Aging in Place – An Option for Seniors to Remain Home Longer

 
Aging in place can be simply described as getting older without the need to move to another place. In other words, you can remain at home by slightly modifying your home to suit an older person.
With modern technology and medicine, seniors are living much older now. It’s estimated that in the next forty years or so, seniors will represent one out of five people in the United States. This means that there will be more seniors competing for spots in other adult communities and senior housing. In addition, the costs to take care of seniors in these facilities will also rise, so aging in place is a great way to cut costs, and it is more enjoyable for seniors to remain in their own surroundings.
What makes aging in place unique is that each home is modified to suit the needs of each senior. The type of disabilities that you encounter will determine how your home needs to be modified. For example, if you required a wheelchair to get around, your home would need ramps to make it easier for you to get in and out of your house, and to move from room to room. If you are living in a two-story home, you might need to fit a chair lift for you to get from one floor to the other if you needed to. In situations where you didn’t need these alterations, there would be no need to remodel your home in this way.
Each of these modifications to your home will cost some money, but remaining in an assisted living facility or a nursing home would cost much more each month that you stayed there.
 

Aging in Place – Modifications to Your Home

 
Here is a list of some modifications that your home might require to allow aging in place:
Single Story Homes – It would be ideal for you to live in a single story home. This would make it easier for you to get around, and it would eliminate the need to climb up and down stairs and prevent risking a fall. However, if you have a two or three story home, you could also install chair lifts that would allow you to sit down and be lifted up and down like an elevator.
Scald Proof Faucets – Faucets with temperature controls could be installed to make aging in place easier. These faucets are modified to allow the hot water temperature not to exceed a certain temperature. This would prevent you from getting scalded when you shower, take a bath, or even wash your hands.
Larger Doorways – It’s possible that the doorway areas in your home might need to be widened to accommodate a wheelchair. In addition, you could install special door handles that do not need to be twisted and turned to open. This would make it easier for you to enter and leave rooms.
Modified Kitchens – Kitchens are dangerous in most homes, even for younger adults and children. Gas and electric stoves can cause fires and knives can easily cut. It’s a good idea to install buzzers that remind seniors to turn off the stoves, or to install stoves that shutoff automatically after a certain time.
If cooking ever becomes too difficult a task, meals can be precooked for you, and you can reheat them in a microwave. Also, most communities provide Meals-on-Wheels programs. So, you can have your food delivered fresh each day, and eliminate the need to cook at all.
Modified Showers and Tubs – Hand rails should be installed that allow you to easily move in and out of a bathtub and shower. In addition, some people build walk-in bathtubs.
 

Aging in Place – Conclusion

 
These were just a few ideas of how you can modify your home for aging in place. There are many other changes that can be made that don’t involve modifying your home, but modifying your daily life, and receiving the help of others. This allows you to still remain in your home for many more years to come.
Aging in place allows seniors the dignity to stay in their own homes. This allows you to keep your privacy and most of your independence until you die. The benefits are many, but the biggest one is probably the peace of mind that you are still in your home, and not the home of others.