home modifications

Rebuilding Together and Aging in Place- FOCUS!

June 9, 2010

My association with Rebuilding Together (RT) goes back many years. I was a volunteer and then a house captain with the DC affiliate. Then in about 1997 I was hired by the national office in conjunction with a grant from the US Administration on Aging to develop a course about Aging in Place and home […]

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NCOA/ASA Annual Conference #1

March 22, 2010

I had a good time seeing many friends and colleagues in my three days at the annual National Council on Aging (NCOA)/American Society on Aging (ASA) conference: Aging in America in Chicago. For some reason I was acutely aware this time that I attended my first ASA conference in 1993 in San Francisco. I can […]

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Aging in Place -always another way

February 14, 2010

I have become friends with a lot of clients over the years. One who inspired me continuously, Karen Pitelka, helped me see that “there is always another way”. Karen said this as part of an amazing attitude toward her disabilities. About another client who was pretty depressed Karen once said “You mean he doesn’t see […]

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Aging in Place- Let's Make it Easy!

February 11, 2010

Working with the simple definition: Aging in Place is NOT being forced from your home due to a health crisis; we know that many folks who want to Age in Place are not able to do it. Families are frustrated because trying is too hard and the alternatives shame us. Almost anyone who has worked […]

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Where do I get…What I need to Age in Place?

February 2, 2010

Frank Zappa poked fun at valley girls in 1972’s Just Another Band from LA with lyrics like“Where do I go to get my speaker’s fixed?,…..” Where to get the things we want and need is always a question. Even with google. Currently, homeowners, designers, contractors and others who are preparing for Aging in Place want […]

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Aging in Place, Entitlement, The Trigger

January 27, 2010
Thumbnail image for Aging in Place, Entitlement, The Trigger

Heading into the Post Office yesterday I saw a woman taking the time to steady herself after climbing from the car. I offered to take her letters into the box. She gathered strength and concentration for a smile and declined. “I have to check the postage at the desk.” On my way out I traded […]

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Consumer Barriers to Aging in Place #1

January 8, 2010

We all see headlines like:Senior Citizen Population on Brink of Explosion in World and in United States: Census BureauU. S. Seniors may increase by 40% in five years, world senior age group to triple by 2050 You would think this steady media barrage would provoke people to do some preparation. I don’t think much is […]

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‘Optional’ = ‘Never’

October 5, 2009

The word ‘optional‘ is kind of funny in Universal Design. In fact, it really doesn’t work. Almost no one chooses the accessibility items we advocate. Especially if there is an associated cost. Universal Design must be required, standard or strongly incentivized. NOT optional. Two points. One is that over time we find that Universal Design […]

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Report: ASHRA conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia

June 24, 2009

I am so glad I was honored with an invitation to speak at the Atlantic Seniors Housing Research Alliance conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada last month. This conference was the culmination of a five years study of the situation and conditions of senior hosuing and services in this part of Canada. Don Shiner, a […]

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Aging in Place Remodeling #3 – Entries

June 22, 2009

Of course you need an entry that works to get in and out. But, like a cigar, the entry is never just an entry. You need to know that you can get in and out, that you are not a prisoner or shut in, that you don’t have to ask favors or hire people to […]

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