Aging in Place and Design Considerations
I’ve spoken on this topic before, but it’s becoming especially important as the Baby Boomers are aging into their “Golden Years”. In our area, a lot of the homes are secondary homes. However, we often get calls to convert what was a perfectly acceptable rental into a full time retirement home. There are a lot of items that need to be addressed in that sort of project. Usually the house lacks storage options (pantries and closets) that were less important for weeklong visits. In addition, if it’s an older home, it may not very friendly to “Aging in Place”. This is an especially important factor if you plan this to be the last home you ever own. No one wants to move in with their kids or a facility because they just can’t stay in their home.
Protection from Falls
Typically, the first thing we focus on is preventing falls. On a new home, this means we’ll want to keep everything on one level, preferably as close to grade as possible. We would want to remove every single trip hazard. That means removing steps, keeping thresholds low or non-existent, and careful attention to flooring types and transitions. It’s not even all on the initial design, the furniture, rugs, and even things like power/communication cords on the floor need to be considered.
Why are falls are first focus? This is because falls are the number one cause of loss of independence. If you think about it, if you fall down and hurt yourself badly, you’re going to spend months recovering. During that time, you will have limited mobility (see more on that below). This will cause muscle loss and weakness and the truth is, you may never recover to your former strength. So, if we can keep you from falling, the better the chances you can stay independent and healthy.
Accessibility
This is our next focus. We want to make sure that someone with a mobility issue can get around their house. This means keeping doors to 36″ wide. It also means we’re going to need to provide handrails and/or grab bars at some locations. It might mean adding a ramp. It might mean adding an elevator. It might just mean that we plan for those future changes (especially the elevator) should they become necessary. Although we don’t usually advise waiting until it’s an emergency, sometimes you can plan for future upgrades to save money or for aesthetic reasons. We can provide the blocking in the wall to secure grab bars in the bathroom. It can make sense to stack a set of closets that can be converted to save money up front. The elevator is pricey equipment and one of the last pieces to be added to a home, so it’s easy to retrofit if the shaft is available.
One of the most common discussions we have with people at this point is about water closets. These can be something people really want in their homes, a private closet to hold the toilet. However, they are highly impractical for accessibility. They tend to be very small rooms, which works great, until you need space for a mobility assistant. A wheelchair is obvious, but even a cane can be tricky in a tight space. Sometimes we just make them a little bigger; sometimes we make them fully ANSI A117.1 compliant; and sometimes, we just don’t do them.
Aging in Place
Every client is different, and our approach can be very different depending on known needs and their expectations. Good, Universal Design brings potential value to every home owner. However, sometimes the cost is higher than that homeowner finds the value. We’ve had talks with homeowners who were adamant about adding a commercial grade ramp, until the flood zone requirements meant they were eating up a quarter of their lot. This is where a good design professional can shine, helping clients balance the value versus the cost of changes.
There are also a lot of other popular options. Sometimes we design a home with a level that’s just for the kids to visit their aging parents. Sometimes, we design a home with two master suites, or even an Accessory Dwelling Unit to allow a live in help. Similarly, we’ve done a lot of in-law suites or grandma pods to allow extended families to live and support each other. There are a lot of social benefits to having multiple generations in one house, but also a lot of potential costs that need to be addressed in a good design. Either way, a good home design needs to address long term planning, even 40-50 years down the line. While no planning is ever perfect, ignoring the realities of aging isn’t going to make it not happen.
