Gerontology Golden Years the Older

Gerontology

Golden Years

The older population which is made up of persons 65 years or older numbered about 39.6 million in the year 2009. They represented 12.9% of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans. It is estimated that by the year 2030, there will be about 72.1 million older people, which is more than twice their number that there were in 2000. People who are 65 and older made up 2.4% of the population in the year 2000 but are expected to increase to be 19% of the population by 2030 (Aging Statistics, 2010).

There is an overwhelming conviction that most older Americans want to remain in their homes for as long as possible, but lack knowledge of home and community-based services that make independent living feasible. It has been found that most Americans do not make a plan to age in place. Creating such a plan can help to avert unexpected things from turning into emergencies that compromise one's capability to live by themselves (Wheaton, 2009).

Historically if a person had trouble living alone, it was an indication that it was time to move in with family or go to a nursing home. Presently, for most people, this is no longer the case. People can live on their own for a lot of years, even as they grow older and start requiring assistance with many everyday tasks. This phenomenon is referred to as aging in place. When a person develops a chronic health condition, like diabetes, arthritis, or Alzheimer's disease, aging in place means more than just staying put. Seniors need a place to live that they consider safe and fits with their needs. One of the biggest problems that seniors face is the need for home modifications such as a ramps or lifts that can extend the time that they can live at home. Americans of all ages value their ability to live by themselves. But without an arrangement for aging in place, it can be very hard to manage ones life. Knowing a person's health risks and financial options can make a big difference in their ability to stay in a familiar setting (Wheaton, 2009).

In order to help seniors to be able to stay in their houses as long as possible a program that needs to be established is a Senior Housing Consortium. This program will support universal design and home repair along with modification strategies in order to improve seniors' ability to age in place. This program will consist of a network of construction entities that will provide trusted services to seniors. The goal will be to connect reputable construction companies with seniors who need new construction or remodeling services. Seniors characteristically remain in their homes even as their housing requirements change. Some do this because they want to stay in their communities, while others do so because they lack the resources to do anything else. Because of this, many seniors often refuse to leave homes that are in somewhat terrible conditions. Others whose homes are in good shape may still need modifications in order to help them manage disabilities or steer clear of falls and other accidents that often precipitate their need for more severe healthcare. Housing preservation is a significant step in allowing seniors to stay in their homes for as long as possible. It is also important to make sure that houses stay in good repair for the next generation of homeowners or for the family members who inherit them. Keeping residences in good repair and secure for those who live in them helps to decrease insurance and healthcare costs and helps maintain property values (Aging in Place Solutions to a Crisis in Housing and Care, 2002).

Reaching these seniors, who need help, can sometimes be a challenge. Even though of the five million households that include a senior, two million express a need for modifications in order to function well, seniors often don't ask for such help, or they have trouble finding reputable contractors and affordable loans that make such renovations possible. Ironically, many of the repairs that can greatly increase the longevity of both the housing and its occupants are relatively inexpensive: adding handrails near bathtubs, constructing wheelchair ramps, making minor improvements to roofs, repairing concrete steps and other such modifications, which can usually be done for less than $1,000 (Aging in Place Solutions to a Crisis in Housing and Care, 2002).

There are many contractors who don't want to do such small jobs, so either they drive up the work that needs to be done or a repair situation declines until a small problem becomes a much larger and more costly predicament. This is where the Senior Housing Consortium will come into play. This program will be provide outreach to seniors in their housing preservation efforts and help to ensure the stability and diversity of their communities. One key element to the design of this program is to have agreements with contractors that are trustworthy to visit with seniors to assess and provide what they need, oversee the rehabilitation process and guarantee its quality. These construction specialists will frequently work closely with other organizations' including lending companies that will help find the resources to fund repairs at minimal cost. This will require piecing together financing from different public, private and nonprofit sources to cover such costs as weatherization, emergency repairs and disability retrofitting (Aging in Place Solutions to a Crisis in Housing and Care, 2002).

The Senior Housing Consortium will be financed solely by fees charged to construction companies who wish to be part of the referral network. There will be no charge to seniors who will to use the referral service. Construction companies who wish to be part of the senior referral network will pay an initial fee to join the group and then have annual dues in order to continue to receive referrals for construction jobs. This will allow for these companies to be researched and certified as being reputable companies. Seniors have a hard enough time making ends meet and do not need to be subjected to shady companies that are just looking to rip them off.

There are quite a few federal laws and regulations that surround the requirements for accessibility for new construction, for alterations or renovations to buildings and facilities. Additionally state and local laws may also apply. Single and two-family homes are usually not subject to local, state, or federal ease of access requirements, but some localities require certain new homes to contain basic accessibility components. There are many multifamily houses that are often subject to a layering of local and state accessibility requirements in the form of a model building code, as well as federal accessibility necessities. Local building departments create model building codes, and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has been in charge of the development and revision of the building standards. At the federal level, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) are often applicable (Accessibility Laws and Regulations -- Residential, 2000).

Home modifications generate a supportive home environment, which is a key factor in supporting older persons to reach their goal of aging in place. Transforming existing environments can:

Facilitate caregiving

Reduce accidents

Promote independence by making it easier to perform tasks

Enable older adults to engage in major life activities

Reduce health care costs and delay institutionalization

Unfortunately, much of the existing houses are not suited for aging in place. They have problems such as inaccessible entrances, stairs that are impossible to climb, and hazardous bathrooms. There are over a million older people who have unmet needs for home modifications such as ramps and kitchen and bathroom access (Pynoos, 2001).

