By Barbara Pierce
There’s no place like home — especially as you age. Most of us would agree.
“Ninety percent of people who are aging want to continue to live in their own home,” said Jack Rockwell, owner and operator of R&R Custom Solutions, Oriskany Falls. “Yet, 85% have done nothing to promote this. Most people don’t think about it until it’s staring them in the face.”
R&R Custom Solutions provides comprehensive senior home services including helping people modify their homes to meet their changing needs as they age.
The facts are that, for many of us, when we get to our 70s, 80s, 90s, those years will be challenging. It’s a time of diminishments and limitations, of physical and mental decline. Many will be unable to do the things that brought us joy. Even the small tasks we do every day can become difficult, like fixing a meal, showering, walking, using the phone.
“Sometime at around ages 70-75, give or take, your cognitive and physical capacities decline to roughly their halfway point — you are no longer able to do the things you used to do with ease,” said physician Peter Attia in his book “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.” “Bad stuff starts to happen more frequently and with greater consequence. It’s one thing to break your femur in a skiing accident when you’re 40. It’s quite another to do it in your 70s when you’re at 25% of your capacity.”
Research done by the National Institutes of Health found a significant reduction in fitness between men and women in their 60s versus those in their 70s. The re-duction was “due to the re-duction of muscle strength in both upper and lower limbs and changes in body fat percentage, flexibility, agility and endurance.”
It’s likely that there will be a mismatch between the features of the homes we bought when we were younger and the housing we need to remain in it. Features such as stairs, large yards, ongoing repairs and lack of easy access to shopping and medical resources become important considerations.
For example, the stairs we go down up and down several times a day — up to our beds, down to do our laundry: falls are a leading cause of hospital admissions. If we need to use a wheelchair, even temporarily, most doorways don’t accommodate a wheelchair; we can’t even get into our house without going up the front steps; counters can’t be used from a seated position. Showers and toilets don’t have grab bars for when our balance lessens. Maintenance needs are ongoing in an older home and tasks like mounting storm windows, snow shoveling and mowing the lawn can be difficult, even impossible, for many of us.
Research shows a clear association between decline in cognitive functioning and mobility; many with cognitive impairments need to use a walker for stability.
As he also provides medical transportation, and operator of R&R Custom Solutions Rockwell often comes face to face with aging people dealing with the challenges of their home.
“A woman who couldn’t get up the front steps in her wheelchair: Her grandson was happy to make a ramp for her, but he didn’t build it to specifications and it’s too steep; wheelchairs can’t go up hills. Or another ramp has turns that are impossible to make. Ramps are a big thing that people often need.”
“Or the woman who feared getting in and out of her tub when she showered. Her son installed grab bars, but he used picture hangers so the grab bars couldn’t begin to hold even a bit of her weight. Grab bars are only as good as their installation.”
“Door levers instead of handles are a big change many people make; levers don’t need any hand strength to open.”
“It’s cost effective not to wait,” he added. “Most of us tend to be reactive, not proactive. We wait for a crisis to hit us in the face. We’re being discharged from the hospital and need certain modifications to our home so that we can go home.”
For low-income folks, help is available. For example, to be discharged from the hospital you must show medical necessity for the changes so your insurance company may pay. VA offers some help for veterans. Some Offices for the Aging help.
Think about the home you hope to remain in as you age: How would it work if you needed to rely on a walker or wheelchair? If you don’t have the energy or the strength to do the maintenance tasks, to mow the grass, shovel the snow? Or to do grocery shopping and heat up meals? As much as we hate to think
about it, those things are likely to happen.
What changes could you make now to be prepared for the inevitable?