Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cohousing-L submission: Seniors' needs

[Lisa Anthony (lisamanthony]

Subject: Seniors' needs

 

Andrew Netherton wrote:

"So what do seniors need?  ADA-compliant bathrooms and kitchens (I still
have to figure out what the equivalent is here in Canada), eliminate stairs,
add ramps, or elevators (now there's capital-intensive!)... anything else?
The thing is, I don't see how any of this is mutually exclusive.  Am I
focusing too much on infrastructure, and missing an intangible that
conflicts with children's needs?

"As we're in the VERY early stages of Laurel Creek Commons, I'd like to make
sure that LCC is equally friendly to children and seniors.  If those with
experience (personal or otherwise) can help clue me in to what it is seniors
need, and how children's need trump those needs, I'd like to work around
this at this early stage instead of waiting until there's a conflict."

Regards,

Andrew Netherton

Laurel Creek Commons (forming)

Waterloo, ON, Canada

 

We have chosen to become a senior cohousing community because of the very
thing that has been discussed here on the list serve: seniors who have lived
in multigenerational cohousing have found that the focus becomes on
childrens' needs, and the needs of seniors get ignored.  Seniors need much
more than "universal design" homes.  We need a focus on issues of becoming
older: conscious aging, the meaning of "elderhood", and
social/intellectual/physical/spiritual needs and development (e.g.
discussion groups, classes, co-care issues, to name a few). Hope this helps.

 

Lisa Anthony,

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Senior Cohousing (forming)