“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence accomplishment.”
-Thomas Carlyle

Design with the Future in Mind

As baby boomers witnessing the aging of our parents (and our future selves) we all fear the loss of control in our loved ones and wish to bolster their independence whenever possible. I had this in mind as I’ve been reading an on-going blog series about “Beth,” an active, 89 year old woman lives alone in her one level town home. She has lived alone for many years and has a good support network of family and friends from church. She is relatively healthy but deals with asthma.

The post is done by a colleague in the aging in place field, Alesha Churba at Design with the Future in Mind. What Alesha has done is put a human face on aging in place ; and made the process accessible by doing so. The narrative is a delight to read as Alesha describes how Beth thinks through the process of making her beloved home accessible and safe to live in—I love this approach.

Self-Efficacy for Aging in Place

A theory that’s mentioned in the gerontological literature, as well as in other areas of inquiry, is “self-efficacy.” This is a very useful concept in describing what can happen as a side-effect of proactive change–the kind that Beth is making.

Self-efficacy simply means the belief that one has the capabilities to have a positive influence over their life; and can be measured on a continuum from low to high. Those with low don’t believe they can effect positive change; high levels equates to increased confidence to over come barriers in life.

For example, elderly with low-self-efficacy feel they have little control over the events in their lives—our culture has a way of infantilizing elders (not talking about Alzheimer’s here) with terms such as “senior-proof” and “elder-proof,” and learned helplessness is the outcome of cultural conditioning.

On the other hand, elders with high-self-efficacy believe they can command some control in life and shape their destiny. The implications for this are wide reaching from open heart surgery recovery success, depression in the elderly, to who participates in exercise programs—and many other aspects of aging.

Momentum of Positive Change

The elderly exert control over fewer and fewer domains in their lives and the importance of self-efficacy cannot be understated. Beth has taken the first small steps to make her home accessible—what she has also done is moved further along towards the high end of the SE continuum.

This spills over to other aspects of life her life and can have a momentum of its own. Now if she wants to take that European vacation she’s been putting off for fear of going alone, she might join a group and go, sign up for a dance lesson, or go to the movies—she can draw on the increased belief in her ability to effect a positive change in life. This is reinforced every time she interacts with he...

Pan Housing: Homes not built to take into account the needs of elderly residents.

The other day I was driving along Interstate-205 near historic Oregon City where the early 19th century explorers Lewis and Clark (1803-05) came through on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

Fifteen miles outside of the Portland city center the Willamette river parallels the highway and the majestic Willamette falls can be seen from the road. This was an area of the river where multiple tribes of Native Americans once fished the turbulent waters for salmon.

Taking this all in with my eyes shifting between driving and scanning the terrain, I noticed all the new construction of generously sized homes perched on the surrounding hill tops.

Admiring (and envying) the vantage point of these homes with their views of snow-covered Mt. Hood and the river, I began to wonder what it might be to live in them, say… 20 years from now.

Miles from any commerce, expansive lawns with steep yards, gates for privacy, hill-top settings with lots of stairs, wide cult-de-sacs, limited sidewalks and no bus stops. These “amenities” might be selling points for young families but for older adults they can be barriers to aging in place.

It occurred to me that these homes/neighborhoods are what Jon Pyoons, PhD, Professor at USC Davis School of Gerontology calls “Peter Pan Housing.” The term describes housing for people who think they are never going to get old. Pyoons notes: “We have narrow hallways, slippery bathrooms, and houses are crammed full of stuff.”

Does this sound anyone you know?

After WWII young families flocked to the suburbs to live the American dream and are now senior citizens facing challenges with their living situations.

The challenge with the new developments is much the ones facing the old developments; these are auto-oriented living areas which require commuter trips due to the geographic isolation.

The construction was designed for young-able-bodied adults and many aren’t pedestrian friendly for older people, and lack civic or shopping centers.

Neo-Traditional Neighborhood

New urbanism is a reaction to this suburban sprawl; creating human-scale, walk-able communities, transit-oriented, with mixed use, much along the lines of old European cities.

Also known as traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs), these communities are showing up all around the country. For example not far from my home is Fairview Village which boasts community living that is multi-generational, pedestrian oriented, near bus/light-rail, with shops and civic center just minutes away.

The homes are traditional craftsman and some have Universal Design elements, along with porches and sidewalks for neighbors to keep in touch with each other— they once did.

If you are living in Peter Pan Housing and it’s not working for you, consider looking into one of these TNDs or the man...