Getting ready to adapt/change your home. Move to another place.

The living accommodation of a person is an indicator of the wellbeing of that person. People with a disability have the right to choose the place where they become old. It is stated that most ageing adults wish to stay in their own home as long as possible. This notion of ‘ageing-in-place’ has increasingly appeared as a core and guiding concept.  In 2015, the World Health Organization for instance described ageing in place as “the ability of older people to live in their own home and community safely, independently and comfortably, regardless of age, income or level of intrinsic capacity” (WHO, 2015, p. 36). This wish is the same for AAWID. Yet, for a lot of people with disabilities it isn’t simple to define their place to be (home), due to several changes ‘of the place to be’ during their life. A lot of AAWID can’t choose where to live. In fact, AAWID with severe support needs mostly live their entire lives in residential care settings.

Some people stress that AAWID should be able to remain living in the community with some level of independence rather than in residential care. The own home has in this context gained the symbol of autonomy and independence whereas institutions are associated with the loss of autonomy and independence.

Other people think that a home for older people is not only to be found in the traditional setting of a house in a community; it is increasingly being recognized as an important construct within other residential contexts. They define ageing in place as “the possibility of growing older while remaining in the same residential setting”. This interpretation of the concept also includes the continued presence of older residents in their accustomed formal support settings, such as group homes for people with intellectual disabilities. According to this perspective, ageing in place may just as well require the adaptation of residential services in order to ensure that ageing people with disabilities can remain living in the same formal facility (whether or not in the original group home), together with their long-term acquaintances.

The former definitions of ‘ageing in place’ however forget the AAWID’s own preferences and choices. Maybe moving to an elderly home close to home might be what a person wants.

Regardless of the chosen description, key to all interpretations of ageing in place is that they express the belief that elderly people should be supported to age in their (preferred) place for as long as it is deemed possible.

In order for AAWID to make this choice, they need to know what are possible alternatives. In this unit we will therefore first focus on exercises that explain alternative living environments. We installed reflective exercises to help AAWID think about ‘ageing in place’ or moving to another place and what might be the advantages or disadvantages. Finally, with the idea in mind to support further independence and ‘ageing in place’ we added an exercise on how to optimize your own home.

World Health Organization. (2015). World report on ageing and health. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/186463/9789240694811_eng.pdf;jsessionid=40A5CB5502BCD15205088060A43AFFC9?sequence=1