[this week author Dan Taylor is our guest blogger; these are some of his past writings]
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
New Ideas for Aging in Place
My feeling is that the Boomers are going to resist institutionalization as they age much like they did the Vietnam War....with protests and gunfire. This is true in part because there are simply not enough existing institutions for them even if they wanted to go, which they don't. What the Boomers will do is completely reinvent the notion of senior housing to not include the word "senior" in the same phrase as 'housing'. Let me give you an example.
Charlotte Roberts, the co-author with Peter Senge of the best seller, The Fifth Discipline, in the 90's has created a unique structure for single professional women as they age to live together in a common dwelling place, share communal meals, and both look after their lives and create community where they may not have one. The criteria is that they have to be able to take care of themselves, live independently, and do most of the daily things that aging, but healthy people do. The project is called Baldwin House and it is located in Statesville, NC. Charlotte and her sister Frankie, restored an old Southern home to create this environment. It has a full kitchen, meals provided, exercise capability, high tech components, and an environment for building relationships. While not for everyone, Baldwin House is just one of the models for independent-but-connected living that Boomers will be looking for as they age. My sense is that it will be a vibrant place for both relationship, community, and great conversation.
Charlotte Roberts is redefining the notion of what it is to age by redesigning the structures in which we consider aging. As Boomers, we will refuse to think of aging the way our parents did as well as choosing the housing options that they did. We want to custom design our later years much like we custom designed our lives. I don't know about you, but I think she's on to something.......
Posted by Dan Taylor
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