Become a Certified Aging in Place Specialist
It’s not often that
I can personally recommend training outside of writing and editing — and theology and ethics, preaching and pastoral counseling — but I can personally recommend some classes next week at the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association.
One, the classes, which offer training for the Certified Aging in Place Specialist professional designation, thoroughly involve ethics and counseling for elder care.
Two, I took the classes myself a few years ago, courtesy of state builders.
The Certified Agingin-Place Specialist designation — CAPS — was developed by the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers Council, in collaboration with the AARP, the NAHB Research Center and NAHB Seniors Housing Council.
It provides training to better accommodate the needs of people over 50, especially the knowledge needed to modify their homes for aging in place. The training is useful for builders and contractors, remodeling specialists, occupational therapists, counselors — including pastors of aging congregations — Realtors, and others.
Courses will be taught by NAHB instructor Kendra Orcutt and Master Instructor Jack Werner at the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association, 917 NE 63.
Each course costs $210 to attend. All three courses are required to earn the CAPS designation from the National Association of Home Builders.
• CAPS I will cover “Marketing and Communicating with Aging in Place Clients,” Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• CAPS II will cover “Design Concepts for Livable Homes,” Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• CAPS III will cover “Details and Solutions for Livable Homes,” Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information or to register, go to OSHBA.org/eventcalendar.
Worth repeating are some highlights of what I learned in the CAPS classes in 2014:
• Maneuvering a wheelchair through a standard doorway is hard. That’s part of the training: experiencing limited mobility, reduced grasping ability and reduced eyesight.
• According to the AARP, 62 percent of respondents to a study — all older than 45 — said they, their spouse or other family members had trouble walking, bathing, taking stairs, getting in and out of bed or a chair, or used a cane, walker, wheelchair or electric cart.
• Builders or others with the CAPS designation should consider partnering with real estate agents who hold the National Association of Realtors’ Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation.
• When consulting on aging-in-place needs, don’t talk just to the caregivers in the room, or talk about clients as if they’re invisible.
• Older folks are more likely to be comfortable with their home the way it is, and say so, and even argue against making changes — even though the spaces are unsafe.
• Long-term expensive assisted living — a redundancy — is not the only option. Remodeling a home costs dimes on the dollar by way of comparison, and for my money is the best way to help older folks to age in place with grace.