Opting to Age in Place? Smart Homes will Help!

By Susan Flansburg

Mrs. Creeger needs a smart home. Like anyone, she wants to live life on her own terms, which - in her case - means getting the spices she needs to cook with. Trouble is, her arthritis has gotten so bad that she can no longer reach higher than the first shelf in her kitchen, and the spices are on the top shelf. She needs a safe way to retrieve them, because climbing on a chair is a recipe for disaster.

Falls are not only the leading cause of fatal injury among older adults, they can land people in assisted living centers, the very last place many want to end up.

It’s not a sustainable solution, anyway. Assisted living centers are already overcrowded by residents and underserved by workers, a situation that will only get worse.

With 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching 65 every day, the U.S. population is forecast to turn upside down by 2030, with more people over the age of retirement than under it.

In other words, just as Boomers need that extra help, nobody will be around to give it.

The question becomes, how will we take care of our elders?

The answer, if you ask them, is: “We’ll take care of ourselves.”

Here’s how Iowa State University is helping turn that once-unreasonable response into a reality.

Iowa State Foundation hired me to write the story, giving me the pleasure of meeting Samantha Creeger (a graduate in human computer interaction who helped design a movable cabinet for people like her grandmother) and many other students and faculty members who are working on the technology and products needed to help aging adults live where they want to live … whether in new, dedicated smart homes or by retrofitting the places they already occupy.

Smart home equipment includes everything from microwaves that read directions and cook your meals to spoken advisories on the ice accumulation on your walk. Window blinds that raise and lower automatically. Refrigerators that tell you when they need more milk.

(For all the world, it sounds like The Jetsons TV show come to life!)

I also got to interview Joe Sample (Iowa Area Agencies on Aging) and Rob Kretzinger (WesleyLife). Rob described the dedicated smart homes his organization is building.

I love the story and the illustrations of elders who are living life vigorously, exactly the way they want to.

I love the fact that super-smart and creative people are helping turn the wish to “age in place” into a reality.

I do wish it had happened in time for my own parents.

Here’s the whole story!