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A recent article by Ericka Pizzillo Cohen, a writer for The Bellingham Herald, discusses six ways you can make your kitchen safer as you age in place.

According to Cohen, occupational therapists have been saying that “simple changes in the kitchen can adjust for the decreased strength, vision and balance that often come from aging or illness.”

Not only can these changes preserve the overall health of seniors who are more likely to cook healthfully if they cook for themselves, but staying independent in the kitchen has many other benefits as well.

“People want to prepare the meals they like to eat,” says Ken Eastham, an occupational therapist at St. Joseph Hospital. “Cooking is good exercise, and it’s a leisure task that can help people psychologically, especially if they invite friends over to eat.”

Here are some suggestions for making your kitchen both well-used and safe.

Simple Steps: Use lighter-weight pots and pans and use less water when boiling food. This reduced weight helps protect a senior’s vulnerable joints.

Michelle Moulds, an occupational therapist at St. Joseph’s who was quoted in the piece, added that people should also pace themselves in the kitchen. “Some illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, leave people with the potential to be overheated in a hot kitchen. And certain diseases, such as diabetes, leave people with decreased nerve sensitivity, leaving them more vulnerable to burns, a consideration when deciding how and what to cook.”

Other easy changes include buying products such as flour in smaller, lighter packages, and having the butcher trim your meat. Additionally, a wheeled cart can help move items from the kitchen to serving areas, and move heavy pots from one part of the kitchen to another.

Useful Gadgets: The Arthritis Foundation website makes recommendations for “Ease of Use” items. One such item is OXO’s Good Grips, which have built-up, rubbery handles that are easy to grip for people with weakened joints, and that stay steady in the hand for added safety.

Rocker knives, shaped like a crescent, can also help make cutting safer. Electric jar and can openers can save the time and frustration for the kitchen’s most common tasks.

Appliance Advice: Appliances can ease the task of cooking with a few key changes. For instance, Thea Stephens, a certified aging-in-place specialist with Bellingham design firm Domistyle, says that dishwashers in 42-inch-high kitchen islands can be elevated several inches, for less bending and reaching. “And refrigerators that have bottom freezers with pullout drawers mean the upper portion, which is more frequently used, opens at eye-level.”

Knobs on the front of an oven, rather than above the burners, are easier to reach, and also prevent loose sleeves from catching on burners or dipping into your pot of soup, she adds.

Light to Cook By: Recessed can-lighting is the easiest way to add new lighting to a kitchen, and task lighting can be installed under countertops to add another layer of lighting, so prep work is easily viewed.

Take a Seat: Cohen writes that sitting down while cutting vegetables and mixing food may be the best way to prevent falls and ensure you’ve got that knife secure.

Avoid stools with swivel seats or chairs with wheels, however, because they can send you flying across the kitchen when you need something quickly to brace against.

Full Remodel: If you’re thinking of living in your home for many years, consider your senior years when redesigning your kitchen. As we discussed many times before, there are certain modifications that you can make, such as: wider lanes between cabinets so you can leave room for a walker or wheelchair; touchless faucets or lever faucets; as well as cabinets with large drawers for pots.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted, as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

A press release issued last week out of Washington, D.C., identifies strategies designed to ensure that affordable, accessible housing connected to vital services will be available for older adults in the future. According to trends, this group is expected to grow by 30% in the next 20 years alone.

Ensuring that the nation’s housing stock is affordable, accessible, and connected to essential services is key to meeting the rapidly growing housing needs of America’s over 50 population. A new report released last week by AARP’s Public Policy Institute and authored by the Center for Housing Policy, entitled Insight on the Issues: Strategies to Meet the Housing Needs of Older Adults, provides a comprehensive look at available and new research on the housing needs of older adults and is intended to help state and local policymakers address the unique housing needs of the senior population.

This report comes at a pivotal time when the Census Bureau is predicting that the number of Americans age 50 and up will increase 30% in the next 20 years alone—growing from 100 million in 2010 to 130 million older adults in 2030. Specifically, the report emphasizes the importance of building and preserving a wide-range of housing options that are sufficient to meet future demand, as well as being located in livable communities that provide affordable and appropriate housing, supportive community features and services, and adequate mobility options.

