Aging in place to stay in your home longer.
I can only recall two instances when my mother, the happiest, most loving person on Earth, became distraught. One of those occurrences happened when my sister and I discussed making plans for the last chapter of our mom’s life, a chapter that would eventually include moving out of her home of 38 years and into a “retirement” home.
People prefer to stay in their homes.
Our mother’s trepidation to even consider moving years from now is not unlike many others. In a recent AARP survey, 77% of adults fifty or older said they would prefer to stay in their homes for the long term.
Other studies support people living in their homes longer, including one conducted by the Harvard JCHS, which concluded that in the 1980s, homeowners moved on average once every five years. By 2019, homeowners have moved once every ten years.
There are a variety of reasons people are staying in their homes longer, including working past the age of 65 (20% of the population), millennial kids living at home (the highest rate since the Great Depression), remaining healthy and active, and the high cost of moving, to name a few.
The percentage of people aging in place is only going to increase.
The percentage of people remaining in their homes longer will presumably continue to increase since there will be an estimated 71.5 million Americans aged 65 or older by 2030, twice as many as in 2000.
In the remodeling sector, we have also seen this play out. When considering moving versus remodeling their homes, our clients have overwhelmingly decided to stay. They are often empty nesters, updating their homes to suit their tastes and needs better, knowing they will last indefinitely. Or they’ve made modifications out of necessity – health-related.
Universal Design, which focuses on accessibility so we can live safely and comfortably through various stages of our lives, didn’t exist when many of our homes were built. These homes may not have main-level living but instead have lots of stairs, narrow doorways, and rooms defined with walls.
Solutions for Aging in Place.
But there are solutions, like widening doorways, leveling floors, and installing chairlifts on stairs, elevators, and even ADUs.
More common modifications during a remodel, with accessibility in mind, include slip-resistant flooring, removal of walls, levers instead of knobs, grab bars in bathrooms, curbless showers, benches in showers, and roll-out trays and shelving, to name a few.
Two members of our staff at Stewart Remodel Design Build carry the CAPS designation (Aging in Place Certified), so if you, too, have decided to stay in your home for years to come, please get in touch with us to discuss options on how to remodel your house with Aging in Place in mind.