Condo Media - August 2017 - 42

Insights from local
experts and executives

The Region
this issue:

[42] Maine [44] Massachusetts [46] Rhode Island [48] New Hampshire

MAINE

Aging in a Condo

Shaping Homes Before They Shape Us
[by Jack Carr, P.E., RS, LEED-AP]

"Time and tide wait for ... "
well, you know the quote. Sometimes aging comes on like a fast tide
due to health or other circumstances
and sometimes it sneaks up on us
requiring family members or friends
to gently remind us of the upcoming
physical and mental limitations the
future will bring.
Most of us never want to end up
in a nursing home. Most of us say
we want to live the rest of our lives
at home. It is only natural. Home
gives us freedom with dignity. Home
allows us to make our own decisions. Home allows us to maintain
established friendships and community ties. However, in the future,
our homes can limit our ability to
take care of ourselves, as well as be
dangerous. To paraphrase Winston
Churchill, "We shape our homes; and
afterwards, our homes shape us."
So, what are we to do? Many
people buy their first condo unit to
downsize to minimize maintenance
headaches that went with the big
family house. Many people buy into
an over-50 age-restricted community to not just avoid the noisy kids
in the street but also to surround
themselves with the amenities
currently associated with today's

42

CONDOMEDIA

modern condo communities such as
walking trails, health-related club
facilities, emergency communication systems, social clubs, etc. But
what about the unit interiors? Can
they be shaped to allow us to live
out our lives in the comfort of our
homes, safely, and with a minimum
of assistance?
There is a movement across
Maine and around the nation to do
just that. One of its primary tools is
often called Universal Design. This
is a philosophy of design used by architects and other forward-thinking
senior care practitioners to develop
interior spaces and home products
to be useable by all people to the
greatest extent possible. Creating
condo spaces suitable for growing
old in would address the results of an
ASID Aging in Place Survey where
age related difficulties in maintaining
a home was the reason for 57 percent
of all relocations in the country.
The three most important agerelated restrictions in a condo unit
are multiple-floor living, hallways
and doors not wide enough for
wheelchairs, and front entrances with
one or more steps. Only 4 percent of
all homes in the country have none
of these physical restrictions. Only 1

percent of the nation's homes have the
next two most important age-related
features, namely, lever handles on
doors and light switches and electrical
outlets reachable from a wheelchair.
As obvious as some of these
recommended changes to the home
environment are, people hesitate to
make them. Some of the delay is due
to financial circumstances, but more
often it is our not wanting to recognize
our mortality and the future aging will
bring. This reaction is true for many
human conditions. It is said change
cannot occur until we accept what is.
The good news is we do not have to do
it ourselves. There are skilled professionals to guide us along the way to
change. The National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB) in conjunction with AARP has developed a
design designation called 'Certified
Aging in Place Specialist' (CAPS) for
remodeling contractors and design/
build professionals interested in Universal Design and other age-related
design methods.
Condo Media - August 2017

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