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With some planning and preparation, spending your golden years at home is possible.
As the baby-boomer generation reaches retirement age, planning where and how to spend life’s later years becomes an important decision.
Many are choosing to stay in their current homes or build a house where they can spend the remaining portion of their life. But with age come health concerns that must be taken into consideration when opting to age in place.
Independent living
To “age in place” is to remain as independent as possible, including remaining in one’s own home. But to do so requires preparation.
“Aging in place is just making a person’s existing home functional and comfortable for them in later years,” remodeling contractor Bill Cassetty says.
In general, he says, the focus is on ensuring a home is easy to maneuver around, such as making it wheelchair accessible or installing grip bars in bathrooms.
“If (the residents) are wheelchair bound, you need to make some adjustments in cabinet heights and sink-level heights so it’s comfortable for them,” Cassetty says, adding that doorways should be at least 3 feet wide.
Many new homes are being built with wheelchair accessibility in mind.
“A lot of the builders now are building the features into the homes,” Cassetty says. “ … It’s just smarter to make the hallway a little wider if it doesn’t cost anything.”
Remodeling costs are difficult to determine, he says, because changes are done on a case-by-case basis.
The kitchen and bathroom are two focus areas for accessibility because they are the rooms where people spend the majority of their time, says Barry Helms, who owns the design remodeling company Renovations by Helms. Necessary considerations include easy-to-grip handles on faucets and a seat in the shower. He says comfort-height toilets are also popular to accommodate wheelchair use.
“We’re probably putting those in nine out of 10 projects,” he says.
Helms says he has seen an increase in aging-in-place techniques in both remodeling and new home design over the last five years.
“It has to do with people being able to stay in their homes longer with medical advancements and not having to go to assisted living,” he says. “We are seeing people move in with their siblings but have their own space in the same house.”
Planning for the future
Homeowners should allow plenty of time between planning and making changes to a home for safe living.
The ideal age to remodel or think about building a home to age in place is in your 50s, says Jo Brewer, coordinator for Utica Park Clinic’s SeniorPartner, a program designed to coordinate health care services for those ages 50 and over. Brewer says people can make several simple changes to their homes to prepare for aging in place, such as raising the volume on phones, using front-loading washers and dryers and installing lever-style door handles for arthritic hands.
More expensive and drastic changes that will pay off include converting a bathtub into a walk-in shower with a seat and updating the heating and air conditioning system.
“(It’s a) short-term expense that will save money in the long run during retirement because it will be more efficient,” she says of updating the system.
Pulling up carpeting and replacing it with hardwood floors for easy wheelchair access is another change that will help decrease the number of falls.
But even those changes might not be enough to remain at home, Brewer says. For example, if a fire or other emergency were to happen and the person could not leave the home fast enough because of a medical or memory issue, that is a sign that more direct care is needed.
It takes a village
There is much more to aging in place than simply updating a home, says Penny Cuff, senior program officer for Partners for Livable Communities, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit leadership organization working to improve the livability of communities by promoting quality of life, economic development and social equity. Aging in place involves every aspect of the community, including local planning departments, nonprofit organizations and media outlets, she says.
“It’s kind of like taking a village to raise a child; it takes the same village to help us all grow old,” Cuff says. “It just requires everyone’s involvement. Just fixing your own home is only one tiny part. It maybe makes it possible to live in your home, but it doesn’t make it possible to walk outside your front door, and that’s the difference. You need to be able to walk outside your front door and be a valuable member of the community.”
Since 2004, Partners and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) have worked together on the Aging in Place Initiative, a program to assist communities in developing policies, programs and services to help older adults.
Several community components are necessary for people to age in their homes, Cuff says, including transportation, housing options, health care, grocery stores with fresh produce, and cultural events. These are everyday components that people need to have in order to live a full life.
And, she adds, community leaders need to realize that community changes are needed now.
“Because the demographic of the aging population is changing so rapidly, it’s a good strategy to build around making places livable for older people because it’s going to happen,” Cuff says. “It’s a fact. People want to age in their own homes. They’re going to age in their own homes. And as citizens, as the rest of us in those communities, we need to make that possible.”
Over the past two years, Partners and n4a have hosted aging-in-place workshops in 12 locations across the country to educate communities about the Aging in Place Initiative and help them understand the obstacles and benefits.
Cuff cites Atlanta as having one of the most comprehensive community plans for aging in place. The regional approach, called Lifelong Communities, focuses on promoting housing and transportation options, encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and expanding information sources and services.
How to prepare your home for aging in place:
- Install sensor lighting that turns on automatically when you enter the area.
- Remove area rugs that could cause falls.
- Incorporate an emergency response system.
- Install bright lighting in all areas of the home with dimmer switches.
- Increase lightbulb wattage.
- Install a handheld shower in bath.
Source: Jo Brewer, coordinator for Utica Park Clinic’s SeniorPartner
Signs when aging in place is not possible:
- When your safety and security are a concern.
- When you feel socially isolated, are no longer able to drive or no longer have access to adequate transportation.
- When you stop regular meal preparation and there is no one to assist you.
- When you can no longer do your own daily living activities and not enough support is available through family or service providers.
- When your need for socialization cannot be met inside your home.
Source: Jo Brewer, coordinator for Utica Park Clinic’s SeniorPartner
Aging, by the numbers
- By 2030, nearly one in five Americans — 71.5 million people — will be over age 65.
- Only a small minority of seniors move to warmer climates upon retirement. Fewer than 5 percent of the 65-and-over population resides in nursing homes. Instead, most Americans choose to age in place, within the same communities where they have lived.
- Homeownership rates among adults ages 65 and above, at more than 80 percent, are higher than the national average.
- One in five Americans ages 65 and above does not drive.
Source: Aging in Place Initiative
