AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS IS SILENT CRISIS, INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE SAYS
"Affordable housing for senior citizens is the silent crisis," said Steven Protulis, the executive director of the Lauderhill-based Elderly Housing Development and Operations Corporation. "What we keep hearing over and over is there is a tremendous need," he said in a story written in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in south Florida.
He sits on the Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century, which was appointed by Congress last year to study how to house the 53 million Americans who will be over age 65 by 2020-more than double the number that exist today. The commission, which has been touring the country gathering testimony, stopped in Florida at the Robert Sharp Towers, a senior citizen complex near the Broward-Dade county line.
Diane C. Lade, a writer for the newspaper, said tenants joined administrators and researchers in the packed activities room, telling commissioners they had been turning over most of their Social Security checks to pay their rents until they got into a federally subsidized building. They said there just aren't enough of these buildings.
The Seniors Commission will issue its report this June and cover housing and health service issues for all seniors, not just those on limited incomes. Commission co-chair Ellen Feingold said it is a "myth that elders are rich and able to take care of themselves." Commission research shows one-half of all Americans over age 62 have incomes that put them in the bottom quarter of American household earnings. For more information go to http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sun_sentinel/ and enter "Diane C. Lade affordable housing" in the search feature.
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PEOPLE BEGIN TO SHARPEN OPINION ABOUT SENIORS' HOUSING, SURVEY SAYS
"People have begun to sharpen their opinions in respect to finding seniors' housing either very desirable or very undesirable, said Robert G. Kramer, executive director of the National Investment Center, the sponsor of a recent national study of individuals aged 60 and older. The center, based in Annapolis, Maryland, conducts research on the seniors' housing industry and also tracks its financial performance. Research for this survey was conducted by the ProMatura Group LLC, Oxford, Mississippi. Publication of the data was sponsored by the Chicago-based Classic Residence by Hyatt.
Of those aware of assisted living, about 13 percent of survey respondents found the housing type desirable, up from 9.3 percent in 1998. But 10.4 percent of recent survey respondents found these communities very undesirable," up from 4.8 percent in 1998.
The survey also said that between 1998 and 2000, the proportion of households considering a move to a retirement community more than doubled to 5.2 percent from 1.9 percent. Those who had definitely decided to move to a retirement community almost tripled, to 8.9 percent from 3.3 percent.
Even so, Chicago Tribune reporter Jane Adler noted that the survey found that seniors were actually staying longer in their own homes than before, about 26.8 years, up from 24.4 years. The survey also indicated that seniors delay any move to an age-restricted community until the need arises. For more information go to http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/realestate/.
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RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING WAYS TO HELP OLDER ADULTS STAY IN THEIR HOMES LONGER
Universities and other research centers are developing innovative ways to help older adults stay in their own homes longer, the Washington Post reported. One example is weight sensors, which alert individuals with failing eyesight if there is an object in their path. "The living, if not exactly 'independently', as we used to think of it, has changed. Now it is starting to mean at least free from nearly all but the technological instructions," said Jean Lawrence, a writer for the newspaper.
While most of the gee-whiz technology being studied at Georgia Tech (for details, visit the Web site www.cc.gatech.edu/fce/ahri) and in a similar project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is still under development, it's moving quickly off the drawing board. Lawrence noted that within a year both schools plans to have senior citizens test their gadgets under real-life conditions.
Researchers says much of this technology may be available within the next five years for retrofit into existing homes or incorporated into new retirement homes. For more information go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/archives and type "Independence Gadgets" in the search function.
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY BEING USED TO EXPAND HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES
Georgetown University Medical Center's Web-based system is one of several new tools that use telecommunications technology-computers, the Internet and interactive television-to improve and expand home health care services for the elderly and others with chronic disease, the Washington Post reported.
According to the results of pilot studies around the country, "telehomecare" or "home telehealth," as it is called, helps patients better manage illnesses, thus avoiding costly emergency room visits, hospitalizations and dangerous complications. For patients with congestive hearth failure, Georgetown will soon test a telehomecare device to see if better coordination of patients care is cost effective. More than 600 patents will take part in the Georgetown study.
Beth Baker, a writer for the Washington Post, said telehomecare may also give older patients what they say they most want-- the freedom to stay in their own homes despite an increased need to monitor their conditions and care. Sam Burgiss, manager of the University of Tennessee Medical Center's Telemedicine Network, said, "We're doing patient monitoring and testing in the home that previously was only available in the nursing home or hospital." For more information go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/archives and type "Doctor House" in the search function.
