AARP’s Home Safety Checklist can help you identify and address various hazards around your home. Every year in the United States, nearly one-third of people age-65+ experience a fall. Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. More than half of all fall injuries among older people occur inside the home, and an additional 23 percent happen outside, but near the home.
Remodeling Magazine ran a short article about Dan Bawden of Legal Eagle Contracting, and how he approaches working with clients wishing to age-in-place. Bawden helped write the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) course description 10 years ago for the National Association of Home Builders. Now, about 75% of his firm’s work involves some aspect of aging-in-place. Bawden’s firm uses a checklist to conduct home audits for new clients to identify the areas of their home that aren’t working for them.
Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.