Beyond the House: What It Really Takes to Age in Place Successfully with Tara Ballman - Episode 153

Are you or a loved one planning to stay at home for the long haul? 🏡 In this eye-opening episode of the Caregiver Relief Podcast, host Diane Carbo, RN, sits down with Tara Ballman, Executive Director of the National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC).

They move past the "bricks and mortar" to discuss the emotional, physical, and technological shifts required to truly thrive as we age. Whether you're a family caregiver or an aging adult, this episode is packed with proactive strategies to ensure independence doesn't come at the cost of safety. 🛡️✨

🎙️ In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

• The 5 Pillars of Aging: Why housing, healthcare, finance, transportation, and social engagement are the "legs of the stool" that keep your independence upright.
• The "Modern" Definition of Home: Why aging in place isn't just about the house you raised your kids in—it’s about wherever you lay your head.
• Driving & Independence: How to transition from the driver's seat without losing your social life, including the future of self-driving cars 🚗.
• Age-Tech Innovation: From AI-powered "smart toilets" that monitor your health 🚽 to VR senior centers that combat loneliness, technology is changing the game.
• The "Throw Rug" Warning: Small, immediate home safety changes that prevent the "independence robbers" known as falls 🚫🧶.
• Preserving Memories: A look at the Artifacts app, which uses QR codes to save the stories behind your family heirlooms.

📝 Episode Outline

💡 Notable Quote

"Aging in place is like a stool—when one of the five pillars is off or gets a little bit wonky, everything else is affected." — Tara Ballman

👂 Listen Now

Don't wait for a crisis to start planning. Join the conversation and learn how to build a "village" of support so you never have to navigate the journey of aging alone. 🤝

Podcast Episode Transcript

Diane: Welcome to another episode of the Caregiver Relief podcast.

I'm your host, Diane Carbo, RN and founder of Caregiver Relief, where we empower family caregivers in aging adults to live well, stay safe and plan ahead. Today's episode is titled Beyond the House, what It Really Takes to Successfully Age in Place. Joining me today is Tara Ballman, executive Director of the National Aging in Place Council, a nationally recognized expert and advocate dedicated to helping people remain independent.

Safe and supported in the home and communities they love. Tara brings both professional insight and personal experience having navigated her own father's health challenges and the uncertainty so many families face when planning for aging. She's made it her mission to help others prepare for life's unexpected turns through education.

Collaboration and compassionate guidance. Together we'll explore what aging in place really means, and how professionals, families, and communities can work together to make it possible for everyone.

Diane: Tara, thank you so much for being here with us today. This is such an important topic and one that is not talked about enough.

Tara: That's right. Thank you for having me. I'm really honored to be here, and that was a great introduction. Thank you so much.

Diane: You're welcome. Tara, you've had a remarkable journey both personally and professionally in the field of aging in place. Can you share what inspired your passion for this work?

Tara: Sure.

So it really all started with a personal experience, and I think you'll find a lot of professionals in this aging in place space also have very similar personal stories. But I was working in a completely different industry, more related to music and events. when I got the call that my father was sick and he had cancer and he, the first round of cancer, he did bead.

but he remained always sick, so I ended up moving back home, spending the last few years of his life with him, working with him side by side. He's the one that actually got me into this aging in place space in a financial aspect. And, I ended up getting a job moving to California. My parents moved from Florida to Georgia and right after they moved there, he got very sick.

Ended up going into the hospital. did not come back out of the hospital. Unfortunately, we celebrated his 62nd birthday while he was in a coma, and a couple weeks later, he passed away and it was so hard for my mother to be. Outside of the community that they had been in for 25, 30 years in a new location, new hospital, new doctors, no support system.

She was very active in her church. She didn't have anyone there yet, and I just saw. Not just the troubles that they had with my dad and finding new doctors and going through those end stages, but also my mom and her grieving process and her healing process, and just not knowing how to navigate a new system or just getting lost going to the hospital.

That's really what ignited an even larger fire in me to help other families in this situation, not just find resources when they're in an emergency situation, but getting comfortable talking about uncomfortable topics. Because when you talk about them early and you pre-plan and you're proactive, you have so many more options available to you than when you're in a crisis situation.

So

Diane: that's one of the common threads of all my podcast is there is whoever has provided a service or a product had a life experience that led them down the path to help seniors. I understand where you're coming from and I love it, because real life experience helps us address real life issues.

And, so I'm excited about this conversation because it's not talked about enough. in fact, I'd like you to start by telling us what would, how would you define aging in place and why is it so much more than simply staying in one's home?

Tara: Yes. So I think most people think aging in place is remaining in the home.

You've lived in your whole life, you raised your children here, and this is where you're gonna spend your final days. But I think the more modern definition of aging in place is more related to home is where you lay your head. So we wanna make that home as comfortable and safe and keep you as independent as possible.

