It wasn’t long after my book Residential Design For Aging In Place was published that a great review appeared in a local newspaper.  It also featured my Ten Essentials Checklist for aging-in-place.  Of course, my co-author Drue Lawlor and I were thrilled with such publicity.  But it was also important the message was being delivered that a safe, secure environment does provide a way to maintain personal independence no matter age or ability.

After the review, an existing but somewhat irascible client requested an appointment.  In the meeting, he let me know that at the age of 78 and after decades of tennis and golf, he was to have hip and knee replacement surgeries.  He would then require 8 weeks in an assisted living center.

He loudly objected to the thought of being in his words, “locked up with a bunch of old people.”  He asked if there was a way to remodel his bathroom to cut short his rehab and be home sooner than later.  He firmly instructed me to “use your ten essentials checklist and design me a bath I’ll be proud to come home to.”  
















In meetings that followed, we had conversations about bathing and grooming habits. Discussions included how he would first use a wheelchair and then a walker. The need to sit at a vanity would be important.  I provided options for a taller toilet to help reduce the strain on his knees and hips when getting off the toilet seat.   And we talked about a curb-less shower, one with a bench, a handheld shower and the requisite grab bar.

Things were moving along great until the words “grab bar” were mentioned.  He quickly stood and demanded why I would even consider such an element.  I was not surprised since he could be cantankerous.  I tried to explain that the shower was the most dangerous place in his home and should he fall, a grab bar was important for his safety.  But it was clear he would not have it.

 “After rehab is over, I don’t want to be reminded every day that I was once a cripple.”  The conversation about grab bars was dropped.  I reminded myself to lose the battle but win the war.  What was needed was a different approach.

Shortly prior to his surgery, I offered a new solution.  No longer would he need a grab bar.  What he required was a “balance bar,” something a ballet artist would use.  He was intrigued.  I showed him the picture and described it as a seductive, sexy polished chrome support.  Of course, it was a “grab bar” but one with a high style and greater aesthetic. Need I say, he approved of it.

I think fondly of this elder client and the lessons learned about working with individuals who face temporary or permanent physical challenges.  For me, there were two lessons in this client exchange. 

•  Firstly, people do not want to be visually reminded of the challenges of the aging process. The careful specification of high style products can help reduce this perception

• But secondly and most importantly, the choice of alternate words and certain key phrases will help clients achieve acceptance of your design intent and avoid objections.  Stop using the words "grab bars" as they cause some to think about places they would rather avoid. 

So be savvy. Constantly demonstrate the value of design as a solution when creating for a lifetime of independency. After all, design isn’t just about the quality of the environment.  It’s about the quality of life. 

If you’d like a copy of my Ten Essentials For Aging In Place, CLICK HERE

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

Safety is often on the minds of those who live alone but also for caregivers who take on the responsibility to monitor the safety and security of others.   The creative use and application of technologies provides the opportunity to keep homes and their occupants more secure to age in place.

It can start with simple basics such as adding an easy-to-operate wireless security system that makes it economical for people of all abilities and income level to protect their environment from unexpected entry,.. often less than $100.00.  While it can be connected to call an alarm company ( for a fee ) many systems can be programmed to call pre-assigned numbers including a caregiver or perhaps the baby boomer child of an elder parent.

In what other ways can technology provide a measure of security and peace of mind?  Here are a few creative ideas that can keep everyone just a bit safer.

• Adding a wireless door bell system that can be installed and heard in a main bedroom or master bath helps someone who might be spending time in those spaces to know when a guest is at the door. And place a doorbell switch at all entries into the home, not just the main front door.  

• Consider purchasing timers to operate lamps in an unused bedroom and perhaps in a den or other space to make it appear there are other people at home.  Have the the timers activate at various and random times in the evening, during the night and into the twilight of the morning.  Several inexpensive timers easy to set can be programmed to come on over a 24 hour period and at differing intervals to making less a target by unsavory individuals.  The Stanley 38425 TimerMax Digislim sells for about $13 for a pack of two.

• Add a wireless and waterproof telephone in the bathroom so that should an emergency occur, a call for help is easy to make.  Make sure the phone has speed dialing as a feature.  Then pre-program the phone buttons with a call to 911 plus a second ( and third ) speed call button to a family members or caregivers.  And to make it even easier, use fingernail polish as a visual cue to highlight what buttons to push.  Then decide the best location and then rehearse how to make the call for help.  

• Motion-activiated LED puck lights that operate on batteries can illuminate the path to a bath, down a hall or accentuate the steps.  A set runs less than $100. and makes a great investment.  use them also near doorways where there might be a small step or tall threshold. 

• The leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in North America, Carbon Monoxide (CO) is odorless, tasteless and invisible – it’s a silent killer. The only safe way to know if carbon monoxide is present is to install CO detectors (alarms) on every level of a home and in sleeping areas.  They can be purchased for as little as $25.00 but can make the difference between life and death. 

