Aging in Place Petite Thoughts
Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional.
~ Liz Vassey
Aging in Place
THE EMOTIONAL Ingredients of Home
“Place Attachment” is a Strong preference for home caused by a bond CULTIVATED OVER TIME through experiences.
The house is the place where people situate their lives in order to make a home.
~ Gustau Gilli Galfettii
The foundation for the deeper meaning of home is built on:
- Home as a source of independence and stability in the midst of loss and change that defines aging.
- Home as a social center for friends and family to gather.
- Home as a source of pride in ownership, social status, joy, and feelings of “rootedness.”
- Home as a shelter/safety for our beloved pets.
It is the EMOTIONAL ties with home that fuel the desire for aging in place.
THE PRACTICAL Ingredients of Home
Home as “Health-Protectant”
- Avoidance of nosocomial (institution-acquired) infections; minimizes exposure to MRSA, C-diff, VRE, Norovirus, COVID, and superbugs in the era of aggressive antibiotic usage, as well as poor hygiene of unskilled caregivers.
- Exposure to Immunocompromised patients is avoided in your home vs care settings.
Bottom line: You have greater control over exposure to pathogens in your home.
Staying home (aka aging in place) can also eliminate “Transfer Trauma” or relocation stress. The symptoms include:
~Cognitive decline~Sleep disturbances~Perceived loss of control~Withdrawal~Depression~Failure to Thrive~Death
Aging Brain at Home
Meeting the daily challenges of living at home (aka “burdens of home ownership”) may actually be preserving brain function. Pet care, Laundry, house cleaning, yard work, gardening, paying bills, riding the bus, taking care of pets, and negotiating goods and services, all might just be good for your brain. The late Neuroanatomist, Dr. Marion Diamond of UC Berkeley reported that ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY caused dendrites and neurogenesis (brain cell growth) to occur.
Diamond’s Key 3 Brain Growth Elements
- Challenge
- Newness
- Physical activity
Aging in place (community) with challenges daily, multi-generational connections, family, friends, church activities, and purpose all equate to a longer life at home.
It is the PRACTICAL things at home that make aging in place possible.
________________________________________________________________________________________
In the end, it’s the small things that matter. . .