Life Care Humboldt JULY 2021 UPDATE

Making Your Senior Home Safe
By Ann Lindsay, MD & JoAnn Schuch

Since we started working on Life Care Humboldt, we have become very interested in safe senior housing and universal design. Our curiosity led us to read about what might be involved in making a home safe for our later years. If you fall and break a hip in your 80's the odds are 50:50 you will ever get home again. This is why safety and universal design is so important to us. Universal design is a term used to describe the ways homes can be made to be comfortable and safe for aging in place.

Life Care Humboldt will be built according to universal design. The homes will be on one level with smooth ground-level entrances; elevators will be an option if there is more than one story on the campus. Lighting will accommodate fading eyesight. There will be nonslip tiles, grab bars and touchless faucets in your bathroom and a large walk-in shower with grab bars, room for a shower chair and a shower head with a detachable hand-held sprayer that can be used sitting or standing. Doorways will be large enough to allow for wheelchair or walker access and have lever handles or automatic door openers. Electrical outlets 18 to 24 inches high off the floor will make them more accessible. Wall oven units with French doors at eye level means no leaning over a hot oven door. Induction stove tops are safest for those with memory problems; when the magnetic connection is broken, the heat disappears.

AARP offers a free app on iOS called HomeFit, that can scan your rooms and suggest modifications to turn your current house into a “life-long home,” free from safety and mobility risks. They also have an extensive HomeFit Guide on their website that can help you plan for safety in your home.

As we develop our local Life Plan Community we are excited to partner with the architects at Perkins-Eastman, world leaders in the design of senior living spaces. They bring innovative ideas about how to design our community to promote health and wellness.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, defenses for more common illnesses like the flu are now being built into new facilities. Residences under construction have more open spaces, better ventilation, and touchless doors, water faucets and switches to limit contact with germs and viruses. Architects are also designing ways to keep common areas "cleaner" with routes planned for delivery people that don't cross with residents.

Pocket neighborhoods let residents live, socialize, and dine together in smaller groups. Covered pathways leading to outside gardens with shaded seating areas let people meet, but have good ventilation and social interactions.

Universal design makes a space safer and more comfortable, thoughtful access to fresh air, good social contacts, and built-in protection from viruses like the flu are just a few ways a Life Plan Community can make life healthier and enjoyable for residents.

Join us by Zoom at the OLLI Brown Bag Lunch event on August 9 at noon to hear a presentation by Perkins-Eastman Architect, Leslie Moldow.
(For more information see Community Outreach below)

Making Your Senior Home Safe By Ann Lindsay, MD & JoAnn Schuch

Making Your Senior Home Safe
By Ann Lindsay, MD & JoAnn Schuch