According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University in their 2018 Housing America's Older Adults report, there are 65 million older households across the nation.
What does this mean for the aging adult when thinking about their housing future and how they wish to live out their later years? What is known and has been documented through various surveys is that the majority of retirees and older adults wish to remain living in their own home.
Most of this population live in single-family homes. However, most homes were not built to accommodate the changing needs of the older adult. Doorways tend to be too narrow to walk easily through with a walker or to roll through in a wheelchair. Lighting is often insufficient to ensure quality light for those with poor eyesight. Bathrooms don't have blocking in the walls where a grab bar can make the difference in helping someone easily get out of a shower or bath.
Does that mean that a person needs to move out of a beloved home? For most people, the answer is No. There are solutions, and sometimes easy, cost-effective ones, that can create a much safer home environment. There are companies and certified-aging-in-place specialists that can come to a home to identify those solutions so that you can continue to live in the place you call home.
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