PROMISING REGISTRATION RESULTS FOR AGING IN PLACE STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION With registration for its fall 2002 student design competition closing on September 27, the National Center for Seniors' Housing Research (NCSHR) is highly encouraged by the response. The goal of Aging in Place: An Open Design Competition for Students is to solicit innovative ideas on smart-aging residential design in an urban setting. The program challenges students in schools of architecture, planning, building construction, and occupational therapy nationwide to design creative, buildable, and livable communities and homes that facilitate residents' ability to age in place. Seventy-four registrations were received, with representation from over 30 schools, 19 of which are new to applying for the competition, now in its third year. The 2002 design challenge encourages students to address such urban issues as infill housing and smart growth. Students are required to design a community on a 10-acre urban site with transportation and other amenities in close proximity. Competition entries are expected to provide innovative new approaches to address problems facing today's urban communities. Submissions of those who have registered are due to the NCSHR by December 13; judging by an expert industry panel will take place January 9 and 10 with an open house at the NAHB Research Center on the 10th; and winners will be announced during the annual International Builders' Show in late January. Results from prior competitions have been compiled by the NCSHR into the recently released Spotlight on Ideas, which showcases the best design features and ideas from the 2001 competition. For more information on the competition, go to http://www.nahbrc.org/awardsseniors.asp?CategoryID=1699. back to top HOUSEBOUND ELDERLY BENEFIT FROM EARLY INTERVENTION Researchers in the UK have found that older people who have become housebound can benefit from social care services, even when they have difficulty acknowledging the necessity. According to the study by the "Growing Older" program funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, contact with care services, even when relatively unwelcome, appears to have positive effects on levels of self-esteem and on morale. The research found that older people are not always the best judges of their immediate needs. The newly housebound often find it difficult to welcome offered help which can involve using a home care assistant, attending a day care center, or moving to a nursing home. Some older people reject help because they do not believe it is appropriate to their needs and circumstances. Some older people feel nursing homes are not for them, but are for others who are confused or without a caring family, and suggest daycare is for someone different from themselves or too expensive an option. Becoming housebound is often accompanied by sharp decreases in self-esteem and confidence. The study found that over a six-month period, most of the older people who received services enjoyed higher self-esteem as they adjusted to their changed physical condition. A key effect of a positive outcome is the making of new contacts and friends. For more information go to http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-09/esr-heb092302.php back to top US HOME INJURIES KILL 20,000 A YEAR, GROUP SAYS A report released by the not-for-profit Home Safety Council found older adults more likely than the rest of the population to die from injuries that occur in the home. The report also concluded that people older than 75 experience home injury deaths at rates 3 to 10 times higher than other age groups. Based on safety studies and a survey of 1,000 households, the report claims nearly 20,000 Americans die each year from accidents in their homes. Tripping over electric cords and falling down stairs were commonly cited hazards. "Americans believe they have a safe haven at home, but they need to be aware of hidden hazards," said David Oliver, president of the council. "People don't think about home safety until something happens. Everyone is at risk for these kinds of injuries." Installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, putting grab bars in bathtubs, handrails on stairways, and keeping extension cords out of high traffic areas can help reduce the chance of home injury. For more information go to http://www.reutershealth.com/. back to top BOOMERS DRIVE EXPANSION IN RV MARKET Gerald Celente, head of the Trends Institute, has studied the "yuppification" of the RV business. He attributes the trend to the same Baby Boomers who popularized SUVs and trophy homes. Now, he envisions them flooding the roads in luxury houses on wheels, high-fliers on the nation's highways, searching for that ultimate new resort in which to park. "People have just started screaming for amenities," according to Bev Wieber, co-publisher and editor or RV Companion magazine. "There's an amazing amount of expendable dollars among people using RVs. It's not this 'trailer trash' concept anymore." Approximately 7 million American households currently own RVs and an additional 300,000 are projected to buy one in this economically challenged year. As of July both sales and rentals were up 30 percent over last year. Industry analysts expect the fondness for RVs to escalate as more Boomers pick up on the trend and more Americans hit the road. For more information go to http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/88110_resort23.shtml. back to top CONDOS OVERTAKE HOUSES IN PRICE GAINS According to new research on sales volume and price patterns, the nationwide median price of condominiums in the second quarter was up 14.7 percent from the same period of 2001. That is almost double the 7.4 percent year-on-year increase for detached, median-priced, single-family resale houses. Long regarded as the poor cousins of the home real estate market, condos now appear to be the