Aging in place involves a consideration of the youngest to the oldest among us, with a range of abilities and needs, who desire to have a safe, comfortable, and accessible lifestyle in their home over time.
Aging in place is personal
Sometimes we look for quick or easy solutions for our aging in place clients – these tend to be ones that will apply to the general population even though aging in place, by definition, deals with specific individual needs and desires.
Take chairs and toilets, for instance. Both are designed to be used from a seated position, and both are prescribed to be at least 17” above the floor for the most accessible use. But what if they are built closer to the floor – lower? Does this make them inherently unusable? Absolutely not. In fact, many eople prefer them to be smaller or lower to match their physical size, abilities, or requirements.
Some people just aren’t tall enough to use them at an elevated height, and some desire them to be 19-20 inches or more. Everyone is different with varying needs. Therefore, as much as we want to find an acceptable standard with mass market appeal that can be used universally, this is not easily achieved.
Design suggestions are individual
At a younger age, someone may have more flexibility, coordination, balance, leg strength, and visual acuity so they can find the toilet or chair and sit on it comfortably and easily. As the years go by, this task may become more challenging. Just raising it or making the sitting surface larger isn’t necessarily the answer though.
Each design must meet the needs of the most demanding user in the home – sometimes a design just for them with other members of the family using something different for that particular purpose. However, adjustable height toilets, countertops, tables, sinks, and other items in the home may be a reasonable solution for several people with various needs that respond well to such changes and accommodations.
Creating specific solutions
Aging in place design treatments mean that we determine what will work for the members of a household or family – a single member, a couple, a house with children, or a house filled with multiple generations. We then design accordingly, with a single design that works for everyone or more than one design to accommodate various needs and abilities.
When we are finished with our design treatments, they should work for the specific individual or others in the home for who our design is intended. It is not necessarily something that we want to have featured on a website or forum as an example of a classic design because it is needs specific for one or more people within the swelling.
Aging in place is creating one solution at a time for one person at a time.