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UNIVERSALLY DESIGNED HOUSE CENTERS ON "DUH" PRINCIPLE
When Carl Christenson became disabled, he and his wife Margaret realized that their multilevel home would no longer work. So they bought a bungalow in Fridley, Minnesota, gutted it and redesigned it using the concept of universal design. What they created is a living space that works for both of them, regardless of their levels of ability. For instance, the dishwasher and dryer are raised, so you don't have to bend over, said Margaret Christenson, an occupational therapist and founder of Lifease Inc., a New Brighton, Minnesota software company that specializes in providing solutions to overcome peoples' living difficulties.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Lifease did a survey to gauge the general public's interest in universal design, and the results were positive across the board. "You don't see any difference in gender or age in the responses," Margaret Christenson said. "It's the 'duh" principle-- Why not? Why not make it this say? If it's easier, it's easier. Build a front door with no threshold, so you don't have a step to trip over. It makes it easier to roll luggage out, wheel a stroller with a child, or carry out the garbage."
For more information go to http://www.pioneerplanet.com/archives and put "universal design" in the search function.
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BABY BOOMERS BIG FACTOR IN GROWING DEMAND FOR GETAWAY HOMES
Baby boomers are increasing the demand for getaway homes reports Mary Umberger, a real estate columnist for the Chicago Tribune. According to demographer Peter Francesse, Americans will buy 3.6 million second homes-about 1,000 a day-over the next decade, bringing the number of individual owners of such properties to more than 10 million. The founder of American Demographics and a noted predictor of consumer behavior and interests, Francesse said that age, affluence and technology will converge to make record numbers of people "pine for that proverbial cottage on the lake."
But then she adds, "The rickety--make that 'rustic'--cottage on the lake will still have its admirers, but our house-centric society increasingly insists that our getaway homes be as comfy and well-turned-out as our main residences."
For more information go to http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune, insert "Getaway Homes" in the search function and scroll down to "Second Helping: Demographics and Psychology Point To A Growing Appetite For Getaway Homes."
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PROJECT FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS CALLED "A BIT ORWELLIAN" BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press (AP) has called an attempt to check up on people with chronic conditions "an unblinking smart house that seems a bit Orwellian."
The Medical Automation Research Center in Charlottesville, Virginia has been working on a house for more than a year with the idea of helping independent-minded seniors who aren't ready to relinquish control of their lives to their children or a nursing home, according to Chris Kahn, a writer for AP.
According to Kahn, "[Jim Humphries'] house is watching him closely. Seven red-eye sensors track his every move, blinking on and off as he walks past. There are sensors in his refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. Another soon will be installed at leg-level in the living room to monitor how Humphries is walking." Robin Felder, project supervisor at the Charlottesville center, persuaded tennis buddy Humphries-a 42-year-old registered nurse in perfect health-to become what Kahn called a guinea pig for the idea and turn his brick frame house into a research lab, indefinitely.
Felder hopes to someday build a system that can monitor its residents' blood pressure and check if they are taking their medication. Researchers also are working on toilet sensors that would conduct a urinalysis and a kitchen console that would chart a person's diet by scanning the bard codes on grocery packages.
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OLD AGE ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE, ACCORDING TO FORMER U.S. CENSUS DIRECTOR
Old age isn't what it used to be, but society is still unprepared to deal with what it has become, according to Martha Farnsworth Riche, director of the U.S. Census Bureau from 1994 to 1998. In a commentary in the Los Angeles Times, she said, "If we adjusted our discussion of age the way we adjust discussion of dollars-to keep the same meaning over time-we could base our policies and programs on reality.
She said American are staying "young" longer than they used to, and becoming "old" much later in life. "Our debates on Social Security and education revolve around a set of boxes we have always grouped the population into like "under age 18" or "65 and over."
The problem we now face is that this rosier sunset has mostly occurred since 1960. This means that Americans still cling to stereotypes based on the past, she said. Instead of bemoaning the growth of the older populations, Americans-both individuals and institutions-need to revise their assumptions about what "old" means. "We already are seeing that work life neither starts nor ends at the same age for everyone." For more information go to http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000001489jan07 story.
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