The Center for Housing Policy chair, John K. McIlwain, (who is also senior resident fellow and the J. Ronald Terwilliger chair for housing at the Urban Land Institute), explains, “With the population of older adults on the rise, this report helps to identify the essential housing policy strategies that can help them to balance their increasing needs with a desire to continue to stay closely connected to their families, communities, and society.” Susan Reinhard, AARP senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute, adds, “These resources will be invaluable for policymakers at the state and local levels as they adapt to the changing needs of an aging population.”

The report summarizes findings outlined in a series of nine fact sheets, which has been expanded into an online toolkit on HousingPolicy.org—the Center for Housing Policy’s online guide to state and local housing policy solutions.

The report and toolkit are divided into the following three sections:

Accessible, Safe and Affordable Homes
The first area focuses on providing accessible, safe, and affordable homes for older adults that are not only designed to accommodate a variety of physical abilities, but are also affordable to those with fixed or limited incomes. Among the topics in this area are subsidized housing, universal design and visibility, and the weatherization of homes to improve energy-efficiency and lower utility costs.

Social Services and Transportation
Improving access to social services and transportation options for older adults is the second area of focus which also includes highlighting the importance of designing communities in a way that allows older adults to age-in-place—ultimately providing them with access to the services they need, and want, in order to live independently.

Housing Options Geared to Older Adults
The third area explores housing models geared to older adults who do not wish to live in a nursing home. One example is supportive housing, which is an umbrella term used for residential (versus institutional) settings that have been developed specifically to provide services such as meals, housekeeping assistance, and the monitoring of chronic health conditions. Co-housing, whether for all ages or for older adults only, is another option for those who want to age-in-place among friends and neighbors.

Online Toolkit
A general overview of the housing challenges and solutions is provided by the report and fact sheets—while the online toolkit also links to a wealth of other resources that are provided within HousingPolicy.org, authored by AARP’s Public Policy Institute, or published by other organizations.

Learn More about Housing Solutions
Last week’s announcement is part of Housing Solutions Week 2010—a series of events and announcements being hosted by the Center for Housing Policy and its affiliate, the National Housing Conference. Both organizations are focused on framing the nation’s housing challenges, while at the same time providing some of the solutions necessary in order to meet those challenges.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted, as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

One of the best resources on the Internet about aging-in-place is the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). As you know, our company is a member of the National Association of Home Builders and I hold a special and highly recognized designation as a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS).

But they are also a great resource for consumers too. Their Web site is chock full of information on living in one’s home independently regardless of age or ability.

A new fact sheet on their Web site includes some of the interesting facts, statistics, and information they’ve assembled for consumers just like you.

How big is Aging in Place?

• 89% of people 50+ wish to remain in their own homes indefinitely (AARP).
• 75% of remodelers have seen an increase in requests for aging in place work (NAHB).
• 60% of remodelers already perform aging in place work (NAHB).
• Over half of all 55+ households rate their current home a 9 or 10 out of 10 (American Housing Survey).
• The aging population is the number two issue to affect the remodeling industry over the next five years, only behind the availability of skilled labor (NAHB).

What is NAHB doing to help the aging population?

NAHB, in partnership with AARP and the NAHB Research Center, developed the CAPS program, the leading national educational designation designed to teach professionals how to modify homes for aging in place. Since 2002 more than 2,200 have completed CAPS, making it one of the fastest-growing education programs at NAHB.

What should my home contain if I want to age in place?

• A master bedroom and bath on the first floor.
• A low or no-threshold entrance to the home with an overhang.
• Lever-style door handles.
• No change in levels on the main floor.
• Bright lighting in all areas, especially places like stairways.
• A low-maintenance exterior.
• Non-slip flooring at the main entryway.
• An open floor plan, especially in the kitchen/dining area.
• Handrails at all steps.

What are some techniques CAPS-trained professionals use?

• Lighting from multiple directions – reduces glare and shadows.
• Light sockets with more than one bulb – redundancy in case one bulb burns out.
• Stacking closets for a future elevator shaft.
• Contrasting colors for depth perception – use a different color counter (or edging around the counter) than the floor, staining the edge of the stairs a darker color than the rest of the steps.
• Convenience shelf at an entry way to place your grocery bag while getting your keys.

NAHB Remodelers provides more information for consumers online at: www.nahb.org/aginginplace.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

Builder Magazine recently published its 8 hottest kitchen trends for 2010 and some of the factors influencing today’s culinary workspace design.