Whether that is. In an independent living situation, in assisted living in memory care, we wanna make sure that home is suiting your needs. Yeah. For as long as possible. Both socially, financially, with taking everything into account.

So at the National Aging In Place Council, we're built on what we consider the five pillars of aging, which is housing, healthcare, finance, transportation, and social engagement.

So we really help people connect the dots with all five of those pillars because it's like a stool when one of them outs off or one of them gets a little bit wonky, everything else is affected by that one pillar.

Diane: most of the seniors don't realize that the homes they bought and have lived in for forever are made for young bodies and not aging bodies.

And that's the problem. What would you say are the most common misconceptions people have about aging in place?

Tara: I think that, a lot of people assume. They are not gonna need help. it's not gonna happen to me. They put their blinders on. this is issues that other people deal with, but the reality is 70% of all Americans are going to need some.

Form of long-term care, whatever that means. So it could be, you can stay in your home and you just need to make alterations. Maybe add a ramp to get inside. just think about your own house. Now I'm thinking about my house. My driveway is sloped. I have steps to get in the front door. There's thresholds.

I live in a tri-level home. I'm not really living in a aging and place friendly home. But there are ways you can adapt that. But a lot of people think. Oh, if I put in a grab bar, I, my, I don't want my home to look like a hospital, but there are so many ways to do it. Yes. They, these homes look like they belong in Architectural Digest.

Grab bars are now beautiful ornamental even warming up your towels.

Diane: yes. I live in Myrtle Beach and one, I recently went into a, a. To, I'm just looking at it, over 50. 'cause I'm 72. I, where I'm living right now is very fine, but, I just wanted to see what they're doing with the over 50, communities and they had high steps in the home to go to a loft.

Bedroom. They had high cupboards, and I thought whoever built this was not a certified agent in place specialist because they did. It was not meant for an older body over 50. It just was not, and I even said that to the person who was selling it. I said, who? Who did this? This is not a home. Conducive to an aging body and they looked at me like I had two heads.

But, it's sad.

Tara: Yeah. they have a system that they've always used. That's always worked, and people don't question it. So until people start questioning it, they're gonna keep doing what they are doing.

Diane: exactly. Now you've spoken about the importance of proactive planning. Yeah. What are the key areas families should address early to make aging in place realistic and sustainable?

Tara: I think going back to those five pillars, there are probably two of them that people talk about a lot, the housing situation and the healthcare. there's a lot of different way things that I could talk about within those pillars, but I think the ones people most often overlook is the transportation pillar, partly because no one again wants to talk about it because they don't feel like there are any solutions out

Diane: there.

Tara: But the majority of baby boomers, I think this was an A RP survey, the majority of baby boomers feel that driving is the key to remaining independent. So we need to start thinking now, how can you still remain independent in your situation, whether you live in the city or the country, or you're somewhere in between.

There are so many options out there that. People can still remain active, still get to their doctor's appointments. a lot of times families are ignoring the warning signs until there's some kind of accident, and then suddenly it's all or nothing. We have to take your keys away. We're calling the doctor to get your driver's license pulled.

But there are, we have a member in N-A-I-P-C in San Francisco who has a driver assessment training center. Yes. And she actually hooks up. Some kind of system to people where it can read your brain and brainwave. So it's science showing you, are you still safe to drive?

Diane: Yes.

Tara: When do you need to stop driving?

And then she's connecting you with other resources like Go grandparent or local, volunteers that will drive you around. Because once you. quote unquote take away the keys. People stop going to doctor's appointments. People lose their social connection, become socially isolated. They stop going to church, they stop going to bingo or whatever their other activities are.

So that's refers back to what I was saying earlier. If one of those pillars is off, it really affects your whole life experience.

Diane: One of the things that I recommend that my family, caregivers and seniors do is when it's time to give up, driving to sit down and put a plan in place so that they, that people help.

I encourage. Every, all my family, caregivers and seniors to create a care team partner group around them so that they have people that can support them as they age in place. So one of the things I strongly recommend is sit down and write down where you go. And what activities you go to, because just because you can't drive and you're getting older doesn't mean you have to stay at home.

it doesn't, and there are avenues and ways that you can work with this. It's just that somebody, the family has to be willing to sit with you and say. and identify, Hey, you go to, bingo every Thursday night or Thursday afternoon, let's get you there. Or you go to the community center to work out every day.

let's make a plan to get you there. there's things that people can do and. and right now I just read where there's gonna be a federal law being passed, where after the age of 75, we're going to have to take yearly driving tests. Wow. So if that really is in place, it's going to take the onus off the family and make the government the bad guy.

Tara: That is true. Might be easier in some respects,

Diane: Yeah. Yeah. But then on the other respect, I'm going, ah, I hope I can pass this test.

