Consumer Focus Column: "Creating Homes That Support Aging"

Katie Sloan, AAHSA's Consumer Focus Columnist

Take a good look around your home. What would it take to live there for many years to come? Which parts of your home will support you – and which parts will fight you – as your lifestyle, health or physical abilities change with age? 

Perhaps you’d like to spend more time working or playing at home in your later years. Will you need a home office or more space for a favorite hobby? Maybe you’re hoping the grandchildren will spend more time with you after you retire. How can you make your bathroom and kitchen more “child-friendly”? What if you develop mobility or dexterity limitations – or open your home to an older relative who has these limitations? What will you do, for example, if climbing stairs becomes problematic? Or if an injury or disability makes it hard to reach high cabinet shelves? 

At AAHSA, we’ve spent years thinking about what it will take to help older people age in place while remaining safe, healthy and happy about their choice. The result of that thinking – and the thinking of many innovative designers – was on full display at the AAHSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, which took place last week. The meeting featured the amazing “AAHSA Idea House,” a 2,600-square-foot model home that we built right inside Chicago’s McCormick Center. The house contained innovative technologies and designs that could soon make aging-in-place a reality for most Americans.

 The AAHSA House wasn’t just for older people. Many of its features would be just as appealing to a 30-year-old as to an 80-year-old. It incorporated barrier-free designs and recycled products. It featured water- and energy-saving devices. And it also included some pretty neat devices to help younger and older occupants remain safe, take care of their health and enjoy meaningful social interactions.

 Americans repeatedly say in surveys that they wish to remain in their homes for as long as possible. The AAHSA Idea House was a wonderful way to get us all thinking about the features that would make our homes good places to age.

 Treat yourself to a video tour of the AAHSA Idea House, which appears in three parts on the Web site of McKnight’s News Service. As you consider your own aging, what features are most important to you? What technologies should be included in the next Idea House?