WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT “AGING IN PLACE”?
If you’ve landed on our website, we’re guessing you’ve got more than a passing interest in learning something about aging-in-place and other home accessibility topics. Believe me, we’re tickled you’ve arrived and hope you take this opportunity to reach out to us with any questions or thoughts you have about our areas of aging in place expertise. We love educated clients and will do our utmost to make sure whatever decisions and choices you make on your road to aging in place, and accessibility are well informed and based on reliable information and explanations.
Over the years, it has been our good fortune to come across a collection of books that have informed our learning and provided lots of design, planning, and construction ideas. Most of these are available in public libraries, on Amazon or local bookstores. We’d like to share some of our favorites!
Aging in Place: A Guide to Modifying, Organizing, and DeCluttering Mom and Dad’s Home…by Lynda Shrader. This is a must-read guide to “all-things” aging in place. Written by a board-certified occupational therapist and certified aging in place specialist, it provides a great room by room evaluation of almost every imaginable aging in place scenario coupled with sensible and cost-effective solutions. The book is loaded with “how to” examples and filled with references to additional information sources to continue your aging in place education.
How to Age in Place: Planning for a Happy, Independent, and Financially Secure Retirement…by Mary A Languirand & Robert F. Bernstein. This wide-ranging text offers spot-on advice about making the right home modifications to ensure a safe and comfortable aging in place environment. The authors also explore a host of other relevant subjects, including financial planning, identifying community resources, promoting mind and body health, and post-retirement employment opportunities. One recent reader exclaimed: “great discussions and ideas…it will save a lot of pain, heartache, money and time in the long run.”
The Accessible Home: Designing for all Ages and Abilities…by Deborah Pierce. Written by an architect with a particular passion for accessibility issues, this book shows a deep understanding and sensitivity to the barriers and obstacles that confront anyone living with mobility challenges. Organized around home activities and open floor plan designs(as opposed to a room by room approach), Ms. Pierce offers an approach that shows how smart planning and the principles of universal design can make physical limitations disappear and improve the living experience for all home occupants. You can focus on activity centers for fresh ideas or review some of the 25 accessible home case studies that show how well-designed homes integrate room functionality and activity level into brilliantly cohesive living structures. This book is for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of home accessibility and how it relates to their own aging in place planning ideas.
Home Accessibility: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier…by Shelley Peterman Schwartz. If you’re looking for a book filled with quick, and usually inexpensive, solutions to home accessibility problems, this may be your ticket. Every room of the house is covered, and the collection of tips and ideas are enlightening and often surprising. At the end of every chapter is a list of directories, agencies, and resource materials for those seeking additional help. While many of these are from south of the border, they are still relevant.
Downsizing the Family Home: What to Save, What to let go…by Marni Jameson & Mark Burnett. This award-winning book, published by AARP, takes the reader on the emotion-laden journey of downsizing and decluttering the family home. Packed with great advice on how to tackle this “monster job,” this book helps the reader focus on the overriding goal; clearing out and liquidating all the unnecessary stuff accumulated over a lifetime. Beyond focus, it offers proven strategies to get the job done. A companion workbook; Downsizing the Family Home, A Workbook, takes a journal-like approach to downsizing, allowing you and your co-declutterers a framework for talking through and organizing this sometimes difficult process.
The above list is a fraction of the books and other materials available to the curious and inquisitive among you. Aging in place is never a task you need to take on alone; we’re always here to help, and now you know there are libraries, bookstores, and websites stocked with a deep supply of books and other resources to ease your aging in place journey.