Tara: I'm not there yet. And it's also a little ageist. I think just 'cause you hit 75 doesn't mean that you're in capable of driving anymore. But I see where they're coming from.

Diane: I, I do too, because I do too. 'cause we have a tsunami of. Seniors and some of us are aging better than others and, with dementia and all the other, issues that we have, and social isolation is one of the things that seniors fear most and they experience the most, and that's really hard.

The other thing that's happening that I'm finding interesting I, and a little exciting is self-driving cars. Yes. And I think that is going to change. See the, Independence level of seniors to be able to go on the transportation, in the future. and it's, I don't think it's very far away, from what I'm reading, I know that I have a friend who has, gotten into the Robo taxii program with Elon Musk and he's going to have self-driving cars that, that take people from the airport to their, destination, whether it's a home or a hotel.

Yeah. and that I find fascinating. and just a little side note on that, these self-driving cars will have a special place to go for to get their car superpowered, and while it's being charged, it also will be cleaned by a robot.

Tara: Oh, that's nice. I need one of those now.

Diane: I know. I said, oh, Lord, where are you?

Yeah, so it's not, it's going to gas it up or charge it up and it's going to clean out the car. my, my question is how are they gonna clean those windows in those cars? Because the Teslas, the self-driving ones have this really hard way. Windshields are really gonna be hard to clean, but they are for me now.

but the

Tara: science, the magic of science is going to clean it for

us.

Diane: I'm sure, but I think that in the next 10 years we're going to see growth in the way of transportation and, so that I think that it will be less of an issue. But right now it's a very big issue. And one of the biggest things we have is, social isolation. Now the N NAIS PC brings professionals together from many fields, financial, housing, healthcare, and more. Why is this interdisciplinary collaboration essential?

Tara: I think it's very exciting. We've identified over 85 different service sectors under the aging and place umbrella, and that's everything from elder law attorneys to mobile hairstylists and dog walkers and everything in between.

anything making aging easier and safer in your home or wherever your home is. But I think up to this point, everyone has been operating in such a silo. This group only does deals with dementia. This group only deals with transportation and we're really, an education. Our mission is education. So we're about bringing all of these different professionals together to introduce them to what else is out there.

Yeah. and. Particularly when it comes to H Tech, that's something that's exploding. Now. We're living in a Jetsons world and people don't realize it yet, but it's out there. So just that's one example of someone who's an elder law attorney and only been to, law related conferences, has no idea that there are all these other options out there to help his clients age safely.

Diane: As a care manager,I help too without help finding the resources and things they need and explain the different options to them. so I find that's really, essential and that's what I see here is from so many caregivers is. They are, they don't know where to look. So I love that, you, it's not just more, it's not just, the aging in place council is not just, certified aging in place, specialists,

Tara: right?

Yes. we're a variety of folks. So we have an online directory. If anyone ever needs help finding assistance, it's agent place.org and you can go on and search by category, you can search by location. And even if we don't have a resource in your area, we will find someone somewhere that can help connect you.

If they're not a member, we're not just going to turn you out and say, good luck. We are going to find someone. To assist you.

Diane: I'll put a link in the show notes as well as we create a, per a permanent page and, so that people come, can listen and hear about you and what you offer in the future. I will put that at the bottom of the page too, so that they'll be able to find you.

Tara: Great, thank you. And once they go on our website as well, we have a document we call the Act three Planning Guide. the person who ran the organization before was in the theater industry, so Act one, act two, and now we're the act three. That's how it got its name planning guide, and it really walks families through the five pillars and it has discussion questions on each one.

Taking a real look at your home, is it. Somewhere where you can stay. Do you need to rightsize, do you need to go to assisted living memory care? What are the triggers for that? And it just, it's easier when it's coming from a document than just showing up at your mom's home and being like, mom, we gotta talk about the car here.

This is a nice hundred

Diane: percent

Tara: be way to lead people through the conversation. So it's about 26 pages. It's a free download on our website. So I would encourage people who are looking for. Help with conversation starters, that would be a great place to start.

Diane: Absolutely. Many caregivers face unexpected challenges when a loved one's health declines.

How can they better prepare for those transitions before a crisis hits?

Tara: Yeah, I think, a lot of it is just having conversations beforehand. being comfortable again, talking about the uncomfortable and doing your best to learn what the options are out there for your family. It's not just, mom's sick, we gotta send her to a nursing home.[00:19:00]

There. There is so much in between staying at home by yourself and. moving into someone's skilled care 24 7. There's a lot of in between. I think my mom is a great example. I live in California. She's in Atlanta. She is 76 years old. She lives in the country, in the woods. I worry about her if something happened, if she took a fall.

I wouldn't be able to help her. No one could hear her call for help. Yeah. But she's not in a point where she can't live independently anymore. So I'm trying to find ways I don't wanna spy on her and put cameras in her home.

