Programs Now Catered For Seniors To Reside At Home
Programs provide chefs, home repair and other services to help suburban seniors age in place.
Many community planners believe that aging-in-place programs could help many elderly homeowners avoid institutional care. More than 100 programs exist in places as diverse as Boston’s Beacon Hill, New Canaan, Conn., Madison, Wis., and the Indianapolis suburbs. Often, it’s the small, inexpensive service (a ride to a doctor’s appointment or home-delivered groceries) that can make all the difference.
Aging-in-place programs got their start in 1986 in Penn South, a ten-building apartment complex in Manhattan. Residents and local social-service agencies created the program after an 84-year-old woman with dementia wandered onto a roof and died of exposure. “This event spoke personally to residents about their vulnerability,” says Fredda Vladeck, director of the Aging in Place Initiative at the United Hospital Fund.
ElderSource created Elder-Friendly Communities, which covers an area of mostly two-story, three-bedroom homes built 40 to 50 years ago. “Our program works in the suburbs because we literally went door-to-door to introduce ourselves,” says Claudette Einhorn, chairperson for ElderSource. Elder-Friendly Communities’ vendors, such as drivers and gardeners, offer discounts from 5% to 50%. The program charges an annual membership fee of $120. Beyond the support services, the program provides social and educational activities. In some communities, the residents themselves are creating aging-in-place programs.
