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AIP Bulletin
Helping you AIP in your home, your way.
April 2010 |
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“When
you invite someone into your home, you invite them into yourself.”
Oprah Winfrey |
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AIP Housing:
Is An ADU Right For You? |
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When looking at remodeling options to better age in place the
addition of an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) could be a worthwhile
consideration. It is an extra living unit on your home's
property complete with kitchen, bathroom and sleeping facilities. An ADU may be located either inside, attached to,
or detached from, the primary home on your property depending on your local
regulations.
Also known as a "mother-in-law-apartment" an ADU has many uses,
such as housing for an aging relative, a caregiver's residence, extra guest housing,
space for an office, rental unit for extra income.
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Instead of remodeling for
accessibility an ADU could be a more economical choice. |
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800 square foot 'Modern'FabCab Unit |
Emory Baldwin, ZAI principle architect and 2009
Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) of the year, is producing a new,
pre-fabricated, ADU product called FabCab that we think is worth checking out.
These ADU’s are both
Universally Designed (appropriate for a wide range of people,
with varying abilities) and ‘green’ (environmentally
sustainable). The FabCab ADU is a space designed to be supportive of
a wide range of ages and abilities with accessible features that
are invisible. They can be a free-standing structure or
attached to an existing house via a customizable
breezeway structure. The FabCab is designed to be at a
grade providing easier access for people in wheelchairs or
children in strollers. Full size appliances can be used in a
FabCab.
The FabCabs are
available in 3 sizes: small (449 SF), medium (538 SF) and large
(800 SF). Customers choose the finish colors and style. The
construction process takes about 3 months. Check out the website for
more information:
http://fabcab.com/home.html
Related: Check out the Baldwin House Showcase
an urban solution for an ‘aging-in-place’ home with features
that may seem intended for a person with a disability but that
make everyone's lives easier as well.
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AIP Consumer Tip: Electronic Reader |
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This month we have an
AIP consumer tip from Barb C. an admitted
computer/techno-phobe, who loves to read, save money and doesn't
drive. This is what she has to say about the Amazon Kindle:
At first I thought the
purchase of our Kindle was a bit of an extravagance just to read
books, but it has
become a real pleasure for the following reasons:
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Barb C. feels her Kindle has already paid for itself. |
* Straight forward instructions and easy to use.
* More comfortable to hold and use
than a regular book, particularly if one has arthritis
or carpal tunnel problems.
* Instant gratification--can be reading the book within minutes of
purchasing it.
* Best sellers cost at least 50% less thru Kindle.
* The reader is in charge--as opposed to the public library--as to how
long he or she wishes to take to read a book and no returns!
The above is very important if one does not drive or have access to
public transportation-or even a library.
It is much easier to transport than several hard backs when
traveling for any extended length of time and of course no over-due
fines. Being able to immediately look up the definition of an unknown
word(s) is also a plus because one is more apt to do it when
everything is right there. And last, but not least,you can not only sample before you buy but
you can also get some books for free-(a very good price).
I am sure I will think of more reasons as time goes by--in fact a
Kindle gift card (or book) would make a very good gift for anyone
that owns a Kindle and the Kindle itself is even a great gift for
special people on your list.
Have a tip you'd like to share - send it to
talktous@aipathome.com or click here to
fill out our online form.
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AIP Tech:
E-Health, We Care |
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 For those of us who have been following the very slow process of
insurance providers, consumer and medical industry acceptance of
E-Health or E-Care technology the
U.S.
Senate Special Committee on Aging may
have offered a glimmer of hope that there is movement along with a peek at the not to
distant future of medicare adoption priorities.
By adopting new e-health technologies the U.S. government aims to
reduce the cost of medicare by changing the way it pays doctors who
would be allowed to bill for internet based visits with patients
in addition to in-person visits.
Five percent of medicare beneficiaries who in most cases have one
or more chronic conditions constitute 43% of medicare spending,
according to Dr. Mohit Kaushal, Digital Healthcare Director
at the Federal Communications Commission. Testifying before
the committee he also said "... there’s a set of broadband-enabled
health information technology, both now and emerging from
development, that can mitigate many of these issues and reduce the
cost of care while improving clinical outcomes.”
While the government's focus is on saving money the private
sector sees a bigger role for health technology. Eric Dishman,
global director of health innovation and policy at Intel
Corporation, compared e-Care to the e-mail revolution of the
late 1990’s, saying that "New health technology is not meant to
replace the doctor-patient relationship. ... None of this effort is
about replacing the traditional doctor-patient relationship, but
it’s about enhancing and extending it to more people and regions of
the country,” said Dishman.
“Just as e-mail became a new way of interacting with other people
that didn’t replace all other forms of communication such as phone
calls and letters, e-Care uses new technologies to create a new way
of providing care that complements – but doesn’t replace – all
clinic visits,” he said.
To promote the bigger e-health picture and encourage greater
acceptance of health technologies a new organization is forming
called
AgeTek Alliance. A consortium of age-focused
technology providers its purpose, in part, is "to promote the
awareness, benefits and value of products and services for our aging
society." We look forward to tracking their progress, as well
as other assistive technology trends, and continue to feature new
products and services in our AIP Tech Center.
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Talk to Us |
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Your rants, raves, suggestions and stories are always
welcome...especially the raves! Seriously, tell us what
we can do to help you age-in-place, in your home, your way. Send your comments to
talktous@aipathome.com or click here to
fill out our online form. |
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in entirety or in part, with proper credit.
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