Aging-In-Place
By Laura Sehn
Living in one community for most or all of one’s life can be a great comfort, but what happens when someone is elderly and becomes less and less able to care for themselves? This can be a frightening and lonely scenario. However, there are ways to allow elders to continue living in their existing communities. Such possibilities include building assisted-living seniors’ residences, adding ‘granny-flats’ to homes, and making modifications to one’s home, if they wish to remain there, in order to create a safer and more accessible living environment.
The city in which
I grew up in,
Currently there
are no seniors’ residences in the city, simply because there has been a lack of
interest on the part of the developers to build the facilities. This has been
the case up until this past summer. I worked for the urban planning department
of the City of
Creating new developments like this one gives seniors the freedom to live independently. Often when a senior’s family is unable to provide the adequate care they need, it forces them into institutional-type facilities. Having to live in this environment when it is not necessarily needed, yet seems to be the only option, can be very degrading to seniors. With today’s increased knowledge on how to live long, healthy lives, more and more seniors will find the most comfort from these communities where they can have assistance, if needed, but mostly rely on the companionship and support from their neighbors.
Another successful
way to allow the elderly to remain in their communities is making granny flats
more acceptable in more communities. In
There was a case I dealt with this summer, while working for the City, of a family who had purchased a modest sized home just a year or two ago and now wanted to extend the house in order to allow grandma to live with them as she aged. Even though the proposed extension respected the setbacks and agreed with the City’s Architectural Integration By-Law, meaning the extension would keep the same style of architecture and materials as the existing house, it was the addition of a second kitchen that was an absolute no-no. So the proposal was rejected by all at the Planning Advisory Committee meeting simply because it was in the rules that there were to be no apartment-like additions in homes.
It is unfortunate that the City has not thought of changing the zoning laws in order to start allowing granny flats in homes, instead of simply refusing them. Clearly the Planning Department is aware that the city’s population is aging yet they are unwilling to accept that the one seniors’ residence will simply not satisfy the high demand of the seniors to continue living in the beautiful community in which they have always lived. I think if the zoning amendment was brought to Council there would be many that would oppose the change, as some residents seem to oppose any form of change, no matter what it is, or whether or not it affects them. However, this zoning change would probably get the majority vote, considering there are so many seniors in the city and so many families that are probably concerned about the living conditions of their aging parents and grandparents.
Although moving into a granny flat in your son or daughter’s home may seem desirable for the added assistance and companionship, most seniors would likely prefer to remain in their own homes. With simple modifications, such as installing grab bars in showers and removing any slipping hazards, seniors can move around their homes more easily and safely. However, in certain situations, more complicated modifications may be needed to ensure the seniors’ safety and the best decision may actually be to move.
My family and I often worry about the safety of my grandparents in their home. Although they have made some small modifications to help them get around more safely, there is a lot more that would need to be done in order for their situation to be ideal. They live on the main floor of a triplex, which is raised above grade, and the outdoor stairs, as well as the interior basement stairs, are quite steep and have narrow treads, at least for a couple of eighty-year-olds. With my grandfather’s decreasing mobility and my grandmother losing her vision in one eye, their home in which they have lived for over 40 years is becoming a great danger to them. Unfortunately, they have no intentions to leave this home and it would be quite difficult to try to convince them. Even with a very nice assisted-living seniors’ residence just down the street, which would allow them to remain in their community, they don’t want to leave their home. So in a case like this, how does a family proceed? Do we have to wait for an accident to happen (knock on wood) in order for them to make a change?
Although there are some great options available to seniors in their situation, there is work to be done on the social and psychological levels of aging in place. Living in an assisted-living residence, for example, needs to be promoted as a more socially acceptable place to live. I believe that my grandparents would feel as though they were compromising their dignity if they were to move into a ‘home’, even though that would not be the case at all.
With the
collaboration of government, building professionals, and seniors, the issue of
aging in place is becoming increasingly more important in communities. Cities
such as
Sources
Cox, Carole, Community Care for an
Aging Society.
Seniorressource.com, “Aging in Place”, http://www.seniorresource.com/ageinpl.htm
City of