Great Grammy's New Apartment

A picture of Great Grammy, a few years ago

My great grandmother turned 97 a few weeks ago and she lives in a retirement home, in the independent living section. After many years of living on her own in her beloved little house,my family convinced her to move into the retirement community that her husband passed away in 15 years before. It was difficult to convince her to do so because she is independent and completely within her own mind.

The problem we began to see was that she was having problems taking care of her household. She had help coming to her house a few times a week to clean her bathrooms and vacuum the carpets. She had a really hard time getting to the grocery store and no longer felt comfortable driving, even to the hair salon once a week or to doctors appointments. As an aging elderly woman, with some health problems we really began to worry about her well-being. When she didn't answer her phone right away, we got very concerned and constantly was calling her neighbor to go over and check on her. As a family we had to take care of her yard and landscaping and start doing her grocery shopping. We didn't mind this, I personally loved getting to spend this time with her and is part of how we are so close now. However, as much as it all hurt us to see it, we knew that she could no longer safely live in her house by herself.

Now she lives in  this 550 sq.foot studio apartment where she has home health workers visiting her everyday. Even though we all feel more comfortable with her closer to health care, I know that she continually struggles with her lack of independence. I have sat with her in her apartment and she has told me many times how much she misses her old house and car. One of her main grievances is that there isn't a washer and dryer in her apartment and she has to rely on family to come pick up her laundry once a week or otherwise pay someone to do so. She does however, enjoy getting to know the nurses and hear about their lives and appreciates not having a large house to clean. 



Aging and loosing independence is a touchy subject and although we don't want to admit it, for many people nursing homes and retirement communities are not all that we hope they would be. In a study of 319 nursing home residents the prevalence of significant depressive symptoms was at 44%(Teresi, 2001). In the final few years of life, these residents should feel at their most comfortable and respected. The problem is that in many low-end retirement facilities look like hospitals and treat their residents more like patients. Many residents including my Great Grammy will confirm that residential facilities like this one don't feel permanent or home- like, which can account for some of why she feels so uncomfortable there, even though she has been there for a few years. Though some of the residents there love it, they feel very comfortable and at home each person can have a totally different experience.

High-end residential retirement homes tend to look more like a resort and have appropriate residential features instead of healthcare features. Avoiding fluorescent lighting, reflective surfaces and generic white commercial tile are simple give-aways that make a space look cheap, cold and medical.
Warmer, neutral color schemes with focus on natural elements and access to outdoor lighting can make residents, staff and visitors feel slightly less like they are in a hospital.




This is the interior of one of the dining rooms at the retirement community where my grandmother lives. It has neutral, warm colors elegant lighting and comfortable seating. They do a fairly good job of making this dining area look like a high end restaurant.






 On each floor of the independent living apartments, there is a seating area as soon as you get off the elevators with a couch and chairs that are a bright color.This lets residents and visitors know immediately if they are on the wrong floor and is an excellent example of instigators. There are advantages of living in retirement facilities and design improvements such as this can make new residents and families feel a little more comfortable in this new environment.

Teresi, J. (2001, August 2). Prevalence of depression and depression recognition in nursing homes. Retrieved from Springer Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s127-001-8202-7

Bibliography

Teresi, J. (2001, August 2). Prevalence of depression and depression recognition in nursing homes. Retrieved from Springer Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s127-001-8202-7