New Paper Calls for Government to Support Home Modifications for Aging in Place to Head Off Looming Housing Crisis for Older Americans

HomesRenewed Resource Center paper, “The Cost Efficiency of Home Modifications to Reduce Healthcare Costs,” presented at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific (virtual) Meeting Saturday, November 13, 2021, says the federal government will save money by facilitating the widespread installation of home accessibility features

Federal government action to incentivize homeowners to modify their houses to make them safe for aging in place will help stave off the nation’s looming housing crisis for older Americans as well as reduce healthcare costs. These are the findings of a paper given by HomesRenewed Resource Center’s Research Director Dr. Jesse M. Abraham to the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific (virtual) Meeting on Saturday, November 13, 2021. The full paper, The Cost Efficiency of Home Modifications, is available on the HomesRenewed website, click here.

“Without question, today’s housing stock was not built for older Americans,” says Abraham. “My analysis tells us that if Americans are encouraged and helped to modify their homes to make them safe and accessible for older people as well as for differently abled people, healthcare costs – particularly from expensive falls – will be reduced.”

In his presentation, Abraham points out that, today, there is a great deal of support for telemedicine, home healthcare, “hospital at home” and other services to help older Americans stay in their homes. Yet, insufficient focus is put on the “home” itself. After a review of the literature and cost analyses, the paper reveals that federal incentives to consumers to upgrade their homes through a variety of mechanisms – tax breaks, early use of retirement funds or others – would enable the federal government to save money on reduced healthcare costs. And, it would keep older citizens out of nursing homes that proved so deadly during the covid-19 pandemic and in their own homes where most people would prefer to stay.

About the HomesRenewed Resource Center

The mission of the Washington, D.C., non-profit HomesRenewed Research Center is to significantly increase the number of American homes prepared for residents to live safely and with dignity throughout the modern lifespan by conducting research and educating consumers, industry and government. Visit: https://www.homesrenewed.org