallways, grab bars in the shower and tub.
But it goes beyond that for safety, comfort, and ability to
function.
You and your SRES® may wish to consult a
professional early on when evaluating what you need now and
may need in the near future to stay in your home. A home
builder or remodeler who is a Certified Aging-in-Place
Specialist should be a part of your team.
Focus on
modifications that cater to any potential limitations. The
list below is not a massive to-do list but areas to consider
that may uncover previously unrecognized
needs.
General
-Adapt
lower floor of home for possible one level living
-Increase
general incandescent and specific task lighting
-Easy
garage or parking access
-At least one entry without
steps
-Doorways 36" wide with off-set hinges on
doors
-Levered door handles instead of knobs- so Grandpa
Arthur (short for Arthritis) doesn't have to grasp and turn
handle
-Electrical outlets at 18 inches instead of
12
-Easy to open or lock patio doors and screens
-Light
switches at 42" instead of 48
-Adjustable controls on light
switches
-Lighted, glow in the dark switches in bedrooms,
baths and hallways
-Strobe light or vibrator-assisted smoke
and burglar alarms
-For easy opening to enjoy that
springtime breeze-lower window sills especially for windows on
the street
-Programmable thermostats for heating and
cooling
-Contrast colors between floor and walls
-Color
borders around floor and counter-top edges
-Non-skid
flooring
-Matte finish paint, flooring and counter-tops
(eliminates glare)
-Non-glare glass on art work
-Lower
the peep hole
-Incorporate an emergency response system --
built in or wearable
Bathroom
-Install
anti-scald valves for lever faucets and faucet
mixers
-Temperature controlled shower and tub
fixtures
-Stall shower with a low threshold and shower
seat
-Grab bars at back and sides of shower, tub and toilet
or wall reinforcement for later installation
-Bathrooms
with turn around and transfer space for walker or wheelchair
(36" by 36")
-Bathroom counters at workable
height
-Telephone jack
-Installation of medical response
device
Kitchen
-Equip
kitchen cabinets with pull-out shelves and lazy
susans
-Easy to grasp cabinet knobs or pulls
-Task
lighting under counters
-Cooktop with front controls- more
accessible and keeps your Great Aunt Sophie's blue nylon
nightgown sleeves from catching on fire.
-Side by side
refrigerator. This reduces bending. Adjustable upper shelves
and pull out lower shelves
-Variety in kitchen counter
height - some as low as table height (30 inches)
-Gas
sensor near gas cooking, water heater and gas
furnace
-Color or pattern borders at counter
edges
Living
Room
-Seating at least 18 inches off the
floor (reserve the bean bag chairs for the
grandchildren)
-Chairs with sturdy arms and shallow seats
-- for ease of getting up
To locate the Certified Aging in
Place Specialists in your state and their areas of expertise,
go to www.nahb.org/directory and enter aging in place
specialists in the search box, upper right corner.
If you
are strapped for cash to remodel and want to age in place, in
addition to exploring reverse mortgages, check your State
Controller's Office to find out if your state allows
low--income seniors to postpone your property tax. Some states
allow this with a delay of payment until you sell your
property or your estate is settled.
If you want to age
in place in a smaller or less expensive home, check out your
county's downsizing tax breaks. If you are over 55, sell your
home and move to a home of equal of lesser value in the same
area, some areas/counties calculate your property tax using
the base year value of your old home.
Universal
Design
Universal Design definition: the
design of products and environments to be usable by all
people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for
adaptation or specialized design.
You need to be aware
of this growing trend of building homes that incorporate
Universal Design and look for those design features when
buying a home. Many of the remodeling items listed above were
included in the blueprints for these newer homes.
The
summer polio scourges of the 1930's, 1940's and early 1950's
(before Salk's vaccine) impacted thousands. Those who survived
lived with a range of disabilities. Many of those physical
limitations were accommodated by the benefits that arose from
the universal design movement, such as lowered water fountains
and level subway platforms.
The Center for Universal
Design lists the seven principals that guide the design of
more usable products and environments:
1. Equitable Use means a
useful design for people with diverse abilities. Privacy,
safety and security equally available for all. Same means of
use of equivalent.
2. Flexibility accommodates
a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
Adaptable to user's paces, Serves both left and right handed
users and aids uses precision. An example would be left handed
scissors.
3. Simple
and Intuitive: How to use is easy to understand-
independent of experience, language, knowledge or ability to
focus.
4. Perceptible Information
design tells you what you need, independent of the surrounding
conditions or users senses, such as hearing. Provides the
information several ways- such as verbally, visually, and for
the blind- by touch. Make legible for all -- no tiny
print!
5. Tolerance
for Error minimizes hazards (such as the barbeque
requiring two actions to make the propane work) and
consequences of accidents or screw ups. And provides a means
to fix those screw ups- such as the computer UNDO
button.
6. Low
Physical Effort reduces repetition and sustained
effort, plus incorporates reasonable and prudent operating
forces. Also normal body position- Should not require a circus
contortionist to operate.
7. Size/Space for Approach &
Use Regardless of body size, posture, or mobility.
A user can approach, reach, or manipulate in the appropriate
space. A basketball player can enter a room without smacking
his head, the bathroom doors are wide enough for wheelchairs,
and if you are not a basketball player, you can still reach
the kitchen cabinets.
Why is all this important to
you?
Because when you are buying a home, one with
Universal Design components can allow you to stay in that home
independently and safely for much longer. And those key
benefits help when selling a Universal Design home.
An
example of Universal Design concept is the ergonomic (science
of people and things interacting safely and effectively) Good
Grips kitchen tools.
They are comfortable, affordable
tools for everyone who cooks. And great food prep tools for
those of us who do more food assembling than "cooking." (My
great grandmother's generation thought you couldn't cook if
you couldn't bake.) Yet initially these products arose in the
late 80's out of Sam Farber's frustration and his arthritic's
wife's difficulties with most kitchen gadgets.
After
much research with industrial designers and gerontologists,
Sam had a hit. The company was profitable in the first year
and sales grew 50% each year thereafter in its first decade.
The peeler doesn't bend in half under pressure, doesn't hurt
your hand, doesn't rust within six months, and actually
works-and works well.
For three Christmas' running, I
included the peeler with all my gifts, then switched to the
pizza cutter. Families and even my cooking-challenged bachelor
friends need a pizza cutter.
And the parent company's
name OXO is the same spelled backwards, forwards, and upside
down- a universal design name!
Universal Design helps
you physically cope, without discomfort.
So Aging in Place remodeling or
buying a Universal Design home are key options to help keep
you in your own home.
Online
resources for seniors living at home:
For resources that
can help seniors stay in their own homes,
go to www.aging-parents-and-elder-care.com
, then scroll down the center and click on Independent
Living.
This site provides a variety of
links with resources that can help seniors remain in their
homes, including Lifeline Medical Alert Systems at www.lifelinesys.com
and the Senior Corp elder companion program. Go to www.seniorcorps.org
and click on About Us on the left side. Then scroll down to
find Senior Companions and click.
To
access Making Your Home Safe for Seniors: A Room-by-Room
Assessment, go to http://oursenioryears.com/homesafety.html |
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