• Grab bars - or what we should be calling balance bars - are an important necessity for many.  But while many boomer and their parents frequently reject their use because it brings to mind an institutional or hospital environment, great looking ones can keep the most dangerous place in the home -the bathroom- a safer place.  But grabs bars also can be great looking like those from greatgrabz.com including teak wood, acrylic and a variety of metal finishes complimentary to the plumbing fixtures like polished brass and oil-rubbed bronze.   A new one glows in the dark making it easy to see and reach out for. 
                        
• A new product from Schlage called the Link Wireless Keypad Deadbolt is a great example of the use of technology. The lock can be operated by key or by keypad with the use of a code.  Better yet, when connected to the Internet, the lock can be operated remotely using a computer or a cell phone and even send an email should it detect activity.  It sells for $300 plus installation. 
                  
• How about a surveillance camera that is connected to the Internet would allow friends or family to "check-in" on a loved one to ensure they are going about their normal daily routines. Logitech's Alert Line of Internet-connected cameras will also record images whenever there is movement in its field of vision. 

• Consider a secondary front porch light that will flash at regular intervals to alert emergency workers and direct them more quickly to a location.  With so many homes looking alike and house numbers too small or not easily seen from the street, then a flashing light will give the visual cue when time is of the essence. 
        
• And finally, it won’t be long before our cars “talk” to each other, keeping tabs on everything around us and alerting us to threats we aren’t aware of.  But what about homes?  Using a computer and a set of X-10 wireless control units can informally monitor an individual's ADLs or activities of daily living.  It would require one to go thru a simple routine such as checkin emails by 10 am everyday or turn off a light in a hall way by bedtime.  When there is an exception to that routine, a pre-recorded voice would announce to the resident of such required activity and ask for a response by going back to the computer and "checking-in."  Without "checking-in" in a pre-determined time, a call or text message is sent to someone so that a "live check" on the loved one can be made.

If you have other creative uses of technology in order to provide safe and secure independency at home, please share them here by adding a comment. 

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

We often look at celebrities and the famous to gain perspective on things such as life, money, sex, politics and family.   So I decided to see what the famous people of the past ( and one from the present ) had to say about getting older.
  
• Would they have some knowledge or wise sage that they could share that would help us baby boomers better appreciate what is yet to come as we get along in years?  
• Do they have a unique perspective that only comes after living six, seven or eight decades?  
• What might we learn from them that could be applied now to make life just a little less daunting?

I discovered several interesting quotes from a few well known people that makes me think that we may lose our memory as we age, but it appears that we don't lose our sense of humor.

"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin."
- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)
"We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress." 
- Will Rogers
"Don't worry about avoiding temptation... as you grow older, it will surely avoid you."
- Winston Churchill
"Maybe it's true that life begins at 50... but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out." 
- Phyllis Diller
"Old age is fifteen years older than I am now."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Age in something that simple does not matter unless you are cheese."
- Billie Burke
"The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing.  The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Like everyone else who makes the mistake of getting older, I beging each day with coffee and obituaries."
- Bill Cosby
"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her."- Agatha Christie

And by far, this favorite one,...
"I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'Not good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.'" 
- Eleanor Roosevelt

It won't be long before we will be seeing subtle but important changes to the things we use everyday as baby boomers impact the country - and the world - as they age.  One maker of audio equipment is exploring an concept that would add a face plate to the front side of their boxes that would make it easier to read the dials and screens.  And a vacuum manufacturer is considering changing the style of their handle to accommodate people with arthritis.  Now, at least one car maker is also getting into the act.

According to research by Ford, even small changes can make the words in its interior graphics easier for everyone to read, regardless of their age. The effect is even more visible on aging Baby Boomers who might appreciate actually seeing the dashboard without squinting. And beginning next year, Ford has decided to begin the production of Ford’s Edge and Explorer SUV models with 40% larger fonts. And then later on...on other Ford models too, with higher contrast and larger fonts on the interior display screens control and A/C controls.  

What an amazing concept !!

“Today, aging consumers are of great interest to companies including Ford. For the first time, people age 65 and over will outnumber children under the age of 5. It’s a transformation that’s changing the world, along with all kinds of products in it.” (according to Ford’s statements).

One thing is for sure.  Larger words will mean that many of us will now actually know just how fast we're driving and won't be able to use that excuse if we are pulled over by the authorities.   "But Officer... I couldn't actually read the dials on the dashboard so I had no idea I was doing 60 in a 35 mile hour zone." 

So what will be next?  What changes in product design should manufacturers take into consideration?
Your Thoughts?

Just a few days ago we celebrated the 4th of July, a day set aside to celebrate our American independence.  And since independency was a major theme of my book, I thought I would share the first chapter of Residential Design For Aging In Place with readers as it speaks to how important independency is to all Americans but especially to those who are challenged by the design of their homes. 

If you would like to read the first Chapter entitled Designs For Independency, GO HERE.