“People usually are the happiest at home”
-William Shakespeare
Aging in place: Key Ingredients
Emotional Ingredients
“Place attachment” is the preference for home caused by a bond developed through experiences over time. The deeper meaning of home is built from:
- Home as a social center for family & friends to gather
- Home as a source of pride in ownership, social status, joy, and feelings of “rootedness”
- Home as a source of independence and stability in the midst of loss and change related to aging
We really don’t need to be given reasons, the emotional ties fuel our desire for aging in place; but there are some practical things to consider.
Practical Ingredients
The home may act as a “health protectant” in a number of ways:
1) The avoidance of nosocomial (Institution-acquired) infections
By living at home instead of institutional-type housing, exposure to multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) can be minimized.
MDROs have been on the rise for the last several decades due to:
- Poor health care provider hand washing
- The era of aggressive antibiotic use creating “super bugs”
- Increased numbers of immune-compromised patients/residents
There is greater control over exposure to pathogens (”bugs”) in your own home.
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