Is Your House Aging-Ready?

As many seniors desire to "age in place" are the places they are living in capable of meeting their needs? That is the subject of a Census Bureau report, which begins with this comment:

It should come as no surprise that older Americans overwhelmingly want to stay in their home as they age. But are their homes ready for them to stay?

For millions of older Americans, home is where they raised a family, hosted holidays and told bedtime stories to their children and grandchildren. It is often their nest egg as well as an anchor to their community.

But older homes don’t always meet the needs of older Americans . . .

Here are the main take-aways from the report:

• Over the next ten years, the 65+ population is projected to grow by 17 million as baby boomers age.
• By 2030, an estimated 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 and older.
• Home design often cannot meet the safety needs of aging residents:
• Every year, 30 million older people fall in the United States—one fall every two seconds.
• According to the CDC, around 1 in 5 of these falls results in serious harm.
• Nearly 11 million older Americans have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
• 7 million have trouble living on their own.
• 4 million have difficulty bathing or dressing themselves.
• "Yet, most homes are not equipped to handle the needs of adults with these difficulties."
• Only 10% of U.S. homes have key features to accommodate older residents.
• Only 1 in 10 homes have a step-free entryway, a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor so older adults do not need to use the stairs, and at least one bathroom accessibility feature such as handrails or a built-in shower seat.
• Only 6% of homes in the Mid-Atlantic region (New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey) are aging-ready, compared to 14% in the West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas).
• More than a quarter of all households with an adult age 65 or older reported using some feature of the home. At 85 and older the figure jumps to half.
• Steps and stairways are the most common problem.
• Bathrooms pose considerable risk. More than half of bathroom injuries are directly related to using the shower and getting in and out of the bathtub—a good reason to add grab bards and shower seats.

See the full report by Jonathan Vespa, a demographer for the U.S. Census Bureau