“Baby Boomers are hitting retirement age, lending standards have tightened, consumers have swallowed a slice of frugal pie, and the number of single households – particularly single women – is rising steadily,” writes the author. “All of those ingredients are feeding demand for smaller, more budget-conscious kitchens with a heavy emphasis on style and universal design.”

Builder gathered insights from a January 20 design workshop led by kitchen design gurus MaryJo Camp, Mary Jo Peterson, and Connie Edwards at the International Builder’s Show (IBS) in Las Vegas.

These are the trends they say we should be watching for in 2010:

Consolidated Activity: As houses get smaller, kitchens are carrying more responsibility. Today’s kitchen is still the hub of the home, and also a spot that’s big on multitasking — particularly now that many of the functions that previously had their own designated territory (e.g., laundry, dining, home office) are being absorbed into the kitchen/great room realm.

Ergonomics for All: The graying of baby boomers will raise important issues relating to functionality, user-friendliness and multiplicity. “Multiplicity acknowledges the variety of sizes, shapes, ages, and abilities of people who are in the kitchen,” according to Peterson said. That means not just older homeowners, but also kids, short adults, tall adults, and individuals with limited mobility.

Luxury for Less: Home buyers of average means must now pick and choose their luxuries strategically. As a result, builders and designers will be challenged to find interesting applications for modest materials, using the expensive stuff only for accents and memory points.

Small and Powerful: Notes the author, “Although kitchen square footage is less vulnerable to pruning than other rooms in the floor plan, many kitchens are getting smaller as houses get proportionately smaller.” To meet this need, many manufacturers have introduced new lines of streamlined appliances.

Planet Smart: Today’s buyers want green features with measurable benefits such as Energy Star appliances and Water Sense-rated plumbing fittings, as well as non-off-gassing finishes combined with good ventilation and air filtration.

Style-Conscious: Quartz and paper composites, glass and stainless steel work surfaces, large-scale (18” square) floor tile, chrome fixtures, and lightweight hulled concrete are becoming popular features.

Light Bright: Since aging eyes need good lighting, look for layered lighting for practical usage and visual effect. That includes a combination of ambient, task, and accent lighting.

Devilish Details: In a small space, the entire kitchen becomes a focal point, so it’s important to attend to every detail. “Smaller spaces are less forgiving,” according to Camp. Refrigerators and other appliances should run flush with cabinet faces.

You can read more about these trends in greater detail at Builder.com.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

A recent article in HousingZone.com reported that more remodeling clients are planning ahead and opting to alter their homes for aging-in-place.

As determined by recent data gathered by the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodelers, 70% of remodelers that were surveyed reported making universal design home modifications. This is a significant bump up from 60% as reported in 2006.

Greg Miedema, Chairman of NAHB Remodelers, is himself a remodeler from Tucson, Arizona. He believes that universal design modifications can even make a home more stylish and convenient for the aging population. “Home owners are asking for remodeling improvements to make their homes more comfortable as they age because they don’t want to move or lose independence,” he adds.

According to the NAHB Remodelers, the aging-in-place modifications most frequently purchased by homeowners include:

•    Adding grab bars (78%)
•    Installing higher toilets (71%)
•    Upgrading to a curb-less shower (60%)
•    Widening doorways (57%)
•    Constructing ramps or lower thresholds (45%)
•    Enhancing lighting and task lighting (45%)

NAHB’s survey also found that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of aging-in-place options—with remodelers saying that 84% of homeowners have at least some knowledge of universal design solutions. In addition, 74% of remodelers also note an increase in requests for these types of features.

While remodelers often say that the bulk of jobs for aging-in-place come from clients age 55 and older, a growing number of consumers are not requesting aging-in-place remodeling solely for themselves.

Such improvements often address age-related disabilities of visiting older relatives, or modifications to make it easier for parents to share living space with grown children. More than 70% of homeowners started remodeling projects for aging-in-place because they were planning ahead for these types of future needs.

Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designated remodelers like Home Evolutions can help seniors and people with disabilities plan for their aging-in-place needs and incorporate universally designed home modifications.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

In a recent article by U.S. News & World Report, the author discusses attractive design solutions for aging-in-place projects.