Diane: Yep. So

Tara: there's a little, there's a little, thing that I put on her back door.

She has two dogs. I know every morning she's gonna wake up at a certain time because those dogs are gonna wake her up to go outside and every night before she goes to bed, she's gonna open that door and let those dogs out. And if I don't get an alert at those times, I know something's wrong. So it gives me peace of mind without taking my mom's dignity or independence, because she's certainly quite independent.

there's a lot of things that if we just think about what our concerns are. There's options that can help with those concerns.

Diane: it's funny, I have a good friend who is 86. She worked all the way through till COVID hit as a nurse, and it was just given immunizations for, I think it's Passport health, and then they closed their office, of course, when nobody was traveling for a few years.

So she, her daughter has her. Living with her, but her daughter travels, so she got her the life alert thing that she had to wear. pat is, and she really does need it, but, she's so independent. She just sent it back as soon as she got it. I don't need it. So what you're offering is something much less intrusive and the expectation of that many, so many seniors are in denial.

they don't think they're gonna fall. They don't think they're gonna be sick. They don't think anything's gonna happen to 'em, and that they live in a b bubble wrapped in bubble wrap so that nothing happens to them. And it's a big issue. So I love when I, and hear about options that you can use that give you peace of mind as a long distance caregiver.

And still, and gives your mom a sense of independence and not being intrusive in her life. So I really like that.

Tara: But it still makes her feel safe because if something comes in, someone's gonna find her not three weeks later. But they also have these great sensors too, that are fall detection sensors.

They're not cameras. They, and they go in the corner of your room and it's AI generated. So over time it can tell. Are you tying your shoe? Did you sit down? Did you actually take a fall? Was it a hard fall? Was it a soft fall? Do I call nine one one or do I call your neighbor? And I think products like that are the next level from what I have at my mom's house of is she safe?

Is everyone safe? Alerts happen instantly. I just find the whole thing fascinating.

Diane: Oh, I do too. I'm doing a whole series on seniors and technology. Oh, nice. And what's available to 'em, because we have to know, I recently did a, senior Life ai, Roy Ash is the CEO and they have this product where you take your personal phone and you put it on a stand and it

Record your walking, and then it tells you if you're a fall risk or not. And then it provides you with, and this is a free service, provides you with things to do, exercises to do to keep you from falling or pr, hopefully prevent or fall. And one of the things that I, now they're trying to.

They're working with Mayo Clinic and they're gonna put it in doctor's offices as part of a,the yearly, plan, when you meet for Medicare visit is 40 minutes and you get to talk about all these things. And that would be something I would love to see incorporated where they, as a fall risk.

'cause people don't know. And I'm a very active senior. I'm 72, but I have chronic pain. I used to pick up men for a living. I did rehab, nursing, I did lots of different nursing. But, my nursing years have just,have. Caused harm to my body. So I have chronic pain and now I have bone on my knees.

So I did it and I'm a moderate fall risk, and I'm like, oh no. but it's got, and I knew that I was, but so I'm working at doing exercises, you can do chair exercises or whatever. To get pro, work on your balance and there's balance specific,things you can do.

And I think seniors have to take a proactive approach to their own health in that aspect.

Tara: Oh, I agree. I'm married to a physical therapist and he works with older adults as well. And I think people as they age are like, I'm not gonna go to the gym for two hours. I'm not gonna run a marathon. But aging in place is different for everyone.

Exercise is different for everyone. So chair yoga, strengthening exercises, even doing. Squats as you're at your kitchen sink, cooking your dinner, it makes a huge difference in the long run, just maintaining your strength and flexibility and activity levels.

Diane: Absolutely. And I'm used to being very strong 'cause I lifted weights as a young woman and into my fifties and sixties, but injuries have caused me, I can't lift weights, but I can still.

And then I was like, oh, what do you mean I can't lift weights? Oh, the trauma of it all. And what I've gone is to resistance bands and it's good enough for me. It works for me. and i feel, makes me feel as if I'm doing something to keep myself healthy and moving and wealth

Tara: and yeah, I think people just need to find what makes them happy.

Maybe it's a daily walk. Maybe it's putting on music and waltzing in your living room every night before you go to bed. Activity is activity.

Diane: Yes, it is. It is. So let's talk about the emotional and social wellbeing of seniors. how can loneliness and isolation undermine aging in place and what can be done to prevent that?

Tara: Yeah, I think that's a huge topic in our industry right now. And something that really COVID brought to light.

Diane: Yes.

Tara: And I think if we can say anything good came of COVID, this is one of the good things where people realize, oh, I can't just. I put my mom in a senior community that has three hot meals and activities every day.

