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Esther Hulbert
Lexington, KY - Within the next several months, five senior women will become housemates at Lexington’s newly constructed Legacy Home, a cooperative living environment designed to serve their housing needs for a lifetime.
The Delaware Street project, headed by minister and former geriatric care manager Esther Hurlburt, reflects not only a local collaborative effort on the part of service-oriented people and organizations in the community, but also an understanding of the growing demand for housing that can accommodate the needs of the elderly.
“Community support helps people age more safely and gracefully,” Hurlburt said.
The Legacy Home was built with what is known as universal design features aimed at allowing these women to “age in place” such as a gentle ramp leading to the front door to accommodate wheelchairs. As the baby boomer generation, which accounts for nearly one fifth of Lexington’s population, approaches retirement, these architectural concepts and designs are becoming more relevant and popular in today’s newly built and remodeled homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), aging in place is “the fastest growing segment of the residential remodeling industry.”
The concept of universal design was developed by the late Ron Mace, an architect and paraplegic from North Carolina. Universal design is an inclusive design intended to enable people of all ages and abilities to live in a home adapted to their needs.
What makes aging in place and universal design appealing, beyond the obvious benefit that it allows people to stay in the comfort of their own homes, is the invisibility factor. The design is meant to subtly blend into the home environment, in vast contrast to an “institutional” look and feel. Common features like step-free entryways, wider doorways and hallways, one-story living and walk-in showers, to name a few, are conveniences that may go unnoticed.
As Kyle Whalen, president and owner of BACK Construction, put it, “ergonomics in the housing industry has arrived.”
“There’s definitely a demand here in Lexington,” said Whalen. “We’ve got a well-educated population that understands the concepts [of universal design and aging in place].”
Ann Whiteside-Dickson, director of the University of Kentucky’s School of Interior Design, sees Aging in Place as less than a trend and more of a “reality that people are dealing with.”
“Because of the demographic shift that will continue, we are beginning to see this concept of aging in place as a marketing edge,” Whiteside-Dickson explained. “The object is to keep people independent for as long as possible.”
While students in the university’s professional program focus less on residential design, these real-world issues are especially important for continuing care communities or larger complexes that offer a variety of options to aging residents.
In 2009, several schools of the University of Kentucky collaborated on a U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon project. The university’s entry, known as the s.ky blue house, integrates both aging in place and eco-friendly aspects into an innovative design. Team project leader Gregory Luhan, associate dean for research and professor of architecture at UK’s School of Design, explained how the context of their design changed upon the realization that baby boomers were a part of the “green generation.”
“We found through research that there is a growing market share of aging-in-place customers and consumers in Kentucky who have interest in high-performance living,” said Luhan. “Even in an era of economic downturn, this market share continues to grow.”
Professional remodeler Mike Brill of Brill and Co. has seen an increase in calls for both universal design and aging-inplace home modifications. He is one of three certified aging in place specialists, or CAPS, at his company, a professional designation program offered by the NAHB.
“This designation has helped us to know what to suggest and recommend to clients, and how to work with them,” said Brill. In advanced cases, an outside consultant or therapist may be needed.
Susan Bachner started her home modifications consulting practice in 2000. She combines her knowledge as an occupational therapist with her CAPS specialist skills to help create a supportive environment for people who “want to be at home rather than anywhere else.” Bachner works with clients to evaluate the home and create a plan for modification, which ultimately takes the form of a report to be used by building professionals. According to Bachner, the majority of her clients have known medical issues, although a small percentage are proactive in their desire to age in place.
“The need for home modifications is great and the funding, sadly, is terribly limited,” said Bachner. Specialized design and construction can be costly, Bachner said. While long-term care insurance and workers’ comp may be able to alleviate costs in some cases, this type of home modification essentially requires out-of-pocket funding.
But the option of senior care provided through nursing homes and assisted living facilities is also becoming an increasingly expensive proposition. According to the 2011 John Hancock Cost of Care Survey, long-term care services in the United States carry an average annual cost of $40,000 in assisted living facilities and from $75,000 to $85,000 for nursing homes. By comparison, for those who can manage to stay in their homes longer, the average annual cost of home health care is $31,000, and adult day care averages $15,000 per year.
Remodeling one’s own house versus buying new has its appeal, especially given recent housing market woes. But for some who are approaching their golden years, building a downsized, custom-designed house with universal design features may better suit their needs as they age.
When they began their company three years ago, husband-and-wife team Vahid and Tracey Javid had never heard of universal design. Vahid Javid first encountered the need for universal design as the spouse of a cancer patient. His wife’s desire to live at home until the end of her life prompted him to learn more about accessibility issues, and eventually to establish the company Universal Homes of Kentucky, which aims to build reasonably priced new homes that incorporate universal design and aging-in-place concepts. Javid runs the business along with his second wife, Tracey Javid, a Lexington native and UK graduate who is also a Realtor. She spoke to the growing need for affordable homes of this design.
“Nobody wants to think about the fact that they’re getting older,” she said. “By building a home like this, it will mean that you can live in your home much longer.”
While the aging process itself may not be in one’s control, aging-in-place alternatives give today’s homeowners more options and opportunities for what Hurlburt and others view as the ultimate goal: to grow old safely and gracefully.