|
Quarterly Newsletter –
April 2005 |
www.seniorsrealestate.com |
Aging in Place
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, and 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
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-itis doesn't have to
grasp and turn handles
-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
Bathroom
-Install anti-scald valves for lever faucets and faucet mixers
-Temperature controlled shower and tub fixtures
-Shower stall 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 is 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
ww.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 or equivalent.
2. Flexibility accommodates a wide range of individual preferences
and abilities. Adaptable to user's pace. Serves both left and right handed
users and aids user 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 user’s 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 mistakes. 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 that if you couldn't bake, you couldn't cook.) Initially these products
arose in the late 80's out of Sam Farber's frustration and his arthritic 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 holidays 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