Aging in place strategies and solutions have many purposes. One of them is to give us and our clients the opportunity to live effectively in our homes as we continue to get older.
When we (and the people we are working with as we help them continue to live ion their homes over time) move into our forever home – whether any of us actually realize that it is our long-term home or not at the time of occupancy – we may not have any significant health issues or limiting conditions. We are walking, running, climbing, reaching, holding, grasping, and performing other activities essentially the same as we always have. We might be a step or two slower, but both inwardly and outwardly, we seem to be free of any mobility issues or concerns.
For others, they may have had a mobility or sensory need that they had been experiencing at the time they occupied their long-term home, and that condition was taken into account in selecting that home. Over time, it may have become more pronounced, however.
The point is that regardless of our physical condition when we selected and moved into our forever homes – the ones that we would continue to occupy as we grew older and aged in place in those residences – and whether we had noticeable limitations or not, we picked that home for what we thought was a comfortable lifestyle. Over the years, our expectations were either met (or exceeded), or they came up short.
What we were looking for primarily, in addition to finding a home that provided the general layout that we were looking for in terms of size, space, number of rooms, and relationship of those rooms to each other, was one that we felt allowed for our comfort, safety, and maneuverability within the space – even if we never verbalized it or formally expressed it.
We wanted a home that gave us a fighting chance to be successful in our later years – one that wouldn’t get in our way, unnecessary restrict our movements, or interfere with the process of aging, regardless of any physical ailments or impairments that we might have over time – never really envisioning any limiting conditions that might arise.
We wanted our homes to be nice to us – to treat us well.
There are many places in life – the workplace, the market, public events, the highways, the playground, and elsewhere – where our safety or peace-of-mind is directly challenged or put in jeopardy. Therefore, we need our home environment to provide a type of sanctuary or retreat for us that is relatively safe and free of any stress that can shelter us from the events of the world when we remain in or return to our homes.
By saying that we want our homes to give us a fighting chance for success and a comfortable existence, we are saying that our homes should not challenge us. The flooring, lighting, windows, doors, cabinetry, plumbing fixtures, and other areas of our home that we use on a regular basis should be effective and efficient for us. They should work for us without us even needing to think about any special considerations that might exist.
When our homes don’t measure up to what we need – because we didn’t do as well anticipating our future needs as we thought or they have changed significantly since we occupied the home – we need to evaluate how our homes can be improved. Depending on what they are, the extent of them, and the budget required to undertake them, we can consent to having the work done and stay ahead of the curve.
Not everyone will have the financial ability, or the interest, to improve or modify their homes to make them into the kind of safe retreats they really need to be. We really need to get along well with and within our homes – even when our physical abilities are changing to the point that our homes are more challenging for us.