for your
home
By Dave Carty
PHOTOS COURTESY JANICE DONALD
WHEN SUSAN WOMBLE’S husband became ill, she
was faced with a choice: Move herself and her wheel-chair-bound husband to assisted living or stay in their
Maryland home. She decided to stay—but doing so
meant a big change in living arrangements.
Like most homes, the Wombles’ residence hadn’t
been built with senior or handicapped access in
mind. So she contacted a Certified Aging-in-Place
Specialist (CAPS) contractor, Louis Tennenbaum,
for advice. After an extensive question-and-answer
session, Tennenbaum went to work. Among other
improvements, he widened the hallways, made a
step-free entrance and installed a barrier-free shower.
“It’s just wonderful,” Womble says. “It doesn’t
look like an institutional house in any way.” In fact,
she was so delighted with the improvements that
when her husband passed away she decided to stay
put—for the rest of her life.
The CAPS certification, a National Association
of Home Builders designation, is earned by contractors and designers who have passed a two-day
course in the principles of universal design. These
principles encompass home modifications that
remove access barriers.
before
This bathroom remodel
demonstrates some of the
modifications that make the
space more accessible for
those who have challenges
getting around. These
changes include adding an
open shower, grab bars for
tub safety, improved access
to storage, wider floor area
for wheelchair maneuverability and lighting for
better visibility via fixtures
and a glass-block wall.
It’s an issue that is becoming critical for more
and more Americans. According to the U.S. govern- if that isn’t an option, minor modifications can have
ment’s Administration on Aging, 70 million baby an immediate and welcome impact.
boomers will be heading into retirement soon, and Across the country, seniors are taking the prin-if there’s one thing this vast assortment of individu- ciples of universal design to heart and hiring con-als has in common—healthy and disabled alike— tractors to transform their homes. One of those
it’s an aversion to nursing homes. contractors is longtime Costco member Greg
Home
“You have to look at it like this,” says Tennenbaum, Miedema of Tucson, Arizona.
who is on the CAPS board of governors. “What’s the Miedema doesn’t like the idea of senior-only
competition for aging in place? It’s assisted living.” designations. “The more we do this, the less a resi-
Remaining in your own home “is about choice, is dence should look like a senior-friendly house and
about dignity, is about independence and the values the more it should become simply a friendly house,”
people hold dear.” says Miedema. “For instance, bathtubs are great
until you’re about 10 years old, and then no one uses
Fixing the problems them anymore. So we do a lot of tub-to-shower
Although the typical home has dozens of areas conversions. Also, you don’t need a step to get out-where improvements can dramatically improve side the house—all you need is enough slope to
accessibility, three primary activities cause the most drain away the water.”
problems: ( 1) getting in and out of the house; ( 2)
getting in and out of the bathroom; and ( 3) getting Universal design is … universal
up and down stairs. In the long run, it’s probably “It’s got to work for everybody,” adds CAPS
easier to build a home from the ground up that consultant Maria Henke, a Costco member in Los
already includes stepless entryways, one-level living Angeles. “There’s nothing about this [universal
areas, wide hallways and curb-free shower stalls. But design] that should stand out as looking institu-
resources
WELLComeHome
www.bsu.edu/wellcome
home/ is a Web site with
pages of information on home
improvements for seniors and
the disabled.
The Helpful Home
A CD distributed by the Ethel
Percy Andrus Gerontology
Center, University of Southern
California, Los Angeles; call
(213) 740-1364 or fax (213)
740-7069
National Association
of Homebuilders
www.NAHB.org. Type CAPS
in the search box for informa-
tion on the CAPS program and
aging-in-place topics.