As americans live longer and healthier lives, more seniors are preferring to stay in their homes, rather than re-locating to a retirement facility. This what is called “aging in place,” has become a challenging opportunity for builders and contractors to make home remodeling for seniors safe and easy.
We are using the term “aging in place” in reference to living where person have lived for many years, or to living in a non-healthcare environment, and using products, services and conveniences to enable you to not have to move as circumstances change. More recently “Aging in place” is a term used in marketing by those in the rapidly evolving senior housing industry.
A significant concern as people grow older is that they may have to leave their home. This would mean leaving behind a comfortable setting familiar community and many memories. In addition a certain amount of control is lost when one leaves home. This “control” provides the underpinning to our feelings of dignity, quality of life and independence. One’s home is a strong element in that sense of security.
Most American seniors desire to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. In fact an AARP survey found this number to be greater than 80% of seniors.
The aging process is blamed for many problems seniors may encounter with daily activities. However quite often it is the home creates the difficulties. Most residential housing is geared to young healthy adults. Builders do not take into account age-related conditions such as reduced mobility or limited range of reach. Hence, dwellings do not support the physical and sensory changes that older adults encounter as they age. What appear to be insignificant home features can have significant effect: for a person with even minor aging issues.
Many seniors avoid home modifications and helpful technology items designed for people with disabilities,.because these products have an industrial appearance. No one wants to have their home look like a hospital. Consumer demand and computer technology have pushed institutional products to be redesigned to be more acceptable in the home. Some of these include:
Chairs designed for easier in and out
Enhanced high and low frequency tones for doorbells and telephones
Grab bars and hand rails with decorator colors
Hospital type beds with wooden headboards and footboards
Items that are easier for arthritic hands to handle,
Larger print for declining eyesight
On/off buttons with color contrasts
Walkers in bright hues
As preparation for the special considerations required for home remodeling for seniors, those who take the Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) course have a meal wearing sunglasses smeared with Vaseline, ear plugs and hands covered with socks with a tennis ball inside. If you’re a senior with cataracts, hearing loss and arthritis, this is how you move through the world. There are some typical issues and senior remodeling solutions that builders and contractors are better able to understand because of this experience.
Doorways at least 2-feet-10-inches to 3-feet wide are considerably easier for seniors using a walker or a wheelchair. Any risers at entrances should, also, be removed. In addition, stairs that are a minimum of 7-inches high and 11-inches wide are the most safe and easiest to climb. In the bathroom, a shower without a ridge, low sidewalls and curtains instead of glass doors with a bottom ledge are beneficial when home remodeling for seniors.
For those seniors with hearing loss, installing doorbells that light up instead of ringing adds to their safety and independence. As does using contrasting colors for counters and floors in the kitchen and bathroom for those with poor vision. Good lighting throughout, especially in more hazardous areas, is a given.
Seniors who have mobility troubles either bending down or up; or, who are wheelchair-bound benefit from cabinets, counters and shelves that can extend up or down. In addition, counters and sinks can be modified, allowing wheelchairs to fit under them.
The physical and mental impairments that tend to accompany aging tend to reduce older adults’ reaction times and place them at a higher risk for causing fires, and thus at a higher risk of fire injury.
Disabilities present additional fire risks and concerns for the elderly. Many Medicare enrollees re unable to complete at least some of the normal activities of daily living (ADL) necessary for a degree of self-sufficiency.
Economic and social concerns also contribute to the fire risk for older adults. Most live on fixed incomes and many live in poverty. Hence, they may be unable to afford to make necessary home improvements that could substantially reduce their risk of fire.
