Knowledge Bank

Like many urban areas, Columbus is experiencing a significant increase in home construction. With this shift, questions are emerging on the design, use, and support surrounding efforts to build and build quick. Currently, the average home lasts for 90 years. Most current home designs do not address, incorporate, or consider universally designed features – features that can ensure age-friendly solutions. These age-friendly solutions support physical, social, or cognitive needs of residences and their visitors, regardless of age. As a result, we are not addressing the lifetime needs of home buyers, and therefore not building sustainable solutions. This presentation will address the work current researchers and academic practitioners are researching, publishing, and advocating. Ideas which address age-friendly practices. It will stress the need for (and provide examples of) collaboration between universities, community-based organizations, and businesses. The presentation will also offer solutions which can address this near-future housing crisis. As the U.S. population continues to age and older adults move to urban areas, providing useful and thoughtful housing solutions will empower residents to remain active and important contributors to their community. The risk of not addressing age-friendly building practices will likely shorten home lives; force residences to leave homes that do not support their changing physical, social, or cognitive needs; isolate older adults; and financially burden homeowners with costly future home modifications.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Adam Fromme, principal, The Center for Inclusive Aging and Design Research, and lecturer, Ohio State Department of Design, fromme.3@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Emily Valentine, principal, The Center for Inclusive Aging and Design Research, and lecturer, Ohio State Department of Design