For most people, the goal of a home remodel is to create spaces that accommodate your current lifestyle. But what if a Certified Aging in Place Specialist could help you create spaces that accommodate your future lifestyle as well?
If you’re like most older Americans, you want to keep living in your current home while you age. This practice is called aging in place. Aging in place allows you to retain your independence and self-sufficiency. Unfortunately, the vast majority of homes in the United States are not suitable for seniors to live in. Therefore, aging in place isn’t safe in most American homes.
But you can make your home safe with the help of a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS). Learn what a Certified Aging in Place Specialist is and how they can reimagine your home so you can do even more with your next home remodel.
Contents:
- What Is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist?
- What Does a Certified Aging in Place Specialist Do?
- Why Should You Work with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist?
- How Might a Certified Aging in Place Specialist Modify Your Home?
- How Can You Work with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist
What Is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist?
A Certified Aging in Place Specialist is a person who has completed very precise training on aging in place design from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). This training covers the technical, business management, and customer service skills necessary for making home renovations that empower aging in place. Specifically, earning this certification involves careful study of the design concepts that focus on older individuals.
According to the NAHB, A CAPS learns how to create new homes and renovations that “provide design flexibility, pleasing aesthetics, high function and usability for all people, without regard to age, income, or ability level, and regardless of life’s changes and challenges.”
In other words, Certified Aging in Place Specialists know how to make a living space safe, comfortable, beautiful, and user-friendly for all who come to the house.
What Does a Certified Aging in Place Specialist Do?
When a Certified Aging in Place Specialist meets with homeowners, they learn about the homeowners and their lifestyle. Then, the CAPS identifies the common challenges the homeowners are facing or may soon face.
Next, the CAPS determines which aging in place design concepts can alleviate the homeowners’ struggles with independent living. The CAPS also envisions how to implement these design concepts in an attractive way that fits the aesthetic preferences of the homeowners.
Finally, the CAPS communicates their aging in place design recommendations to the construction team and works with them to ensure the correct execution of the designs.
The renovations a CAPS devises and oversees are called aging in place home modifications. Aging in place home modifications cover everything from installing grab bars that make the bathroom safer to building an addition that generates more space for a wheelchair.
Why Should You Work with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist?
Working with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist on your home remodel brings many benefits.
Safety
One of the most significant advantages of aging in place modifications is increased safety. A CAPS will ensure that the design of your house doesn’t endanger you as your abilities change with age.
More older homeowners are falling and injuring themselves as they are attempting to live in homes that weren’t designed for them. What’s more, many of the homes seniors live in are aging as well. In the process, these homes are revealing their own flaws and hazards, such as asbestos, bad plumbing, cracks, holes, and mold. Remodeling your home to complete aging in place home modifications will also remedy these issues.
Independence
Another benefit of partnering with a CAPS is that they will help you retain your independence at home. A Certified Aging in Place Specialist will make your house safe enough that you won’t have to move away. You’ll be able to maintain your self-sufficiency so you can age in place successfully. With the help of a CAPS, your home will be safer for you to live in both now and in the future. It will also be easier for people of all ages to visit your house.
Comfort
The aging in place home modifications that CAPS have mastered will also enhance your comfort. Staying at home is a much more leisurely experience when the details of every room are tailored entirely to you. When you are older, these updates will eliminate the anxieties of entering a new phase of life. And in the meantime, they’ll have you feeling completely pampered by your house!
Style
How your home looks is almost as important to your well-being as how your home functions. If certain rooms in your home are outdated or simply unappealing, a CAPS will see to it that these rooms reflect your personality as they preserve your self-reliance.
Some aging in place home modifications encompass new flooring, countertops, paint, lighting, doorknobs, and more. Working with a CAPS gives you the chance to select the safest and most stylish options for you. When your aging in place modifications are complete, you will love both the look and functionality of your home.
Value
Collaborating with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist to upgrade the beauty and safety of your living spaces not only makes your home more valuable to you but also makes your home more valuable to others.
Aging in place modifications permit you to live happily in your house as long as you like. And whenever you decide to move on, these modifications also enable the new homeowners to live happily as well. Another set of seniors could spend their retirement years in your house, enjoying the same peace of mind you did. Or a middle-aged couple could use your house to care for their older parents or relatives.
Thanks to the expertise of a CAPS, your property will be very enticing to potential buyers. As a result, it will be more lucrative for you.
How Might a Certified Aging in Place Specialist Modify Your Home?
A Certified Aging in Place Specialist will analyze every part of your home to increase ease of use and convenience throughout. Your CAPS will apply some adjustments to every room, while others will be room-specific.
Whole House
Examples of universal aging in place modifications include:
- Creating wider walkways and doorways
- Laying slip-resistant flooring
- Bringing in more secure, efficient, and illuminating windows
- Installing additional lighting
- Utilizing lever-style handles
- Positioning grab bars and handrails around the house
Kitchen
Kitchen-specific aging in place home modifications may involve:
- Decreasing the amount of space between the oven, sink, and refrigerator
- Painting the walls a different color than the floors
- Lowering the countertops
- Equipping the cabinets with pull-out shelves
- Installing accessible appliances
- Adding an anti-scald device to the sink
- Placing lighting under the upper and lower cabinets
Bathroom
Aging in place home modifications for the bathroom may encompass:
- Installing a no-threshold shower
- Bringing in a walk-in bathtub
- Outfitting the shower and tub with seating and shelving
- Switching a standard toilet out for a comfort height toilet
- Creating clearance under the sink
- Hanging an angled or pivot mirror
Living Room
Aging in place modifications suggested for the living room may be:
- Placing built-ins to eliminate clutter
- Professionally installing electronics to conceal wires and cords
- Putting up motorized window blinds
Bedroom
Bedroom aging in place modifications may cover:
- Crafting custom furniture to keep essentials within reach
- Inserting custom closet storage to make clothes more accessible and less messy
- Anchoring tall furnishings to the wall
- Affixing bed rails
How Can You Work with a Certified Aging in Place Specialist?
Only a Certified Aging in Place Specialist is qualified to assign aging in place modifications to a home. And there are only a few CAPS in Northeast Ohio.
Thankfully, Anne Capozzi of Capozzi Design Build is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist. Anne is also a Certified Living in Place Specialist (CLIPP), and she was the first person in Ohio to earn this designation. Clearly, Anne has a passion for the aging population, as these two certifications confirm her proficiency in user-friendly home design. This passion began back when Anne was in college, as she majored in geriatrics.
Anne has honed her aging in place expertise so she can provide people with home remodels that address the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. She says, “Making spaces safe, comfortable, and beautiful is always our goal.”
Anne uses her advanced knowledge of aging in place to inform all of her stunning home designs. And she works closely with the Capozzi construction team to guarantee that her designs are realized perfectly. Anne would love to transform your home into a haven for aging in place. Contact us today to work with Certified Aging in Place Specialist Anne Capozzi on your next remodel!