Because we couldn't even stand to be in our own house for a week, let alone live the rest of our lives like that. And we have everything we want in our own home. So I think that was really something that got the conversation going. and talking about that, and I can't remember what book it was that I read, but they said the effects of social isolation on a body is the same as smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

Oh really? It really affects our health. I'll have to find that and send you that. Wow. But it's one of those pillars again that people don't really focus on because our lives are busy or whatever is going on.

yes. We just don't wanna think about it. But I actually, was meeting with an amazing person this morning.

She's got a social, it helps with social isolation. It's called Care Flix, and it's something that's on your phone. And it has four different personalities, and it looks like me, it looks like you would be talking to me, but four different types of people. And it's AI generated an avatar and it remembers every conversation.

It will say, oh, Diane, you look nice today. You changed your hair. You are wearing a different shade of makeup. I remember that you were going to church yesterday. Did you have a nice time or did you meet your friends for lunch? And it's fascinating and it's helping people. You just are sitting at home all by themselves and want to have a conversation.

It can play games with you if you want memory games. It can tell jokes. It's amazing. And so I think products like that are coming out, even though it's not a real person, it's going to fill a void that a lot of folks have in their lives.

Diane: I'm doing a podcast in the very near future because,with, the gentleman that, started, joy calls and, he, they're phone calls that come to the home and he does have an avatar, system as well.

And one of the things that many of the people that I'm interviewing that have the ai, at, The AI benefit to it. Many see as, the seniors are afraid of it and their caregivers are afraid of it, and there's a lot of negativity. So that's one of the things I'm, in fact, it's this next month, this month in December, I'm actually doing a podcast with him to, bust, do.

To, address all their concerns and address the myths that happen with it, because yes, there are serious concerns to ai, but there are ways of working with the right companies to avoid those issues that,we often see on TV that are. Negative, negative results of AI right now. And, 'cause I think that's really important is the knowledge, the, if knowledge is power and people need to know what they're looking for and.

What they want and how to protect themselves even if they use these, because we have more seniors than youth and we don't have enough people to take care of all our seniors, and it's a really serious situation. We're in a public health crisis, so I think that how we need to embrace it, but embrace it cautiously.

Tara: Yeah. I know there are a lot of resources out there. There's one more I'm gonna talk about real quick before I switch to the non-AI topic.

Diane: yes.

Tara: But there's a, there's an organization called the Thrive Pavilion. It's an online, it's like a senior center, uhhuh, but it's online and people use, virtual reality goggles.

I love that. And everyone gets to make their own avatar that looks like them.

Diane: Uhhuh, they

Tara: can go in, if they just wanna sit on a park bench and talk to someone, they can. They can do that. They have games, they play Jeopardy, they have trivia, they have standup comedians where if you wanna stand up and tell a joke, you can.

And it's not just older adults who are no longer able to leave their homes. It's caregivers. A lot of them have. Spouses who are, who have dementia and they're too scared to leave the home, but they're still social and active and this is a way for them to go online, stay social. I think there's I don't know, over a thousand older adults that participate in this.

So

Diane: say the name of that program again.

Tara: It's the Thrive Pavilion.

Diane: Thrive Pavilion. Okay. Okay.

Tara: Yeah. But I know that maybe sometimes people think, oh, that's too high tech for me. even though VR goggles are really easy to use these days, but there are a lot of other organizations out there that are helping people stay socially connected.

That aren't technology based. There's a lot of volunteer groups out there. the A RP has a reading program where older adults are matched with children. I think it's second or third grade that need assistance reading. there's a organization called Rent a Grandma, where if you just wanna I wanna bake. I loved baking cupcakes when I was younger. People can say, Hey, my daughter needs 20 cupcakes. I don't have time to bake it. Can you help me with this? Or can you help me? I love that. Help me sew this or knit a blanket or whatever it is, whatever your. Interest were interest when you were younger.

You can continue that and get paid for it.

Diane: I'd wanna, I wanna rent a Grammy for me so that I can learn how to cook some T and or Indian food.

Tara: Oh boy. there you go. Look it up. You might have someone in Myrtle

Diane: Beach. I'm laughing about that because that's what my sons used to say, mom, can't you make a friend a Korean friend?

Can't you make an Indian friend? So we could, you could bring them over and we could learn, the dishes. That would

Tara: be fun, actually.

Diane: Actually. Yeah, absolutely. There's a restaurant in Italy, I think that has, or, no,it's in little Italy, in, in New York where they have, Nana's, they call it Nana's place or something, and a grandma comes in once a week on a weekend and creates meals for a big group.

Oh, that's lovely. People come and I just love that because, pe we still, I love to cook and I love to bake, but, I don't have anybody to cook for, or to bake for. I, I'm trying to watch what I'm eating so I don't bake like I used to, but boy, I like to do that for somebody else.

yeah, I think that's a great, that was a great, plan that somebody came up with and it's working. Yeah.