“Making such modifications not only helps current occupants but may broaden the market for future buyers when the home is placed on the market,” he writes.

Illustrating this trend, about 3,000 home remodeling and repair contractors have taken the three-day Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists (CAPS) training course.

Therese Ford Crahan, executive director of National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Remodelers Council, describes the sensitivity training that contractors must take as part of the program. “The remodelers are required to put a tennis ball in their non-writing hand, put that hand in a sock, and then try and write a check,” she says, simulating challenges that many people with arthritis face.

“Next, we put them in a wheelchair and they have to maneuver around and then, we put sunglasses on them and cover the lenses with Vaseline and then make them try to get around. It’s just an eye-opener for remodelers,” she says. “They just don’t understand until they’ve been there.”

According to Cynthia Leibrock, an expert on aging who has turned her Colorado home into a showplace of aging-in-place modifications, if you “really want to stay in your home, you’ve got to get serious about it.”

Leibrock says that emphasizing the positive aspects of such changes, particularly added safety and comfort, helps overcome resistance. Kitchens and bathrooms are ground zero for many aging-in-place home improvements.

She breaks down improvements into groups, beginning with those that can be done easily and quickly and moving on to more expensive and time-consuming projects that are best done as part of more extensive remodeling efforts:

Do it now:

1. Tape down rugs.
2. Add handrails with extensions to both sides of the stairs.
3. Add grab bars to your shower.
4. Reorganize your kitchen around the tasks you perform.
5. Add offset pivot hinges to narrow doors.
6. Replace your shower head with a hand-held shower on a vertical grab bar.
7. Do an energy audit. (We generally need higher ambient temperatures as we age.)
8. Add task lighting to improve visual acuity.
9. Be proactive about your health—reorganize your house to encourage you to make it fun to exercise and to cook healthy meals. Try steam cooking; a portable steamer costs less than $100. Keep your house cleaner with a place to remove shoes upon entering.
10. Remodel the inside of your cabinets. Add pop-up shelves, lazy susans, pull-out racks, and lighter colors, for example.
11. Add warning systems: Smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, and driveway alerts.
12. Replace difficult controls with door levers and cabinet “C” grips, not knobs; use pressure switches, touch controls, and rocker switches on lamps. To test what works, try to use all controls with a closed fist. Then try to use all of them with one hand.
13. Replace your cookware for safety. Look for stay-cool handles and nondrip edges, for example.
14. You may need a new phone. If you have trouble hearing on your phone, replace it with one that amplifies high frequencies, not one that just increases the volume. If you frequently dial wrong numbers, find a phone with a large, lighted touchpad.
15. Use your house to reduce stress. Add a small fountain that produces the relaxing sound of running water. Keep relaxing music playing at all times. Add speakers which don’t require wiring.
16. Buy a comfortable chair that is easy to access and exit, with arms well forward and space to put your feet back so you can lean forward and push off.
17. Increase your security. Add deadbolts to all doors. Block sliding-glass doors when not in use. Consider the many options in security systems.

Do it later: adaptable solutions
1. Install the wall reinforcements, not the grab bars.
2. Install the track and wiring, not the $10,000 stair lift.
3. Add that study or den now and use it later for a live-in caregiver.
4. Install wiring for an automatic door opener in a tight hallway, and add the opener later.
5. Wall-mount cabinets so they can be lowered or raised later.
6. If the laundry is downstairs, wire and vent a closet on an upper floor so you can add a small washer-dryer at a later date.
7. Stack closets on multiple floors to form a shaft for an elevator at a future time.

Do it as you remodel
1. If you are putting in a wood floor, recess that area rug.
2. Use a nonslip finish on the wood floor.
3. Use a drop-down door bottom instead of a threshold (which is a tripping hazard).
4. Plan 4-foot hallways, 5-foot turnaround spaces in each room, and clear floor space for walkers, wheelchairs, strollers, and scooters. Use anthropometric measures to evaluate the route by walking through your house with elbows out to a 3-foot width.
5. Add more windows and skylights with low-E thermal glass. This will increase ambient light levels. We may need a fivefold increase in ambient light as we age.
6. Replace your cooktop with a safe and fast induction model.
7. Build a seat into your shower.
8. Replace your oven with a safe, side-hinged model. Add a pull-out shelf below.
9. Replace your washer and dryer with elevated, front-opening models.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported on some new technologies that will be showcased in the American Association’ of Homes and Services for the Aging’s (AAHSA) Idea House in Chicago’s McCormick Place later this week.

