OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“I think there are inherent problems with aging in your own home.
A lot of housing stock is not appropriate for aging in place.
A lot of houses are split levels or only have an upstairs bath,” SHAG’s Woolford said.
“It gets harder to live there and to get out and do things.
That leads to social isolation.
I believe in the ability to age in
the same community, but with housing options that are more accessible and
affordable.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
With the rapid graying of America, Wolford said public policy must shift to supporting more intergenerational communities,
more buildings like SHAG’s that have ground-level retail, restaurants and wellness centers open to the general public.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
SHAG sets aside 20 percent of the units in each of its complexes for people with disabilities, who are eligible at age 55 — younger than the typical senior.
He said even more
accessible/affordable housing is needed.
“We’ve done a very good job of creating affordable housing, but what we haven’t figured out is how to keep it affordable,” SHAG’s Woolford said.
“People increasingly don’t have pensions and
social security cost-of-living increases are not going up enough to match the
cost of housing.
Someone might enter one of our communities in sound financial shape, but 10 years later they are severely rent burdened.
We have to fill up
the donut hole for people who make too much to get Medicaid or other support,
but too little to afford to private pay for care and housing.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“There needs to be bonus density for senior housing, programs are needed to create more affordability,” SHAG’s Woolford said.
If the land is cheap, you’re in an urban desert.
If the land is
amenity rich, with proximity to daily needs — it is expensive.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Jay Woolford, executive director of Senior Housing Assistance Group (SHAG) in greater Seattle, is concerned about the lack of affordable and accessible housing.
SHAG builds affordable senior
housing units, but even in the highest income counties in the state, many
people have difficulty affording rent.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“People like big bathrooms, they like something they can grab in the shower even if they are not a fall risk.
Those are accessibility features,” she said.
“People pay for the convenience of a
bathroom on first floor or an extra room that can be an office and eventually a
bedroom on the first floor — that’s universal design.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
There is a picture of accessible doorways and the caption is very negative, saying it is unattractive and people don’t like it,” Novack said.
“It’s a barn door style. These are all
the rage for bedrooms, bathrooms kitchens — they are in designer homes now.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Valerie Novack, a fellow with the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress and a Ph.D. candidate in Land Use and Planning at Utah State University,
supports
retrofitting but pushes for more universal design in new construction. She is
frustrated with the stigma attached to accessibility.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“Ann Forsyth says ‘the suburbs are not a terrible place to live if you can drive. If you can’t, that’s a problem,’”
said Molinksy, quoting the professor of Urban Planning at Harvard University and her co-author of What Is Aging in Place? Confusions and Contradictions.
“I’m a big proponent of housing options — ADUS, triplexes, small apartments —
there is a lot of potential to build up the suburbs into walkable
neighborhoods.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Even though accessibility is key to living independently, Molinksy said even minimal access — wide doorways and hallways, a bedroom and bath on the ground floor — exists in barely 3.5 percent of housing.
She said this must change.
She said it is why several advocacy
groups are lobbying for federal, state and local tax credits to support
retrofits for aging in place and expanding access for people with disabilities.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“We think of housing as a platform for wellbeing.
Housing affordability matters to financial security and capacity to meet other needs besides shelter, such as for food and out-of-pocket medical costs,” Mollinksy said.
“The accessibility and safety of the home matters to
our ability to live independently.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Jennifer Molinsky, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University said different people have different ideas about aging in place.
For some, it means they will never move out of their house.
For others, it means they want to stay
in the same community and for others it means moving anywhere, so long as it is
not a nursing home.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“Sometimes the fixes are fairly easy.
If there’s an existing shower on the main level, a fixed roll-down seat or portable bath bench can add a lot of safety and accessibility for a low price,” MAHO’s Glas said.
“Because converting to a roll-in shower can be expensive, we want to make sure we educate people on how to do it the right way.
You cannot
assume your architect or contractor knows how to modify for accessibility.
There are so many creative, low-cost options that your contractor probably
doesn’t know about.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Greater Cleveland, carved by glaciers and very hilly, provides challenges for ramps and creative use of topography to create one level entrance into a home.
The old city also has a lot of duplexes,
with aging owners who live upstairs desiring to make the ground floor unit
accessible so they can move into that space while continuing to earn rental
income from the upstairs unit.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“We always say a 20-dollar grab bar can save a fall that can break a hip that can lead to a long hospitalization, loss of home or even death,”
said Beth Glas, executive vice president of MAHO
and director of its Anderson Center for Accessible Living.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Maximum Accessible Housing of Ohio (MAHO) serves greater Cleveland with assisted living units for people with disabilities.
It also has a demonstration unit filled with universal design ideas simple to incorporate and it provides in-home accessibility assessments free to county residents who make within 120 percent of median income.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
“It also lengthens the amount of time in which one can stay in their home rather than going to an assisted living facility without a CAPS home/renovation,” Cunningham said.
“With the
modifications that are available during a simple renovation and at a minimal
cost, they not only add a monetary value, but add a personal sense of security
and well-being.”
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Modifications also enhance visitability — accommodating family members and visitors who require level entrances, wider doorways and a ground floor accessible restroom.
“The importance of the CAPS program to
aging-in-place is that it allows homeowners to live in their home more
confidently and independently, as well as safely with the modifications that a
CAPS remodel allows,” Cunningham said.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) created the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) program to teach residential remodelers home modifications for the aging-in-place.
“Some of the simple and easy fixes are things such as: adding safety bars to an
existing shower or tub area, changing light switches from toggle to paddle
switches, exchanging door knobs with level door handles, adding a removable
shower seat to your existing shower/tub area or even installing a comfort
height toilet to your bathroom,”
said Steve Cunningham, CAPS, CGP — 2021 NAHB
Remodelers Chair and owner of Williamsburg, Va.,-based Cunningham Contracting.
OLDER AMERICANS ARE DRIVING
THE NEED FOR HOUSING TO AGE IN PLACE
Belmont Senior Living’s Will noted that not only was her inclusive project very successful, but the units with tub-showers for independent residents were torn out and replaced with walk/roll-in showers by popular demand.
“Inclusion is part of the DNA at Belmont.
If someone needs a walker for mobility, if they are more secure by
having a caregiver standby when they take a shower, how does that diminish them?”