Tara: Yeah, sounds

Diane: So Tara, what role do financial planning and long-term care funding play in successful aging in place?

Tara: Oh, gosh, that's a tough question to tackle because I think people assume.

a lot of things when it comes to their finances that, okay, I've saved my whole life. I've done everything everyone told me too. Here's my 401k or here's my retirement. And then they realize when it comes time to retire, they can't really afford to retire. Or if they can, they're gonna have to make changes.

some of us are lucky enough not to have that happen, but others of us, we're in for a big reality check. So I think. A key to that is, again, knowing what the resources are out there available to you, and it's really the middle class that has is the most affected. Yes, it's by this situation.

So there's a few different websites that people can go on. One is benefits checkup.org. And that's through the National Council On Aging, you just type in your zip code and it tells you everything that's available to you from food,meals on Wheels, financial resources, even the senior discounts that, if some places give for electricity or heating in the winter time, and there's ways that you can buffer what you're.

What your income is. Yeah. through that financial aspect. I know there's a lot of money managers out there that are helping people after retirement to really budget and make sure they're not getting scammed. That's a huge one right now as scams against older adults. and it's only gonna get worse, is ai, quite frankly, gets better.

and then of course, just, Looking at what your resources are that you have now. We have a lot in our organization of folks who are. life insurance settlement providers or reverse mortgage providers, which I know a lot of people think is a bad word. It's not great for someone. It's great for others.

It helps people stay in their homes. So there's other home equity products that aren't reverse related that are coming out now too. So I think just having a full view and again, being realistic of where you are now.

Diane: Yeah.

Tara: How you, what kind of lifestyle you want to maintain. and having a trusted resource to help you create a plan.

Maybe that's not your kids. Maybe you don't want your kids being all in your business. Maybe you do. but there's all sorts of resources out there to help whatever your situation is.

Diane: So many seniors think they're gonna be able to pass their home down to the next generation, and that's no longer going to be the case.

Yeah. With the cost of healthcare and, we're living longer, we're going to need to have alternative placement. if we can't remain in the homes and people, that's why I know the reverse mortgages sometimes bring up a bad name, but it actually is a way for people to. Get the quality care that they need, whether they use it to, while they use it, to stay in the home as long as they can.

I think that's important and PE it is often overlooked and it doesn't need to be, it should always be a consideration.

Tara: it's one of those topics people are scared of because their neighbor's best friend's daughter, somebody told them this story and, from 25 years ago, but really. It.

It helps people have the funds to make improvements to your home, which is the most important thing. As you mentioned when we first started, homes aren't made for aging, and how are we gonna pay for that? Or are you gonna risk it take a fall and then have to move somewhere that you would rather not be?

Diane: Yeah. that was gonna be my next question. From a home safety and accessibility perspective, what are some small changes that can make a big difference for a senior that wants to age in place?

Tara: I think the number one thing is removing all those throw rugs. Okay. So many falls happen because people are tripping over rugs or other items on the floor.

falls are a huge, you're a nurse. I'm sure you saw so many people come in for falls, and it was the beginning of a dark spiral of this. then this happened. Then they need a hip replacement. Then they got pneumonia. Then they ended up in skilled nursing. It's just the first step of something.

Diane: Falls are the number one independence robber of seniors in one fall can actually prevent you from ever returning home, and people don't understand that.

Tara: Yeah, and it could be from a throw rug, it could be in the bathroom. Bathrooms are a really important place for people to examine. maybe it's not.

Safe for you to step into a tub all the time, but there's so many options. You can have a cutout tub so you can keep your tub. Your spouse can still have a bath, and you can still walk in safely. You could do one of those seamless shower entries and make it like a beach resort. putting grab bars in the right place is so important as well.

I think. the one of my pet peeves is seeing these suction cup grab bars and bathrooms because they're suction cups, they're not safe. In some cases, it's even less safe than not having something there because you take a fall, you go and grab it, and it pops off the wall and you get hurt worse.

And,you can have Medicare starting to cover home assessments through occupational therapists. So you can have an OT come in and help you determine where your fall risks are, where the grab bars need to go. Because I, people always laugh at me. I ask, are you a pusher or a puller? When you stand up from a chair, do you push yourself up or do you pull yourself up?

'cause depending on what you do, makes a difference as to where we put the grab bars. So just having someone with that kind of expertise, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a certified aging in place specialist who's gone through the training, can really help from a home safety perspective.

Some people do it complimentary as well, or can bill insurance.

