The perfect home to grow old in? Something’s gotta give!

Attention Australian politicians, policy makers, planners and bureaucrats. Oh, and property developers and retirement village operators too. I would like to have it on record that I am very much looking forward to downsizing from my family home (or ‘rightsizing’ as COTA prefers to say).

I have very clear and reasonable expectations of my new home, which are totally in line with all the best evidence in the world for ageing well. However, as things stand, there are limited choices for me in finding a new home that meets my future needs and desires; and what’s more, there are plenty of barriers to improving that situation. Something’s gotta give – and soon.

Making it personal

The recent Productivity Commission research report, Housing Decisions of Older Australians puts the spotlight on a number of related issues around where and how we live as we grow older.

We are growing older with every passing day and at some point we will have a birthday and be forced to acknowledge that we have reached a number that we have long judged to be ‘old’.

But talking about these issues in bureaucratic or academic language in official reports only goes so far. In all discussions about what’s best for ‘older people’ – whether we are talking about government policies, building design, financial decisions, leisure choices or anything else – it is essential to make it personal. Really personal. Believe me, it’s for our own good.

We can never really understand how it feels to be a different race or a different gender to our own and we may never experience a particular cultural identity, religious belief, disability or level of wealth or poverty.

However, short of life-limiting accident or illness, every single one of us drawing breath will eventually understand what it is like to be an ‘older person’. We are growing older with every passing day and at some point we will have a birthday and be forced to acknowledge that we have reached a number that we have long judged to be ‘old’.

So what will we think then? Will we be a different person? How will we feel? What will we want? Where will we live?

Well, I for one promise to vacate my family home.

Yours truly promises…

Before I am 70 or even before my husband is 70 (he is five years older), quite probably sooner, we plan to find and move to a new ‘home’. A home where we can realistically stay put for the next 20 odd years, should we be fortunate to have them.

For me, that means either a smaller house on a single level or a single level apartment that has lift access. And that’s only part of the requirement. Because we want to be active and independent and we know you can’t count on driving a car forever, the new home needs to be close to shops and services and good public transport. Most importantly, it needs to be easily accessible to our network of friends and neighbours.

As recent research has shown, for most Australians, that’s even more important to successful ageing than being close to family.

We love our home and the part of the world we live in and it has been wonderful to raise three children there. But it would be no good for a frail person or anyone with limited mobility. There are stairs from the street to the verandah, a step up to the front door and stairs inside to a second floor.

…illness and frailty can strike at any time. A slip or trip and fall, a stroke, heart attack, accident or the sudden onset of a disease, can rapidly compromise your mobility, change your life fundamentally and leave you dependent on others to do the simplest things.

I certainly don’t plan to be frail and will be doing my best to age actively and in good health. But I’m a realist and a pragmatist.

I know from all the research I have read, as well as from life and personal family experience, that illness and frailty can strike at any time. A slip or trip and fall, a stroke, heart attack, accident or the sudden onset of a disease, can rapidly compromise your mobility, change your life fundamentally and leave you dependent on others to do the simplest things.

This isn’t me being negative and pessimistic. No way. This is me being smart and looking after my own best interests.

We make practical choices about the kind of home we live in as a young single person and we make different choices about where we live if we have a young family. We might make different choices about our home when we have older children too. It just makes sense to be equally as practical in our choice of home for our final decades, especially if we plan on reaching a ripe old age.

Avoiding the prison scenario

In Australia, only about seven per cent of older people ever move to residential aged care but in every case, it is the person’s inability to cope with continuing to live ‘at home’ that precipitates the move.

The reality is that, should anything happen to my husband or myself in our family home, it could rapidly become our prison. And trying to pack up a lifetime of possessions and move home in these circumstances is frankly impossible. It would come down to the children or others to do it for us. I can barely think about that prospect!

In Australia, only about seven per cent of older people ever move to residential aged care but in every case, it is the person’s inability to cope with continuing to live ‘at home’ that precipitates the move.

When that home – in its size, design, location – is seriously unsuited to your needs, the risk of injury, isolation and deterioration is dramatically increased. On the flipside, if home is a manageable environment with few barriers or obstacles, in a location with access to the services and the people you need and want, you are much more likely to be able to remain independent and to avoid many of the scenarios that can so readily put independence at risk.

Be the driver of your housing destiny (not the victim)

Getting back to the Productivity Commission report, yes they are right that people live in denial about their possible future needs and are reluctant to ‘plan sensibly’ for their final years. But this is something we have the ability to change quite readily. Smart people do plan sensibly for most things in life and with the right messages and incentives, it shouldn’t be a great leap to extend that to planning for their final years.

Choosing a suitable ‘final home’ at the right time in your life – when you are easily able to make your own plans, control the choices, make the move and have some prospect of enjoying the next twenty years – is part of that sensible plan.

Unless your family home already ticks all the boxes for ageing well independently, then living in denial about the future and digging in – declaring, “the only way you’ll get me outta here is feet first, in a box” – is the high risk option.

But the biggest challenge, also highlighted by the Productivity Commission, is the lack of choices that do tick all the boxes and this is where some real work needs to be done.

Will I be able to find that well situated, single level home or apartment I’m looking for in my neighbourhood?

Smart people do plan sensibly for most things in life and with the right messages and incentives, it shouldn’t be a great leap to extend that to planning for their final years.

Thinking differently

Many people who hate the idea of a traditional retirement village might revise their opinion if the ‘retirement village’ was a reimagined and more diverse concept, close in proximity to their current ‘home’, with different choices in size and scale, greater integration into local communities and more choice about types of tenure and payment.

Meanwhile, every second baby boomer seems to have a plan for a bespoke ‘personal retirement village’ for their friends with both private and communal spaces and accommodation for a live-in carer! Some are beginning to do it and strongly increasing interest is likely!

But it’s not easy. Availability of suitable land or existing properties for conversion and flexibility of planning guidelines remain a huge barrier in our major cities and towns. And frequently this impacts the economics for potential individuals, groups and developers alike.

This is where some serious work really needs to be done.

A way forward?

I propose that every politician at every level of government, all senior policy bureaucrats, retirement village operators, property developers and economists be challenged to honestly answer a few questions about their own ideas and expectations of ‘home’ and ageing well before thinking about the contribution they can make:

1. Where and in what kind of home do you see yourself living in your 70s, 80s and 90s? Bear in mind your personal expectations, financial position, leisure interests and desires, as well as those things you think you MIGHT need – even for peace of mind.
2. Is it possible for you to find that place? Does it exist? And even if it does, is it affordable?
3. If it doesn’t really exist, or it’s not affordable, what policies, regulations, incentives etc would need to change or happen to make this home a real possibility?
4. What’s the plan, then?  Let’s have some specific, practical recommendations and a method of measuring our progress.

I’m tired of all the talk. This is an issue that affects every one of us. Let’s acknowledge it and be smart about doing something that will benefit all of us and every generation.