Housing Environments for Older Adults

Housing Environments for Older Adults

In today's world, aging and getting older has become an expected reality for most. This means that the needs of the population as a whole is so diversified that a vast array of services is now needed in order to meet all these needs. Even the collective concept of "the older generation" is no longer sufficient to collectively describe the needs of a single generation. Those who are at the start of older age, for example, have needs that are vastly different from those approaching the end of their first century on earth. This is also true of older people and the environment within which they live and function every day. While most younger people can basically choose among many different types of environments in terms of work, home, and educational environment, this choice becomes increasingly limited as we age. As a person reaches old age and beyond, his or her environmental needs change according to factors like ability and mobility. As such, older people often need help to establish an environmental fit according to their age and the abilities that they are still in possession of. Some older people may even remain active in the job market for as long as they are able to do so. As such, agencies and professionals are needed to establish tools to create sound environmental fit for older people at different stages of their lives in terms of their homes, society, education, and the workplace.

The American Society of Interior Designers (2012) is one entity that recognizes the need for designing build structures that would provide a good environmental fit for older people. As such, the society recognizes one of the biggest challenges in the next three decades as one to meet the demand for quality living environments for the increasing population of older adults.

Specifically, one way to handle the challenge is to make modification to existing housing, since aging in place tends to occur gradually. Most older people prefer to remain in their existing home environments for as long as possible. However, as their age progresses, it often becomes necessary to implement assisted living devices in their homes to help them establish a fit between themselves and their homes. The Society also suggests that newly constructed homes should be changed in such ways that it will be less arduous and expensive to make the required changes when residents reach the later stages of their lives.

To meet these needs, the ASID Design for Aging Council has been called into existence to investigate the environmental fit needs of older people and the create interior designs that would establish such a fit. The Council will work on the basis of an investigative capacity, determining ways in which interior designers can help establish a better environmental fit for the older population in both private and public spaces. The Council's secondary capacity will therefore be educational; providing information to interior designers on creating a friendly environment for an increasingly aging population.

Niles-Yokum and Wagner (2011, p. 101) also recognize that housing is one of the crucial aspects of the social environment. What this means for older people is that their homes will create for them a basis to fit not only into their immediate environment, but also to establish a fit with the wider public spaces around them. As such, establishing an effective and dynamic environmental fit at home would create a more empowering fit with the wider public environment.

As mentioned above, many older people choose to remain in their homes as they grow older. However, Niles-Yokum and Wagner (2011, p. 103) also note the increasing finding that many older people who no longer have children living with them, as well as those who are retired, prefer to live in central cities, where they have easy access to restaurants, entertainment, and community centers. This tends to be the preference of relatively able-bodied older people who prefer to retain their community activities for as long as possible. At the same time, environmental fit for them would mean that they do not need to take a large amount of trouble or time to read the public environments where they meet with others, relax, and enjoy their lives.

Others, who are perhaps a little older and beginning to feel the effects of older age and the onset of related health conditions, prefer retirement communities. Here they can retain a relatively independent life for as long as possible, while still having access to health, transport, meals, and other assisting services they might need.

In terms of housing, a number of options have therefore begun to evolve for older people who prefer not to enter institutional care if they can avoid it. It is therefore important for agencies and professionals who work with older people to establish which the best fit would be for each individual client involved. Not all older people, for example, can afford assisted care, as this tends to be towards the more expensive end of the market.

Another important component of environmental fit is transport. Transport, to an older person, could mean various things. Most importantly, it means the difference between isolation and connection in terms of the wider social environment. As people grow older, for example, they lose the ability to drive either in terms of capacity or funding. As such, many older people rely on the public transport system to ensure their social environment fit. These systems then also need to be set up in such a way as to assist older people who wish to continue interacting with their world (Niles-Yokum and Wagner, 2011, p. 151).

Closely related to the ideal of environmental fit is the way in which older people are prepared for disaster. Often, this sector of society is forgotten when the violence of nature begins to strike. Since many older people are frail to begin with, they are particularly at risk during times of natural disaster and environmental upheaval. According to Niles-Yokum and Wagner (2011, p. 178), this is only beginning to enjoy research attention. Research is, however, a good starting point for existing assisting agencies to become involved and aware of the need in this regard.

One example of such an agency is NAIPC (2012), an agency that exists to provide older people with services to assist them to adjust to their environment and to establish a fit that suits them individually. The company operates from a premise of "aging in place," and hence offering older people services to ensure that they live as comfortably as possible during their later years. Included in services such as money management, education about the law, and home accessibility consultants, the agency also offers emergency response services that are particularly targeted to help older people survive and recover from emergency situations. The agency therefore provides integrated services to target all the needs of older people in terms of environmental fit.