In recent months I’ve been contacted by a few assisted living communities asking me for an endorsement. As those of you who follow my blog probably already know, I intend to age in place. Aging in place means you age in your home with some support services, not an assisted living or nursing home community. This is a growing movement, especially among baby boomers like myself. I like having control over what I’m doing in life. The idea of giving up control to an institutionalized home environment run by a staff with rules and policies to be followed is not my idea of independent living. While it’s not always possible to stay independent to a degree and these facilities serve a real need, they are also expensive. One family seeking assisted living for a relative recently told me about a community, which cost $10,000 per month! How many people have $120,000 a year to spend on housing and care for the rest of their lives? I think very few can afford that kind of money. Since assisted living and nursing home communities have experienced a decline in population over the last ten years and baby boomers, true to form, want to stay as independent for as long as possible, I think it’s a good bet the decline may continue. The question then becomes, “What must we do to successfully age in place?”.
The first requisite is good health. If you take care of your body when you’re young, your body will take care of you as you age. Good health is the number one reason I recently lost some pounds – 18 at last count. I’ve reached my goal, satisfied my doctor and feel more optimistic about my ability to age in place. Weight isn’t the only issue, however. Good health covers a lot of territory. Being healthy physically, mentally and emotionally means more than popping a multivitamin and eating a healthy diet. Both your body and mind must stay agile. Remember neuroplasticity? If we are to age in place, we must have the mental capacity to know when to do what as well as the physical acuity to perform routine activities and avoid falls. Keep moving! Both body and mind. And, monitor your health along with your physician. Being proactive about your health is the best preventive measure you can take. On the emotional end of the good health spectrum, we must be engaged with people. People who age successfully no matter where they live, have close ties to other human beings. They feel a sense of community. They cultivate relationships with family and friends. This may become more of a challenge as we age. It’s a fact of life that eventually we all die. As we lose friends or family, it becomes important to watch ourselves for depression. It becomes even more important to continue the deep relationships that remain as well as take part in community activities to find new friends, young and old.
Most aging in place articles I’ve read are centered upon the home environment. Staying in the home we’ve lived in is a source of security, a feeling of independence and control as we age. That’s the number one reason to stay in your home. However, the home must accommodate our physical needs in such a way as to offer a safe haven. This is the second requisite for aging in place. If you are living in a large home with stairs, all bedrooms on the second floor, a huge yard to keep up, a basement level or stairs just to enter the house, you need to assess whether aging in this particular place is possible for you. When Martin and I built our house eleven years ago, it was built with the idea of aging in place. Never having owned a really large home anyway, this one is just a tad bit larger than the average American home of 2,000 square feet. The floor plan is an open one story so if wheel chair or walker become necessary, we can negotiate the rooms without any problem. With the exception of the two secondary bedrooms, the flooring is either hardwood or tile. The one area rug can easily be removed to prevent tripping as we age. There is no tub in the master bath – only a large walk-in shower with a seat. We tried to think about what it would be like to age in this house. As you can see, with some planning, even an existing house can be retrofitted to accommodate your needs for aging in place. I know realistically we will need to hire someone to do the yard work around the house. Just as we will eventually need someone to clean inside, do laundry and maybe cook some meals.
That brings me to the third requisite for aging in place. Services. We’ll need in home help. In the last 50 years, we’ve done a better job at providing community and government resources to support the care of our aging population. With the sheer numbers increasing due to the aging of baby boomers, those support systems will likely be strained. I believe technology and good old-fashioned ingenuity will help fill that gap. I also believe as health care improves so will our chances of remaining independent longer. We are currently seeing the advent of cars, which drive themselves. What a boon to an aging population not willing to relinquish their independence, car keys or driver’s license. We already have improved home security services with speakers in the ceiling and remote emergency buttons. APPS listing and connecting us to resources in the community already exist and are sure to increase and improve. Companies now in the business of offering home care will find new, improved ways of meeting the need. And, new companies will be created. This is an opportunity in many ways.
Aging in place has a lot of parts to it and is not a one size fits all. It requires a lot of thought and planning. You, and only you, know how you want to age and what fits with your individual needs. What I’ve shared with you here is just the basics as I see them. If you haven’t thought about it, now is the time to think about it and make any necessary changes to your lifestyle. Taking a proactive approach now and preparing for the future will allow you to age in place on your terms.
Kathy's Retirement Blog 
My husband and I have had discussions recently about this very topic. We are relatively young (59 and 61), and in good health, but know that won’t last forever. We don’t have kids so we will need to figure out how to manage our care if there ever comes a time when we are unable to advocate for ourselves and each other. Good post on an important topic!
