Survey Underscores Needs Of Those Planning On Aging In Place

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a drastic impact on the world around us. With children being out of school and seniors unable to see family as regularly as in the past, these changes have dramatically impacted the feelings of security and community that many people have.

In 2021, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) conducted a survey of seniors to see how they were feeling as it related to the idea of living at home for the long-term. This was the first time since 2018 that the organization had run this survey entitled the “Home and Community Preferences Survey” and the updated results were stunning.

When it comes to remaining in their homes for a long while and the possibility of aging in place, the survey found that 77% of adults who were over the age of 50 planned to be in their homes for the long-term. While this number has been quite steady over the past decade, if you dig deeper into the survey you will discover some new rising numbers that point to the impact that COVID-19 has had on the feeling of closeness in ones community.

With a large percentage of the population expecting to age in place, their needs are highlighted in the survey regarding what would be required to accomplish this as they begin to prepare themselves for independent living as they get older.

There was good news from the survey which showed that over 80% have the capacity in their homes to achieve independent living such as a bathroom or bedroom (room that could be used as a bedroom) on the first floor which will enable first floor living. Those surveyed reported that there may need to be other changes made to their environment to enable aging in place. For instance, the following results spoke to the modifications that may need to be made.

1.) Bathroom modifications like grab bars and no-step showers would need to be made in nearly 80% of the homes for those who were surveyed.

2.) There are accessibility issues that would need to be addressed in over 70% of the homes both inside and out if they were to be acceptable for the resident to be aging in place.

3.) An emergency response system would be required in over 60% of the homes of those surveyed in the event that a medical emergency were to occur.

These numbers are overwhelming considering the number of survey respondents who were expecting to live independently as they were aging. With these types of modifications needed to homes across the U.S. it is important to begin a discussion with your loved one sooner rather than later to make sure modifications can be made in a timely way to insure safety and security for your loved one.