One thing I do know. Aging in Place is really difficult if you don’t prepare, at least your house. How do we get people to prepare? That, friends, is the big mystery.
This weekend I spoke to a group at an event sponsored by Burning Tree Village, one of the local villages modeled after Beacon Hill Village in Boston forming in this area. These villages are
1) Grass Roots – started and run by the concerned citizens themselves, not the county or a church or a state agency.
2) Intentional– the participants intend to be more pro-active about their concerns and issues. They are not leaving ‘stuff’ to chance or to ‘someone else’ . They are learning and doing to keep control of their own futures.
(related post)
So I figured this audience is an opportunity for me to see this special proactive, intentional audience as a focus group. What have they done to prepare their homes so far? (not much, by just a few) Will they commit once I have given them some info? Will they tell me what might influence them to do home modifications?
I described both a carrot and a stick for motivation. I spoke about the benefits of Universal Design {here} and {here} for a carrot and the danger of falls for a stick. I asked what worked better. I asked for a show of hands who would commit to doing more.
What did I learn? Not much. A few raised their hand to say they would commit. I will monitor the situation over the next few months with Leslie Kessler, the president of Burning Tree Village. I will keep YOU posted!
Louis Tenenbaum, one of the nation's leading authorities on aging in place, is the founder of HomesRenewed, a coalition of business, consumers and nonprofits, driving policy and investment to increase the number of age-friendly homes.