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You are so right. Sadly with age comes horrid stuff that you just can’t control. So many of my friends have succumbed to arthritis, Parkinson’s and Cancer and need much more care.
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Thoughtful & informative article…..I’ll share with others.
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2015 17:13:13 +0000 To: paulettecarter242@msn.com
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Excellent article! Thank you for exploring this important topic.
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I am 62 and enjoy working out at least 5 days a week with my hubby. We do spinning , walking, dancing and working out on the elliptical machine. We try to eat a clean diet 80% of the time. So we are praying we will age with grace and dignity. I retire in Dec. this year and we also plan to age in place in our spacious single level home! Decluttering and organizing our home to simplify our lives is our goal. I plan to lead a more minimalistic lifestyle with less stuff to worry about. I have started practicing aging in place by hiring a cleaning lady twice a month to clean our house. Wow what a amazing luxury!! Great post – thanks.
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Hi Kathy,
Great Post and we are thinking about these things. Thanks!
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Excellent post! My husband and I realized recently that it’s time to sell our too-big house with a too-big garden and lawn. We plan to take the winter months to clear out excess ‘stuff’ aka clutter the goal of selling in the spring market. Our cottage,where we spend summers is one floor which is easier for creaky joints. We have a list of what we want in the next house so that we can ‘age in place’. Meanwhile, we are focusing on health and trying to control what we can control.
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Great article. I have recently joined U3A. University of the third age who are an international organisation which arrange weekly activities and social gatherings and outingd for retired persons for next to nothing. Google to find one in your area. Keeping one’s mind sharp and social interaction is vital. I am 58 and have recently had to retire due to ill health so the U3A isn’t only for old retired folk.
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You are so right – we must consider all the issues related to housing. Few people can afford the type of housing in the assisted living example that you cited! I’ve been studying and writing about housing recently and I’m finding that many people would like to age in place, but they thought about it too late and don’t have the money to make the adjustments they need on their present home like wider doorways and walk-in tubs and one-floor living. I am so glad that I arranged for most of these when I built my present house. If you haven’t seen it, I can recommend my recent blog posts “What are your housing options as you age?” and “Beginner’s Guide to Meaningful Retirement Living, Part 2: Making a Senior Housing Choice.” I am glad we are both writing about this so more people will become aware and take action.
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Appreciate your blog, But I think for today’s baby boomers and seniors, retirement living communities offer a broad range of intellectual, physical and social activities to enhance golden years’ enjoyment.
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I agree with you on the offerings. Perhaps I should write a post on this. In my pre-retirement years I had a few senior communities as clients and spent sometimes an entire day at a time visiting on-site. I recently spent 2 days at 4+ hours each at yet another community. My observations have all been the same. While there are lots of amenities, few, if any of the residents are using them! So, to clarify, it’s not the communities but the residents. They do not take advantage of what is offered. When I go to a community and the library is empty, the exercise room is empty. the card room is empty, the art room is empty, no one is sitting on their patio or enjoying the gardens and trails, I do not want to be a part of that community. Perhaps if you have a different experience, you can tell me more about it.
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In many ways I have done the opposite of what you describe. We lived for 20 years in a one story, 2,000 sq. ft. home with no stairs in or out of the home. Yet neither of us were happy with where the house was located – in a cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood in Orange County, California. We kept living there and raising our kids there because it was easier and cheaper than moving.
When retirement rolled around I realized I did not want to stay in a home where the only view was of our neighbor’s RV parked in the driveway behind us and the smoggy skies above us. Hubby did not want to do any more yard or pool work. When doing our financial planning, we concluded it would be unwise to purchase another large home with another large mortgage. So we sold the “big” home and downsized to a small two-story condo on a golf course in the mountains, near enough to still see the grandkids but away from the traffic and smog. Every day I look out at the blue skies, the pine trees, and the rolling green fairways.
There is a good possibility that we will not be able to age in place here; perhaps it will be the stairs that become too much for us, or the snow during the winter, or the winding drive down the mountain to see the doctor. Yet it is infinitely worth it to take it one day at a time. It is hard to describe how much the views from our home have improved my quality of life – I don’t feel like I’m stuck in a box anymore! We are thrilled to live in a forest environment, and both have increased our exercise and social interaction in our new home town.
I am a planner so I will continue to plan for the future, always working toward solutions that include maximizing happiness and contentedness in addition to more practical considerations.
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