Elderdesign : Designing and Furnishing a Home for Your Later Years

Rating:
Summary: A fine book
Review: Briefly, a fine book to sensitize one to issues of design as they apply to older persons. Although much of this book pertains to new constructions, I used it to sensitize me to issues that were also relevant to retrofit--such as putting up railings, etc., in an existing house.

Rating:
Summary: Design Principles For Senior Living
Review: The author gives advice on designing and furnishing a smart aging home, providing room-by-room analyses, checklists, and recommendations for resources. She addresses specific physical conditions and considers 'the healing bedroom' as a means to setting up a home hospital. And she covers 'the caring community', outlining the local support systems available for the onset of health and disability issues. (I found the reference to 'motion seating' and the company that makes it to be worth the price of the book alone.) Having seen my father through his last years, I already had an appreciation of the need for things as basic as proper seating and an accessible bathroom. The author's experience with her mother's Alzheimer's disease gave me even more to think about. This book appears to be going out of print which is unfortunate because it is quite practical. Buy it while you can.