Dedicated to rightsizing the senior housing market.
Some small homes are known as accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. Others include apartment structures housing microapartments, 300 to 400 square feet, with ingeniously designed furniture to maximize living space. Another possibility is a tiny house, 300-800 square feet, freestanding or on wheels, and sometimes grouped with others in small pocket neighborhoods. Learn more
The reasonably equipped ADU has several things going for it in pandemics: it’s small, it’s safe, it guarantees social distancing by definition, it’s highly suitable for current high-tech communications trends and it’s relatively affordable. But a slam-dunk it isn’t.
Read MoreAs the austere, isolating environment of the coronavirus closes down all around us, it occurred to me that the ADUs and granny pods we’ve been discussing all this time just might be a workable senior housing solution for this most vulnerable population. I just recently had my speculation confirmed by a story in the most recent edition of the newsletter Accessory Dwellings (see Resources), in which author Martin John Brown describes his own 400 square foot ADU.
It was originally intended, he says, as a place to stay for a visiting mother-in-law. But as the coronavirus scare mounted she cancelled her trip, only to have Brown himself move into to isolate from his family as he developed his own symptoms. “I’m very fortunate to have this place to retreat,” he writes. “It’s nicely done. I can see the leaves emerging and the flowers blooming at nearby houses and the park. I get occasional deliveries of food and supplies on an outside table.”
This would seem to be viable alternative for an isolating senior family member, whether symptomatic or not. It can be safe, comfortable and reasonably close to family without having to close off part of the main house itself.
If properly done.
As we’ve gone on about at some length in this blog, an appropriate small house alternative for seniors requires considerable design and technological adaptation. It should be universally designed, with appliances and appurtenances adjustable to maintain senior independence as disability advances—moveable counters, grippable door handles, barrier-free bathing and the like. And ideally it should be equipped with sensor technology allowing close monitoring and transmitting alerts regarding physical safety, as well as interactive devices providing medication management and voice-activated assistance.
Supportive technology in particular has been showing remarkable development in recent months, as will be detailed in a forthcoming entry. And one aspect of this, telehealth—remote medical visits and examinations via the Internet—has been burgeoning with the enforced isolation imposed by Covid-19.
In short, this disruptive episode in all our lives has at least one bright spot: demonstrating the reality and potential of small houses as a practical alternative.
