Chapter 11: Aging In Place

Some Americans look forward to the time when they can move into a Senior Living Community.  The reasons are numerous.  The residents of these communities are able to pursue their lives without having to worry about keeping up the yard or taking out the trash.  Care is immediately available, if it becomes needed. 

Many of us, however, are not interested in leaving our homes as we get older.  Aging in place, according to Social Gerontology by Hootman and Kiyak (2011), is “the preference [of elders] to stay in their homes where the environment is familiar, neighbors can be relied on for assistance and socializing, and the aging person has control” (p. 453). 

I fall into this category.  To enhance my ability to age in place, no matter what comes, I am actively pursuing a house that utilized universal design, which strives to accommodate all potential users, rather than just the temporarily able-bodied (Hootman & Kiyak, 2011, p.473).

These tables summarize the reasons people make these types of changes to their homes and what problems these changes help them overcome.  The tables were taken from an AAPR home modification fact sheet found here.

Remodeling is an expensive undertaking.  Because of this, it is important to start early.  This will let a home owner with intentions of aging in place budget for small remodeling jobs as money allows, rather than being forced into doing everything at once.  If a homeowner decides to move, any aging in place modifications that have been made are a great selling point.

 This video, by Danny Lipford, shows some great examples of universal design.  Searching “aging in place” on youtube produces a long list of informative videos.  It’s a good resource if you’d like to know more about the practical instillation of or reasons behind universal design and aging in place.

The AARP and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) joined together to create a certification program for contractors who are knowledgeable about remodeling geared towards universal design.  Certified Aging in Place Specialists, or CAPS, that are endorsed by the NAHB can be found through  this  website.  As you might be able to guess, the vast majority of the CAPS builders in Idaho are located in or near the state’s capital, Boise.

One of the most interesting and pertinent scholarly articles I was able to find that really gets to the heart of aging in place is titled "Restoring and Sustaining Home: The Impact of Home Modifications on the Meaning of Home for Older People".  It was published in 2008 in the Journal of Housing for the Elderly.  The full text can be found here.  This is an excerpt from the introduction of the article.

"[T]here has been a focus on the use of assessment of activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living as indicators of functional independence and, therefore, person–environment fit.  The desire of older people to remain at home while they age, however, is not solely related to task and function. It has much to do with subjective feelings about what home means to them (Oswald & Wahl, 2005;Sherman & Dacher, 2005). In environmental psychology, it has been proposed that it is the relationship between a person and their dwelling that defines the essence of what “home” is (Dovey, 1985) and the impact of home on health and well-being is increasingly being recognized (Rowles & Chaudhury, 2005)."  

For more in-depth information about potential remodeling to facilitate aging in place, please see this Home Modifications booklet.  It strives for comprehensiveness.  Reading this is a great starting place if for anyone thinking about making changes to their home for aging in place. 

If you aren't up to reading the 14 page booklet mentioned above, another place to start might be here.  It's a short article titled " Aging in Place: How to Remodel Your Home and Stay as Long as Possible".  This article covers the basics (as well as a couple points the booklet misses) and is on HousingForSeniors.com, which provides links to more housing information of various kinds. 

Another article that centers on aging in place can be found here.  It's on the AARP website.  Among other things, this article talks about the CAPS created by the AARP and the NAHB.  

Looking at some of Rumi's work, I found a short poem that encapsulates aging in place perfectly.  Emotions and situations are transient.  For an individual that is aging in place, the self and the home are what remains consistent.

This We Have Now

  

This we have now

is not imagination.

  

This is not

grief or joy.  

  

Not a judging state,

or an elation,

or sadness.

  

Those come and go.

This is the presence that doesn't.

   

From Essential Rumi

by Coleman Barks (1995)