Aging in place

Proactivity is key to maintaining independence

Home modifications are a huge challenge and must adhere to regimented American with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines. “ADA is a civil rights law,” says Horton. “It was designed to make sure that people with disabilities have equal access to work, education, and their community.”

Guidelines center around home modifications such as countertop and vanity heights, door widths that accommodate mobility devices, and motion sensor or voice-activated lights throughout a home. Horton is working to develop an adaptive closet, which does not currently have ADA guidelines.

These would include height of clothing bars, mechanisms to help lower bars for easier access (such as a pole to help pull down a rack), the ability to enter and turn around within the space, and accessible hooks to retrieve dropped items.

Popular home modifications for aging in place

BY ASHLEY ZIOMEK

Studies show that seventy-five percent of Americans prefer to age in place, which means enjoying the comforts of their own homes for as long as possible. Often, that means making modifications that allow them to maintain the routines essential to daily living—dressing, showering, cooking—even as mobility, balance, and dexterity become challenged. Increasingly, technology is providing solutions.

When Maura Horton’s husband was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s in 2012, she was initiated into the world of adaptive lifestyles. “He was a career college football coach and noticing some side effects, such as limited mobility and dexterity,” says Horton, who explained this made simple things like buttoning a shirt difficult. With her husband due to travel—meaning she would not be able to assist him with dressing—she searched for adaptive clothing and came up empty. That prompted her to create MagnaReady, a clothing brand featuring magnets instead of buttons and designed, she says, “to help people preserve their independence and dignity.”

MagnaReady products are available at Tommy Hilfiger and JC Penney, as well as online. The brand’s success led Horton to explore other lifestyle modifications that could help individuals maintain their independence. “The sooner we can integrate [technology] in their life the better,” says Horton, who prefers tech adjustments not be relegated to solution-based responses. “We’re all aging, so starting routines is something that we try to do.”

Other resources within a home include voice-operated devices that can be programmed to control lights, provide medication reminders, or just provide answers to questions. “We have learned that many people with dementia enjoy being able to speak to a device,” says Horton. “They keep [the voice] gender specific to that person, and can combat loneliness, and encourage engagement.” Additional apps can be used for individuals to instantly communicate with their care team, family, and emergency personnel. “Most [technology] is updated automatically and goes on behind the scenes. The one drive is the internet, so having game plans for loss of internet is huge,” Horton says. “Emergency plans are critical regardless of where you live; we’re all a weather issue away from confusion.”

Horton and her husband never pictured this being their life, but she takes pride in her brand. “It’s hard and emotional sometimes,” she says. “[It’s] okay to feel those emotions. We will all be on this arc at some point of our life. We try to represent it in a dignified manner, and not just through a medical lens.” FY

Ashley Ziomek is a freelance writer living in Western New York.

Accommodate equipment. Widening doorways makes your home accessible for wheelchairs and walkers. Costs vary based on insulation and placement of electrical outlets. For wheelchair users, move kitchen appliances to lower cabinets and shelves. Professionals can also adjust the heights of counters or sinks to allow access from seated positions. Make stair adjustments. If exterior stairs have become challenging, contract someone to install a ramp. Inside, a nonpermanent, mobile ramp can be installed easily, or—if the stairs aren’t altogether out of the question—use traction tape. Increase shower safety. Slippery surfaces are always high risk for falling, but particularly as we age. Consider replacing a bathtub with a walk-in, no-lip shower that provides safer entry and exit. Less expensive alternatives include safety bars, safety strips, or a bathtub transfer bench, which straddles the side of the bathtub and allows users to get out one leg at a time without having to balance.

For more solutions on aging in place, see Jacyln Kasprzak’s article on page 12.