Diane: one of the things I've always recommended over my 40 years of doing care management is to tell people that, and I worked in home care, so I, and we in those days, and that's 40 years ago, we were, we would say ask for a home safety eval, but there, I didn't realize they weren't doing that as often, which shocks me.

the hospitals aren't even, are discharging people home. I have four stories. I'm not gonna share them here right now. We don't have time, but, people are being sent home and they have no equipment and nothing because of the way, there's no discussion with families on what the home is like and what needs to be made.

and i'm seeing that quite a bit right now. But, that worries me. But one of the things I tell people is if you're planning, if you're in your forties. Fifties or even your sixties, and you're gonna make home re renovations. Get a certified agent and place specialist in there so that you can make it.

So it's gonna help your body as you age. And I think that's really important, just taking that step. if you're gonna spend the money anyway, do it. That's gonna benefit you if you wanna remain in that home.

Tara: Absolutely. And it's not necessarily aging and place proofing your house. It's called Universal design.

Yes. It's find someone who can give you a universal design so anyone of any age,

Diane: yes,

Tara: is able to live in that home and thrive in that home.

Diane: Exactly that. But that's why I say, this, the certified agent in place specialist because people think,that's for me. But if I say universal design, they'll go, that's fluffy.

It depends on the age. Yeah, I know. It's you have to, you, I guess you have to know your audience. Yeah. And your, the person you're talking to, because they'll say, I'm not gonna pay for that. I can hear that. But if you say, Hey, it's gonna benefit you if you, you make these. Changes so that when your body changes, you'll be able to stay here.

A light goes on, it says, oh, okay, I'm good with that.

Tara: Or even another tactic to take is make these improvements. So your friends who are getting older. 'cause we don't have the issues. It's always our friends. So your friends can keep visiting your house.

Diane: Absolutely. one of my favorite things is to tell people, and they all think I'm crazy, but a high toilet.

that is really one of the most important things. and people go, oh, really? and it always shocks me when I go into a home of somebody and thank goodness we have adaptive equipment you can put on a toilet. So it makes it high. I don't care for them as much because, sometimes they're not sturdy enough.

You have to have a good product and people tend to. Wanna purchase the cheapest they can find. and, but I, you can do that. But a high toilet can make your life so much easier in the future.

Tara: Yeah, and if you have the funds, a smart toilet is an even better way to go because it can, oh, tell

Diane: me more.

Tara: It can read your blood pressure, your heart rate, your oxygen levels, just by sitting on the toilet. Some of them can tell when your balance becomes. Based on the way you sit and stand over time. Wow. And there's even one toilet that analyzes every single thing that you flush. So if you're diabetic, oh my

Diane: Lord.

Tara: But your levels are, have, are you taking your medicine? I don't know if mom took her medicine today or not. The toilet can tell you if she skipped it because it's not in her system.

Diane: Oh, I gotta do a podcast.

Tara: Fascinating.

Diane: That, to me, that is fascinating because, it just, it takes the onus off the family and everybody it gives, hey, it gives alerts.

I love that.

Tara: Yeah.

Diane: Oh, wow.

Tara: I'll send you more information about that.

Diane: I would love that. Thank you very much.

Tara: Yeah, happy to.

Diane: Yeah. Now for professional serving older adults, how can they get involved with the National Aging and Place Council and collaborate to strengthen their local communities?

Tara: Oh gosh.

Thank you for asking that question. It is, I've been a part of this organization for almost 20 years. And I've met some of the most amazing, trusted professionals. in the industry, we require everyone to have a background check so we have an extra level, of standards that we really.

Adhere to, but people can reach out through agent place.org. We have over a 465 members now across the country.

Diane: Wow.

Tara: in specific areas. We have chapters like Chicago, Florida, long Island, Manhattan, out here in California. There's about 15 that are active now, and 15 information. But you don't have to be part of a local chapter to be part of N-A-I-P-C, but I really like to share with people.[00:43:00]

We're not a networking group, we're not BNI. We are here to educate and connect resources with older adults and their families. So if that's something that people are passionate about, and we have national member meetings the third Thursday of every month. we always have networking so everyone gets a chance to talk and get in smaller groups and hear what other parts of the country are doing, what's working, what's not working, financial resources, so they can reach out through agent place.org or find me on LinkedIn.

I'm very active on LinkedIn and I can get them some more information.

Diane: I'm a care manager and I'm thinking, oh my gosh. I like to network with people and with senior tech or the aging and play specialist. 'cause you just told me about a fancy toilet that I should know about the smart toilet.

Tara: Yeah.

and these are things that when we're, again, operating only in our silos that we wouldn't know what's happening in age tech, or certainly not in the world of toilets.

Diane: Yeah. Really. But, this is one of the things that's why I've started this series, this year and I'm going to continue on 'cause it keeps growing, is the age tech series.

And I'm, anything that's out there that is new and Will help and support a senior or anybody with a disability or chronic condition. I wanna make people aware of it because, they need to know because it can improve their quality of life.

Tara: Oh, for sure. And there's the consumer electronic show happens every January in Las Vegas.

Diane: I've been to them, yes.