Evidence has shown that a supportive home environment offers several key benefits. An accommodating environment makes it easier to carry out things like getting in and out of a home, bathing, cooking and even cleaning. Second, sufficient space and features help caregiving by relatives and the official service system. A bathroom that has enough space can make it possible for a caregiver to help a feeble older person use a tub or shower. In multi-unit housing the exchange of spaces for on-site health clinics or meals can make services much more easily reached to residents. Third, the addition of supportive features helps decrease accidents such as falls, an important cause of death for older Americans. Six out of every ten falls occur in homes, which characteristically contain a high prevalence of hazards such as loose throw rugs, the lack of tub grab bars, and blocked pathways. Home modifications can decrease the demands of the environment while making the home safer and more accommodating. Fourth, modifications can allow people to more easily connect in major life activities. Fifth, home modification is a cost-effective way to reduce health care costs and put off institutionalization (Pynoos, 2001).

In implementing this program it is going to be important to devise a marketing program that is tailored to seniors. One can effectively build a senior market campaign around newspaper, radio and direct mail. One thing to take into consideration is that seniors like to learn. This means that one can draw in seniors via educational opportunities. Recently the financial services industry capitalized on this attribute by attracting seniors through seminars. The medical industry also uses seminars in order to gain new clients. Seniors go because they want to learn about issues that they feel are important in their lives. Seminar offerings can be expanded into a lot of fields as a way to take advantage of senior's desires to learn (Marketing to Seniors, 2006).

Along these same lines, seniors like to read. They have the time to do so and recent research has shown that the senior audience is the main reader group of daily newspapers. It appears to be clear that if one wants to market to seniors, the newspaper is a marvelous place to put advertising. It has been shown that a larger number of readers are seniors than ever before. Seniors make up a devoted group of radio listeners, mainly to talk radio stations. Good marketers either buy the time or convince the station they can bring in advertising dollars. There's plenty of room in this market for almost any company to gain advanced reliability with a radio show (Marketing to Seniors, 2006).

Working people soften go through their mail over the trash can in order to toss out as much as possible. They don't have time and don't want to be bothered with any mail that does not demand their attention. This has been found not to be true with seniors. They take the time to look at their mail and think about each piece as they go through huge amounts of junk mail and are hesitant to throw out anything (Marketing to Seniors, 2006).

Implementing this type of senior assistance program can be faced with some obstacles along the way. One such thing is a lack of consumer education and resistance to change

Denial -- it is often thought that there is a stigma of being thought of as a frail or disabled, and often seniors are reluctance to think of themselves this way.

Lack of knowledge to the rigorousness of situations. Circumstances often come about gradually, and seniors incrementally accommodated themselves to the situation, and thus do not have a realistic view of the actual situation or is convinced that they are handling it very well.

Resistance from seniors who refuse to use essential ambulation devices

Opposition to change.

If a change requires home modification or repair, people do not have the appropriate information of who does this work, and they do not know where to find out this information.

Fear of being detached from one's home if a problem arises.

Resistance to exercising, especially after injuries.

Higher levels of impairments and weaknesses that severely effect capability to perform activities of daily living.

Shortfalls that include problems in short-term memory, planning, problem-solving and judgment.

Chronic mental issues, particularly paranoia and hoarding.

Mounting prevalence of nervousness and despair.

Problems with isolation -- older people who are homebound because they can no longer negotiate stairs or who cannot converse with others due to lack of communication tools (Obstacles to Home Safety and Independent Living, 2000).

The Senior Housing Consortium will be staffed by case managers who will assist the seniors in determining what their needs are and how these needs will be met by this service. On the other side there will be construction experts who will be employed in order to screen and certify construction companies so that it will be possible to offer the best providers possible to the clients who need them. These employees will be required to attend an intensive training program that specifically is oriented to working with seniors.

A business Owner or Supervisor must be able to train employees effectively to accommodate the business structure. A person can use a number of employee training techniques in order to accomplish this. Whatever methods are chosen, it is important to use consistency and evaluate often in order to refine an employee-training program. It is important to supply new employees with reading material. The most important part of employee training and development is maintenance of training information. A new staff member often has a great deal to take in. The capability to refer back to printed information can help an employee to retain information. Custom-made worksheets that outline procedures and expectations are an effective way to support a training program (How to Train Employees, 2010).

It is also important to walk through procedures several times. Each step should be explained thoroughly and questions should be encouraged. When a new employee is ready, they should perform tasks as they are watched. Mistakes should be corrected kindly and it should be remembered that it takes time to learn a new set of procedures. Trainers should explain the reasoning behind step-by-step procedures. New employees can learn procedures faster when they recognize the logic behind them. Giving credit where it's due will encourage new employee to master job skills. A feeling of admiration can go a long way in employee training and growth (How to Train Employees, 2010).

In order to make sure that the Senior Housing Consortium program is successful it will be important to evaluate the program along the way. This will allow for the program to be looked at on a regular basis in order to make sure that it is providing the objectives that have been set down for it from the beginning. Program evaluation with an outcomes focus is more and more important to business. An outcomes-based evaluation facilitates your asking if the organization is really doing the right program activities to bring about the outcomes that people believe or better yet, have verified to be needed by clients, rather than just engaging in busy activities which seem reasonable to do at the time. Outcomes are benefits to clients from partaking in the program. Outcomes are usually in terms of enhanced learning or conditions like increased literacy and self-reliance. Outcomes are often confused with program outputs or units of services, like the number of clients who went through a program (Basic Guide to Program Evaluation, n.d.).