One of those new technologies is a new therapy-based entertainment system which is designed to encourage wellness and social connectedness that can help prevent memory loss.

This is just one of the technologies being displayed in the AAHSA Idea House designed to illustrate how technology and design can be integrated to facilitate aging in place and continued participation in the community.

The house, which will be open to the public during the AAHSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, November 8-11 at McCormick Place in Chicago, will feature design elements such as modified kitchens and bathrooms as well as technologies designed to improve a senior’s and a person with disability’s quality of life, while reducing health care costs, encouraging healthy behavior change, and providing caregivers with support.

According to Larry Minnix Jr., president of the AAHSA, “The Idea House will feature the best in universal design, technologies that can improve older people’s quality of life.”

The 2,600-square-foot home will display innovations intended to make it possible for seniors and people with disabilities to stay independent in their own homes.

Some of the new products on display include:

•    A security system that replaces the traditional peephole with a DVD screen.
•    A height-adjustable kitchen cabinet.
•    A height-adjustable toilet seat.
•    A dispenser that automatically organizes, reminds, dispenses and monitors an individual’s medication use. The technology enables pharmacies to be notified when refills are needed.
•    A gaming system that provides 24/7 access to speech therapy through the television.

Sustainable or green design features in the house include carpets made from post-consumer recycled content and furniture made from recycled plastic milk jugs.

Other new innovations in the Idea House:

•    With the automatic personal emergency response system, users’ critical events are monitored, without them pressing a button, reported to EMS, and caregivers are immediately alerted.
•    Temporary robotic limbs, a wearable robotic suit (called Hal), is designed to multiply a person’s strength by reading bioelectric signals that the person generates. The suit uses those signals to guide the movement of robotic limbs strapped to a person’s arms and legs. With Hal’s help, the AAHSA hopes that even stroke patients may be able to walk.
•    A robot is designed to serve as a substitute for live animal therapy.

The Idea House will be at the McCormick Place Lakeside Center, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Admission is free, but visitors must register and receive a AAHSA House badge. The registration area will be in the lobby on Level 2. Visit www.aahsa.org.

The latest edition of The Forever Home is now available online. For those of you who are new to our blog, our quarterly e-newsletter provides you with insightful information, valuable advice, and helpful tips to assist you to age-in-place comfortably and independently.

In this issue, you’ll read about the recent AARP’s Aging-in-Place videos which we participated in to help raise awareness on how to make your home safer as you age. The 3-part series of short video clips showcases Ross and Anna, a couple in their 70s who are making changes to their home so they can age in place. AARP invited us to visit the home of this couple to make some simple kitchen, bathroom, and home interior/exterior fixes at low-to-no cost.

According to the online health care Web site, HealthCommentary.org, our current health care system is not well equipped to address the immediate demands of a rapidly aging population. In our article, Technology Continues to Advance Home-Centered Health Care, you’ll read why experts are recommending that we place a stronger emphasis on prevention and wellness.

We’ll also take you behind the scenes of a nursing home. One medical student documented her time inside a nursing home to better understand what it’s like for an aging person who is living in one. The theory behind the program is that if future doctors can better understand how seniors live and what they go through on a daily basis, then those doctors can better treat and care for older patients because they have truly walked in their shoes. As an added bonus, the program hopes to inspire and steer medical students to choose geriatric care as their focus. This specialization is in near desperate need of new doctors.

Finally, our country’s general awareness of green practices is growing at an almost fever-pitched rate. This is a result of the now more accepted reality of the dangers and undeniable negative effects that global warming can have on our future. In addition, there has been an expansion of political and social pressures on us to modify our overall consumption behaviors.

We hope that you enjoy this issue. Please feel free to forward our newsletter to your friends and families. We invite you to email us at hburns@homeevolutions.com with your comments, suggestions, and any story ideas that would help The Forever Home better meet your specific needs.

A recent article by Helen W. Brown discusses some very interesting results of a survey conducted by AARP about female Baby Boomers and their long-term care (LTC) planning.