Tara: To the digital health. Pavilion the last year I was there. They have glasses for people with macular degeneration that can help them see and read again in the center. So things like that are just life changing

Diane: for oh, so many people. The one year that I was there a few years ago and I was just fascinated by everything.

And, it, it is, it's growing, every year because there's so many new products. As we, we have people that like you, that have ha had worked, had a family member, and you see a need or you see a solution. To a problem that, other are having. And then you start to work on it and all of a sudden you've got a whole new product, a platform or whatever, and, you're helping others, that are coming and there's a tsunami here and more coming.

So I love that.

Tara: Yeah, it's exciting time. aging isn't necessarily the most exciting industry to be in, but we are at a very exciting time of helping people and creating solutions. That will make a real difference for future generations.

Diane: I've always worked around seniors. My grandmother lived well into her nineties.

Her little sisters, her, I call them, they're my little aunts. They were all under five feet. I've been around seniors. I did care. I was a, Candy striper when I was a young girl before I went to nursing school. So I've been around seniors my whole life and there's so many different types, but there's the ones that just embrace everything and continue to try on and move on and are very positive.

my grandmother worked out to Jack Lane, she exercised, she walked everywhere. she just had a positive attitude and she passed that on to me. Because my mother died when I was young. so I really, appreciate what seniors have to offer. And one of my favorite things to do when I would, go into nursing homes was go into the activities room and help the activities director, because the stories that seniors have about their life are transformational sometimes.

And I love it. In fact, I'll never forget, I was in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and two men were sitting at a table and we're talking about, D-Day. And one man was. Fought against us from, he was a German, fought against us in World War ii, next to one a man who was a soldier. Wow. and it's funny 'cause the interaction was very polite at, they had worked through a lot of stuff, but that, just to hear their perspectives and I think that's really interesting as well.

And I hope we don't lose that. as we move forward, as we age. That people don't get to share their stories. that's why I love your, the platform where you were talking about, the senior group that, you wear the virtual reality uhhuh. That to me is so valuable. I just love that.

Tara: Yeah, there's another app that I love. It's called Artifacts. Okay. And it's something that you can preserve all your memories and your story. So when I went to my mom's house last time, she's got this China cabinet I've been looking at for, I'm almost 50, for 50 years of things I'm not allowed to play with, not allowed to touch, and I never knew the stories behind it.

So we went through each one. I have a written summary of what it is. I have her voice. Recorded as to why it's important. Oh, and then I can print out a QR code, put it on there so she, anyone, whoever comes in the future can scan that item and find out why it's here, why it's important to our family, the history behind it.

And it's great for photographs too. We have all these photographs of people that once our older family members pass away, we have no idea who they are. But now we have a way to preserve all of those stories and memories, and it's one of my favorite things to use. Artifacts.

Diane: Oh, I'll have to look into that.

because I think that's a fascinating, To have a Q QR code. That's that we can hear your mom put, listen to your mom saying why she has it, what significance and sentimental value it has to her, or historical value is priceless.

Tara: Yeah. And the funny thing is that things I would've thrown out were the ones that made that were most important to her, and the things I would've kept had zero meaning to her at all.

Yeah. So it was nice to get that. And you can also create values with the items. You can send it away to an auction house. They can tell you if it's valuable or not. You can sell it, you can keep it. You can address which child you want each item to go to. So when you pass away, it's a nice, easy way to. To declutter your stuff.

it's just amazing.

Diane: Oh, i find that fascinating as well.

Tara: Yeah.

Diane: Finally, what is one piece of advice you'd give to families or caregivers listening, who wanna start the journey towards sex successful aging in place?

Tara: I think the most important thing is really just to start conversations.

Again, the more you talk about it, the less uncomfortable it's going to be. And also. Give yourself grace. This is the first time we're all aging. We weren't born with manuals. We're not dying with manuals. So everyone's different. You can't do what your neighbor did or what somebody else your another family member did.

You have to make sure what's right for you and and you're gonna make mistakes and things are gonna go away. But,just give yourself grace and enjoy your moments. And make memories and have the best final days that you can with what you have to work

Diane: with. Absolutely. And to the family caregivers, I want them to know that this is not a journey you should take alone.

And it's not possible. Just like it takes a village for children. It takes a village for an adult. Senior and 'cause so many try to do it alone and it's just causing 63% of seniors, are family caregivers of seniors become seriously ill or pass before the person they're caring for. So because of the stress.

I encourage them build their care team, partner support group around them. It's not failure, it's necessity.

Tara: And don't be ashamed to ask for help because I guarantee everyone has a story. Most people just don't talk about it.

Diane: 100%. Tara, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it.

to my family caregivers out there, you are the most important part of the caregiving equation. Without you, it all falls apart. So please learn to be gentle with yourself, practice self-care every day because you are worth it.

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