A national study by AARP finds about three-quarters of people 50 or older want to stay in their own homes as they get older. AARP vice president Rodney Harrell says whether you live in Iowa or somewhere else, your chances for living at home increase if you plan ahead.
“We all are aging. It certainly beats the opposite. And so today is the time we should have a talk about your home. Does it have what you need now and does it have what you need later,?” he says. Harrell says take a look at some scenarios and how your home fits into them as you get older. “Let’s anticipate what might happen in the future and think about whether our home has those things, and if not, let’s come together on a solution for that is a solution that we can change things in our home,” Harrell says, “that we can make some modifications to make this home safer for you. And if not, let’s talk about what options we need to consider then.”
Harrell says getting together and making your dad’s home easier to get around in is better to do now instead of after an accident. “And so now all of a sudden, he’s getting out of the hospital. What are we going to do to make this house safe? We’ve got to hurry up and do this,” he says. “And now we’ve got five opinions. Maybe budget’s a challenge, time is certainly a challenge, and that adds more stress to this conversation.”
You might discuss if a home with a lot of stairs is a challenge your family members want to face as they get older, or do they want to make a change. He says these conversations can be a lot easier before you’re forced to take action. “So what I always tell folks is it’s less stressful to have the conversation now, to start it now and think about the things that you can because that eases things down the road and prevents you from having to be in that crisis scenario,” Harrell says.
He says if your family members like their neighborhood and the amenities it offers, you can talk about ways to modify the home to adjust for them as they get older.