Speaking of universal design, aging-in-place

Surprised and humbled this week by an award from the Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns for writing about aging-in-place and universal design, I’ll take the opportunity to get another plug in for both.

I was among many much more deserving award recipients, most of whom actually work or volunteer countless hours to make Oklahoma City more friendly, literally and figuratively, to people with different abilities.

As I’ve said for years: Other people work. I just write about it.

Also, often, this kind of recognition can put a journalist in an awkward spot. For example, don’t accuse me of necessarily being an advocate for homebuilders. I am pretty friendly with builders, of course, but what I am for is fair, arms-length reporting of news and features about the business of homebuilding.

But I gladly wear the label of shameless advocate for aging-in-place and universal design approaches to homebuilding. I write about both fairly frequently, and as editor of the Saturday residential real estate section, I look for news and features about the trends, which will only pick up because they must.

Aging in place refers to space that is renovated to meet people’s physical needs as they diminish because of age or infirmity. Universal design refers to new space that is designed for adapting over time and circumstance without drastic renovations.

Here is something that bears repeating from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living:

• “There are 65 million people age 60 and older. All but a tiny percentage of them live in non-institutional settings, as do nearly 57 million people with disabilities. Both populations are growing, and older Americans are one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country. By 2020, there will be more than 77 million people over the age of 60.”

The point is bigger than making life easier for individuals. The issue, and looming crisis, surrounds the social cost we all will bear, whether with higher taxes or not, for institutionalizing the elderly rather than helping them stay in their homes.

I turned 54 on May 2, I think about housing for a living, and I’m surrounded by older boomers and quite a few folks from the so-called Silent Generation born in the 1920s to early ‘40s. Universal design and renovations for aging in place are on my mind a lot.

Repeat: Listen grown children of aging parents and not-there-yet friends of older folks. Look around. Pay attention to people’s space and how they use it — or don’t anymore because they can’t.

Notice conversations already going on around you. Aches, pains, and increased or pending challenges of mobility are already common topics of discussion for about anyone past 50.

Join in. Your own need for a change of place will be here before you know it.

Other winners of awards from the Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns, presented Thursday at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, were:

• The 2018 Don Davis Award was presented posthumously to Cathy Holden, senior vice president of rehabilitation and clinical operations at NewView Oklahoma when she died unexpectedly in July at 53.

• The 2018 George B. Lewis Advocacy Award was presented to Jack McMahan. He suffered a severe spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He co-founded Wilderness Matters and was instrumental in getting accessible trails at Martin Nature Park. He is now the executive director of AccessWorks Inc., a nonprofit working to improve recreation and leisure for people with disabilities.

• Marilyn Dillon received the Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee on Disability Concerns Member of the Year Award.

• Francene Thomas, Oklahoma City Police Department Handicap Parking Unit, received the Employer of the Year Award.

• Cassidy Carlton, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Sooner Success Program, received the Public Personnel Award.

• Felipe Barba, Sprouts Farmers Market, Kaylyn Barbour and Special Care all received a Special Award.

• EMBARK Public Information and Marketing Division received the Media Award-Public Service. (Mine was the Media Award-Public Affairs).

• Winners of the “2019: No Labels, No Limits “poster/billboard contest were: 1st place, Magan Hagy of Noble High School; 2nd place, Jillian Cruise of Harding Fine Arts Academy; and 3rd place, Emily Tebow, Francis Tuttle Technology Center.