When my Aunt Gerry aged into her seventies, she ended up using a wheelchair much of the time. Her worn out knees just couldn’t take it anymore.
It was a good thing for her that she lived in a condominium that was wheelchair accessible, or at least wheelchair-accessible enough for her. This made it a whole lot easier for her to age in place. A lot has been said and written by and about older adults who want to age in place, meaning that they want to continue living in the home where they are comfortable. In other words, they don’t want to be forced to go into a damn nursing home.
Research shows that more than 80 percent of older Americans want to age in place. I’m surprised it’s not 100 percent. Why would anyone rather go to a nursing home?
Aging in place is not a lot to ask. However, achieving that simple goal is an unnecessary struggle for many because of the shortsightedness of American culture when it comes to disability. Gerry bought her condo several decades ago, long before she needed wheelchair access. But because my sister and I were both wheelchair users, she wanted us to be able to get in. She could have bought a condo in that same building that was at the top of a flight of stairs. It turned out to be a good thing for her that she didn’t.
Disability shouldn’t pose such a threat to those who want to age in place, and it wouldn’t if there was more accessible housing. Laws like the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHAA) have done a lot to address this. Nonetheless, inaccessible homes are still constructed every day. That shouldn’t be happening, but there are no laws against it. The FHAA, for example, only applies to buildings with four or more living units.
Considering how difficult it is to find affordable housing, imagine how hard it is to find something that is both affordable and accessible. That makes it difficult to plan ahead like Gerry did. It’s hard to pass up an opportunity to purchase something that works very well for you right now, even though the entrance and/or some of the rooms are at the top of a flight of stairs. It’s hard to think about how your needs might change in the future.
Inaccessible housing can be retrofitted to make it accessible. You can have ramps built, stair lifts installed, and more. But that takes more money than most people have. So until the day comes when the supply of accessible and affordable housing is plentiful, a good way to avoid having a disability disrupt your plans to age in place is to go searching for a needle in a haystack, like Gerry did.