Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ageing in place is a positive and proactive decision

This is a very thoughtful article by Louis Tenenbaum about the rationale and motivations for modifying a home for 'ageing in place'.

I am sure he will not mind but I am going to quote how he starts the blog posting.

Near the end of When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal races to find Meg Ryan at a New Year’s party. When he finally gets to her, he tells her he ran because “When you know you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

You should think about aging-in-place remodeling the same way. When you go to the trouble and expense of remodeling your home, you should also make it a place where you can live safely and comfortably for the rest of your life. And when the job is done, trust me, you’ll want to “move in” as soon as possible
Louis is saying something that rings bells with me. Home modifications should not be a defensive, last resort action, being done for negative reasons. Instead they should be done much earlier to make a home somewhere that you really want to live now as well as when physiological ageing starts to create practical problems.

I have seen too many older people who leave making decisions too late and then find they don't have the energy or mental reslience resulting in them either having compromise or to have to make changes in a panic mode.

Very good thinking. Dick Stroud

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