beneficiaries of several key factors including pricing and demographic changes Baby Boomers and first time buyers alike are drawn to their appeal. Loaded with equity from sales of their family residences, Baby Boomers and older seniors are bidding up prices to the upper reaches of the condo market. They are transferring some of their spoils from the detached single-family marketplace to high-amenity luxury and super-luxury condo units, whether in downtown neighborhoods, such as Washington D.C. or in warm and sunny resort areas, such as California, Florida and Arizona. More than 42 percent of all condominiums are now bought by people older than 50, according to the National Association of Realtor's national data. Looking ahead for at least the next decade, it seems all the demographic pressures point to greater demand and higher values for well-located empty-nester condos. For more information go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44877-2002Sep20.html. back to top SEEING EYE WALKER IN DEVELOPMENT, SOON COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE Three out of every four blind Americans are senior citizens. To help this population improve the quality of life and remain independent, the Medical Automation Research Center at the University of Virginia has developed a device they call the "Smart Walker". The walker is a three wheeler equipped with a "passive shared-control navigation system". A laser scanner is used to assess the environment. It detects the user's intentions via pressure monitors in the handles, then guides the user, steering a front wheel or clamping the brakes as necessary. If a person loses footing, for example, the walker will detect the high force and acceleration, then clamp the brakes to prevent a fall. The walker will be equipped with an override option, in the case of incorrect steering. Rapid increases in pulse rate, indicating anxiety, could trigger the walker to cancel its active mode. Dr. Robin Felder, director of the Medical Automation Research Center, is working to improve the system. He plans to add "drop off detection" to the walker so it can sense changes in the height of surfaces. The device was developed specifically for low income seniors and pending approval from the Federal Drug Administration, a commercial version of the Smart Walker will be available for as little as $300 in the next year. For more information on the Smart Walker go to http://www.technologyreview.com/. back to top SETTLEMENT AVERTS STRIKE BY HOME HEALTH AIDES A three-day planned strike was averted this month when Premier Home Health Care Services, a New York based home health care firm, reached a tentative settlement with the health care union 1199/S.E.I.U. The strike would have created massive strains on Premier and some 2,000 clients who are chronically ill or were recently released from the hospital. The strike was averted when over 500 workers voted unanimously to ratify a 15-month agreement in which Premier's health aides will receive a 20 percent increase in compensation, including employer-paid health insurance and raises of at least 40 cents an hour. The home health aide takes on tasks that most people, even close relatives, shun. "We bathe the clients, and feed them and dress them and give them their medications," says Mary Toni, a home health aide who lives in the South Bronx. "We run errands and take them to their doctors' appointments. Whatever is necessary, that's what we do." Previous to the agreement, the home health aide, nearly all of whom are women, typically earned $6 or $7 an hour. In most cases they received no benefits - no health care, no paid vacation, no sick days, no pensions. Over the past two years, organizers have persuaded workers at nine companies, with a total of 15,000 home health aides, to vote to join the union. With the Premier settlement, 1199 now has contracts with four of those companies representing 7,500 workers. The union said it hoped to sign contracts soon with the five other newly unionized companies. For more information go to http://www.1199seiu.org/. back to top REVERSE MORTGAGES PROVIDE INCOME, AVERT FORECLOSURE Ninety-one-year-old Aldonia Bradford found a way to avoid foreclosure this summer when she couldn't keep making mortgage payments: She got a reverse mortgage, and from now on, every month the house will pay her. Though reverse mortgages remain a small portion of the home-mortgage market, their use is growing as they are more widely marketed. Last year Minnesota's HUD office had approved a total 115 Home Equity Conversion Loans (HECM) and in the first half of this year it had already approved 184. According to John Curtis, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage area manager for reverse mortgages, "the number [of reverse mortgages] is growing at 40 to 50 percent a year." Reverse mortgages offer a reversed payment system where lenders give borrowers monthly checks, a line of credit, or both in return for an equity stake in their homes. The product has traditionally targeted seniors who might need to subsidize their normal monthly living expenses or buy long-term-care health insurance not covered by Medicare. Creative use has gained the reverse mortgage a wider audience, though. Last month Curtis closed a reverse mortgage loan for a 90-year-old man who wanted to get a new car. "He said, 'I want to get a PT Cruiser,'" Curtis said. "He wanted to do it because he had a girlfriend." More often, reverse mortgages are taken out by people with financial problems, typically, "the rising cost of everything: insurance, medicines, food, energy, utilities," Curtis said. "Everything is rising except for their pensions. Pretty soon, they're squeezed to the point where they cannot pay the bills and most see no alternative but to sell." For more information go to http://www.startribune.com and search the archives using the keywords "reverse mortgages." The full article must be purchased. back to top | 
