From SeniorJournal.com
Forward Living: An Encouraging Look at Senior Citizens Staying in Their Homes
BY HERB HAUSER
12-08-2007
The key to ‘Forward Living’ is the creation of an environment with adaptive technologies that help seniors comfortably, independently and safely age - within their own home
Almost 80 million Boomers are heading into retirement, and they’re not taking it sitting down. And why would they? They’re too busy traveling, enjoying sports, socializing and culture to take time to sit. It’s a good thing too, because Boomers are one of the largest demographic phenomena to hit the U.S., and they have both the demonstrated will power and numbers to change the nation’s preconceptions about senior living.
The first wave of Boomers hit retirement age (60) in 2006, and an estimated 330 of them are hitting retirement age every hour 2 – producing an additional 34-35 million retirees over the next couple of years.
The sheer numbers of these retirees is producing a Gray Wave that is washing across America, triggering profound changes in consumer and lifestyle patterns in its wake.
Boomers seeking retirement alternatives to stay in familiar surroundings
About Herb Hauser |
 Herb Hauser, president of Midtown Technologies, is the real estate development industry’s leading authority on the deployment of technology as a real estate asset. Mr. Hauser earned his PhD and Masters Degrees from Rutgers University and a Bachelors degree from SUNY Albany. |
One of the most important changes happening now deals with where and how Boomers plan to spend their retirement years. Who wants to give up their secure surroundings and move – precisely when they’re reaching an age in which moving is particularly undesirable? Certainly not the Boomers. Many of them are looking for alternatives that allow them to remain in familiar surroundings while avoiding the stress of a move to a retirement facility.
Researchers identify this concept of a purposeful approach to growing old in one location as “aging in place.” However, this term is also synonymous with aging within a facility on a long-term basis; not an ideal for today’s active Boomer.
Forward Living concept meets needs of Boomers
A better concept, and one more in keeping with the Boomer approach to retirement lifestyle, is the idea of forward living (actually, this is an important enough concept to rate capitalization – Forward Living TM). The key to Forward Living™ is the creation of an environment with adaptive technologies that help seniors comfortably, independently and safely age - within their own home.
Concurrent with this increased interest in living longer and productively, within one’s own home, is the forecast shortage in quality available retirement facilities. Current research is identifying a critical and growing shortage in retirement and care facilities, and the long-term forecast for addressing this shortage is uncertain3. From a practical and preference point of view, independent living in one’s own home is, as a certain well-known lifestyle pundit and parolee once said, a good thing.
So, what is being done to make safe Forward Living a reality? Quite a bit, as not only do retiring Boomers have numbers on their side, they have spending power as well. An article in last year’s Christian Science Monitor4 confirmed that seniors are responsible for consumer spending of close to $2 trillion annually. That sum represents an enormous percentage of the US economy, and this trend to spend is showing no signs of slowing down.
This spending power and market size is one of the key forces driving innovation and a range of highly-specialized offerings from business sectors ranging from real estate developers to technology service providers and interior designers. Even the U.S. government and non-profits have taken note, and innovations are underway now that will make this preference for extended in-home living attainable.
So what can Boomers tap to customize their home for long-term living. Or, what should they look for in the next home they purchase?
There’s a slew of features. Some are small but vital; some require a larger investment of installation or cost to make a reality. However, whether small or large, the payoff in quality of life can be enormous.
Adapting to failing eye sight
One such easy and inexpensive example of this involves eyesight, which diminishes and sensitizes with age. Boomers can either purchase and install an adaptable lighting feature that accommodates this changing eyesight, or look for a home that offers this built-in capability.
By giving Boomers an ability to adapt lighting color and illumination levels to their vision as it changes, real estate developers, lighting retailers and seniors themselves will be able to take an affordable and active role in helping individuals to continue to read, relax and live comfortably within their home.
Community room for engaged Boomers
A larger and more lifestyle focused example is the development of built-in amenities in newer homes and condominium complexes that expand upon the idea of a community room.
Picture an Internet /Web Media reading room, complete with a rich depth of web-accessed materials. Not only do these reading rooms provide much-in-demand intellectual stimulation, they also serve as a gathering place and focal point for conversation – a hallmark of today’s well-read and engaged Boomer.
Of course, this is great for Boomers just starting the retirement process. But what happens as we all get older? The reality is that we will age, and even the most active individual, receiving the best medical care and maintaining disciplined attention to diet and exercise, will face increasing lifestyle challenges with advancing age.
Appliances become the foot soldiers
For this stage of life, appliances can become foot soldiers in the Forward Living™ approach to senior lifestyle as well. Smartly used, everyday household appliances, in addition serving their primary purposes, can also be used as monitoring and alert systems for the seniors’ network of family, friends and caregivers in the event there is a dramatic change in behavior.
This advance warning system would help reduce or eliminate the need for an on-site, full-time caregiver, delay the need to move into an institutionalized setting, and reduce the anxiety levels of family members who worry about whether or not their loved ones are eating properly or living a healthy lifestyle
The smart refrigerator
A case in point for this technology is idea of a smart refrigerator concept. The idea behind the smart refrigerator is that it is an essential appliance that does much more than store and cool food. This appliance takes note of everyday behaviors, such as number of times a day that its door is opened and closed.
A dramatic variance in this pattern would trigger an alert for development managers, family, friends or caregivers that the senior resident had substantially changed his or her behavior. Instead of randomly waiting for a concerned neighbor or other visitor to stop by and ensure that the senior is well, the refrigerator would “know” within the day if there was a change in activity that warranted concern.
Thus a refrigerator that is normally opened 20 to 25 times a day would issue an alert if it were opened only 5 to 10 times. On top of that, it comes with a full array of design features of interest to the style conscious retiree.
Floor sensors to track movement
In a similar vein, residences can now be constructed with built-in floor sensors that track movement and activity patterns. A diminution or cessation of activity would trigger an alert, ensuring timely help to the resident senior.
The advantage to these smart appliances is the ability to give caregivers information about the resident’s well-being without being intrusive, invasive, condescending or requiring frequent visits, and check-in calls.
As mentioned earlier, many types of organizations are taking notice of this issue. A couple of years ago, the U.S. government held its Conference On Aging (www.whcoa.org) – as it does every ten years, with a strong emphasis on the role of technology.
Technology leaders such as Intel are at the forefront of designing new applications (including, for example, devices that are incorporated into the bed so that well-being can be seamlessly tracked at night), and non-profit organizations such as the Center for Aging Services Technologies, and American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging offer tremendous resources.
All of these organizations exist to help seniors, service, and product providers alike in the mission to age with dignity, security and fun. And, to judge by the way the boomers are behaving, fun and enjoyment is as important through the aging process as it was during the adolescent and work life years.
Educational Resources:
Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST)
www.agingtech.org
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA)
www.aahsa.org
2005 White House Conference on Aging
http://www.whcoa.gov/
Footnotes:
1. US Census Bureau Facts For Features Special Edition. CB06-FFSE.01-2 January 3, 2006
2. IBID
3. Wall Street Journal, “Affordable Senior Housing, A Waiting Game.” Tom Lauricella, November 13, 2007
4. Christian Science Monitor, “Census Report: For More Seniors, Rising Well-Being,” Sara Miller-Lana, staff writer. March 10, 2006.
5. Forward Living is a trademarked phrase of Midtown Technology LLC,, denoting the concept of dynamic, healthful and active senior living within one’s home, aided by technologies that adapt to the needs of the aging individual over a period that may span as much as 30 years. .
© SeniorJournal.com 2007
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