{"id":1693,"date":"2023-01-23T06:17:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T06:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2023-01-23T06:19:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T06:19:48","slug":"ageing-in-place-how-to-safely-stay-in-your-home-as-you-get-older","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/lifestyle\/ageing-in-place-how-to-safely-stay-in-your-home-as-you-get-older\/","title":{"rendered":"Ageing in place: how to safely stay in your home as you get older\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1693\" class=\"elementor elementor-1693\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-fc9c076 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"fc9c076\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f713e0d\" data-id=\"f713e0d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-123e98b elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"123e98b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>M<strong>aybe you want to stay in the family home, or maybe you\u2019ve fallen in love with the retirement village or land lease home that you\u2019ve downsized to. Either way, you\u2019ve decided you won\u2019t go into residential care when you get older: you\u2019re going to age in place.<\/strong><\/p><p>You\u2019re not alone in this, of course: a 2019 survey by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found that, depending on the age cohort, <strong>around 78% to 81% of Australians over 55 want to stay in their own homes<\/strong> as they age.<\/p><p>There are a number of factors to consider for ageing in place, however, and you\u2019ll want to ask yourself at least the following questions:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Am I healthy?<\/strong> If you have any chronic illnesses like emphysema or diabetes, you should consult your doctor to see how they might continue to develop and affect you as you age. Even if you\u2019re currently fit as a fiddle, remember that you\u2019ll likely grow more frail as you get older, so you\u2019ll want to make sure you keep up your health as best as you can.<br \/><br \/><\/li><li><strong>How suitable is my house?<\/strong> If you\u2019re in a retirement village or other seniors housing already, this will likely be less of a concern, as these homes are designed for older people. If not, however, you\u2019ll probably need to think harder about your home: is it too big for you, or for you and your partner? Is it well-insulated? Are there stairs that could make it hard to navigate as you get older? How safe and accessible is the bathroom? Can you add mobility aids and remove obstacles for later in life?<br \/><br \/><\/li><li><strong>Am I living in the right area?<\/strong> Can you stay in touch with family and friends here? Do you have a good support network \u2013 and if you are downsizing to a retirement village or other seniors housing to age in place there, will you have a good support network where you\u2019re going? Is your area easy for you to get around? Are there good transport options, and how accessible are the places you\u2019ll need to go? Is your neighbourhood safe?<br \/><br \/><\/li><li><strong>What support will I need, and how will I get it?<\/strong> Particularly if you live alone, you\u2019ll want to know who you can call on if you need help. Friends and family may be available, but don\u2019t forget that as your care needs increase, the Government has assistance available in the form of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and Home Care Packages (HCPs). Professional carers can give you help with whatever you need, even if at first it\u2019s only simple things like home maintenance, gardening, and shopping. Be sure to investigate home care providers in your area and find one that\u2019s right for you.<\/li><\/ul><p>It may take a lot of planning, but if you take it step by step, then you can stay in your own home \u2013 or whatever home you choose \u2013 and maintain as much independence as possible as you get older. Ageing in place may not be the life for everyone \u2013 but if it\u2019s for you, then make sure it\u2019s the best life it can be!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maybe you want to stay in the family home, or maybe you\u2019ve fallen in love with the retirement village or land lease home that you\u2019ve downsized to. Either way, you\u2019ve decided you won\u2019t go into residential care when you get older: you\u2019re going to age&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,18,70],"tags":[108,97,95],"class_list":["post-1693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-retirement","tag-ageing","tag-explained","tag-tips"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1693"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1698,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions\/1698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}