With an aging population, being able to keep elderly people healthy for longer is going to be fundamentally important for health services around the world.  In many instances, this will revolve around keeping people in their own homes for as long as possible.

Last year, a report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers urged the British government to provide specific financial incentives to home builders to provide homes designed specifically for older living.

The report highlights how many older people downscale their homes as they age and become less active.  This can exacerbate any mobility issues they have and accelerate the onset of frailty.

“About seven million UK homes are headed by someone aged over 65 years, who will undoubtedly need some form of assistive technology to help with everyday living, within the coming decade,” the authors say.  “Homes built with older people in mind, as well as retrofit technology for our existing housing stock, could not only allow people to live in their homes for longer, but also massively reduce costs for the NHS and social care system.”

Healthy aging

A new paper, from Columbia Mailman School, explores some of the challenges involved in making this kind of intervention a reality.  It highlights the difficulties due to the number of institutions that were constructed in a very different time where an aging society was not even something that could be conceived, much less planned for.

“While the most disadvantaged are at greatest risk of losses in well-being and economic security, it is apparent that middle-income elders will also face challenges related to education, work and retirement, healthcare and housing in the next 10 years,” the authors explain. “Low savings rates and the added financial burden of longer lives are conspiring to place previously neglected middle income elders at risk of depleting all their resources and becoming entirely dependent on social security toward the end of their lives.”

The researchers identify a number of factors required for successful adaptation, with the Aging Society Index a model designed to measure the success of regions in making this adaptation.  The Index focuses on five core areas:

• Productivity and Engagement
• Well-Being
• Equity
• Cohesion
• Security

“While policy makers remain preoccupied with Medicare and Social Security, a far more effective strategy would be to consider all the principal domains of society that affect the capacity of older people to age successfully, and not just the poor,” the authors conclude.