According to Brown, past research has consistently shown that it is challenging to make people proactive about LTC plans. It is also generally thought that this is especially true of Baby Boomers because this group has historically resisted traditional aging perceptions. Brown explained, “A common belief is that they will live in a society in which prevailing attitudes, demography, economics, and medical advances have made the prospect of growing old in America one that contains previously un-dreamt-of choices of managing chronic illnesses and remaining active and involved in life. This mindset could lead Boomers to believe that they will never have a need for LTC.”

The question was raised whether this was equally true for both male and female Baby Boomers, or if attitudes about LTC planning significantly varied along gender lines. In late September 2008, AARP commissioned an online survey with a nationally representative panel of Boomer women.

These were some of the key findings of that study:

•    More than half of the Boomer women (53%) have not had any experience with caregiving.

•    Over one-third (36%) had provided care or are currently providing care for an aging relative.

•    Those who have been caregivers are twice as likely to have some kind of LTC plan (16%) as those who have not (8%).

•    More than half of respondents (56%) indicated that they did not have any type of LTC plan.

•    Most often, the trusted source of information that Boomer women turn to when making plans for their future health needs or financial security, falls into the category of family and friends (83%).

•    When asked to rank the factors that would most influence them to make and implement an LTC plan, the number one factor was observing the LTC experience of a friend or family member—followed by understanding clearly the available options and then fear of what will happen if no action is taken.

•    More than two-thirds of respondents (65%) indicated they cannot afford the cost associated with LTC planning.

Additionally, a significant number of Boomer women were unaware that Medicare does not cover LTC. In fact, over a quarter of respondents (29%) said they are counting on Medicare to pay for their LTC service needs.

AARP contracted Knowledge Networks, Inc. to conduct this survey during September 3-16, 2008. With a nationally representative panel of 2,898 women aged 50-62, the survey also included over-samples of African American and Hispanic women.

It is never too early to start thinking about and planning for your LTC. Remodeling companies like Home Evolutions can help Baby Boomers and others prepare themselves for their future aging-in-place needs. This can allow you to remain living comfortably, safely, and independently at home for as long as possible. Contact us today for an assessment.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.

In 2005, the medical school at the University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford, Maine initiated a unique, hands-on program that encouraged and allowed its medical students to experience life as a nursing home patient. The theory behind the program is that if future doctors can better understand how their older patients live and what they go through on a daily basis, then those doctors can better treat and care for older patients because they have truly “walked in their shoes.”

A recent New York Times article by Katie Zezima chronicled Kristen Murphy—a medical student who partook in UNE’s program and lived in a nursing home for ten days.

According to Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci, the director of geriatrics education at UNE medical school, students participating in the program are given a “diagnosis” of an ailment and are expected to live the same way as someone who actually has that condition. “They keep a daily journal chronicling their experiences and, in most cases, debunking their preconceived notions,” she added.

Murphy, who is interested in geriatric medicine as a specialization, lived at a Mamaroneck, New York nursing home in order to experience what it’s like to be a patient there. The perfectly healthy, 38-year-old medical student had to learn the best way to navigate a wheelchair around a small room, endure the humiliation that comes with being helped in the bathroom, try to sleep through night checks, and become attuned to the emotions of her fellow residents.

The first few days at the nursing home included filling out paperwork, undergoing a full-body mole and sore check, eating pureed foods, and being raised out of bed with a lift. But the sometimes overwhelming reality of nursing home life did not fully hit Murphy until she wedged her wheelchair into a corner and could not get out. This particular experiential moment actually left her crying in frustration. She recalled, “All I wanted to do was shut my door and stay in there.”

It is not surprising that the experience emotionally affected Murphy. “At times I felt really lonely and got depressed. Sometimes it was an emotional roller coaster—up and down, up and down.” She continued, “When I came in, I was worried about working with older folks because I was afraid I wouldn’t be good at it. Now, if anything, I’m worried I’ll love them too much and it will really hurt to work with folks at the end of their lives.”

The program had a profound and lasting effect on Murphy, and in the long-term, it will make her a better doctor. She concluded that her time at the nursing home (where she herself ate, slept, and used a wheelchair), finally solidified her desire to work with older people.

Read more about this story in the next and upcoming issue of The Forever Home.

Are you following us on Twitter? — Home Evolutions will give you real-time updates when our latest blogs are posted, as well as timely information on Aging-in-Place news from around the country.