3 Innovative Ways to Age in Place
Boomers and their parents are finding new ways to live at home longer
Editor's note: This article is part of a year-long project about aging well, planning for the changes aging brings and shaping how society thinks about aging. If 90 percent of adults over 65 want to remain in their homes as long as possible, as a 2011 AARP study suggests, why do so many wind up in retirement communities, assisted living facilities and nursing homes?
This was the key question at the National Aging In Place Council's (NAIPC) annual meeting held this week in Washington, D.C.
Meeting the needs of millions of individuals with different incomes, a range of health conditions and diverse living situations is a complex puzzle with no one-size-fits-all solution. But as NAIPC pointed out in the white paper prepared for the meeting, finding innovative ways to keep older adults in their homes longer would provide huge social and financial benefits to individuals and society as a whole.(MORE: SPECIAL REPORT: Transforming Life as We Age)
Speakers at the meeting presented a variety of experimental models to address what is expected to be a growing need — projections show there will be 89 million Americans over 65 by the year 2030, including 20 million who will be older than 85.The three models featured below were presented as options either for boomers who want to stay in their homes as long as possible or for those over 80 (possibly the parents of boomers) who also want to stay in their homes, but have greater health and home care needs.
