Elderly swap rent for company
Would you consider moving in with an elderly person if it meant you could have free board? Chances are, writes Benn Bathgate, they might like having you around.
All Eileen Bell wanted was to remain in her Whakatāne home of 22 years, but at 98 she was slowing down. Her short-term memory isn’t what it once was, and her children were growing concerned about her twice-weekly drives to the local RSA where she caught up with friends.
Bell didn’t need a carer; just someone to help a bit around the house.
At the same time Andrea Hall, 69, was looking for somewhere to live after returning to New Zealand from overseas.
Hall’s Trade Me search in July found an advert for home-sharing with seniors, and turned two strangers into friends.
The ad was listed by Eastern Bay Villages – a group that offers community support to older Kiwis in the Bay of Plenty.
Coordinator Ruth Gerzon said homesharing had multiple benefits.
‘‘An older person living alone has a younger person to live rent-free with them for 10 hours support a week. This enables older people to avoid a rest home, and younger people to save for their own home.
‘‘It brings intergenerational connection and companionship, as well as solving one part of the housing crisis.’’
When the Sunday Star-Times called on Bell and Hall at their house overlooking the Kaputerangi Historic Reserve with views out across the Whakatāne River, it was easy to see the concept’s appeal.
The pair have formed a fast friendship since Hall moved in mid-July, with easy banter flowing between them.
Bell is pleased to have avoided the restrictions of living in a care home.
‘‘The family can come and go, they’re not regimented to visiting hours,’’ she said. ‘‘It works out well as far as I’m concerned.’’
Hall is equally happy. ‘‘It’s not difficult to come and stay and enjoy her company and home. It’s an amazing idea, being able to socialise. I certainly benefit from her friendship and it certainly is a two-way thing.’’
Hall emphasised that she wasn’t there to be Bell’s carer. She’s there to keep her company, drive her to the RSA, keep the fridge and freezer stocked, and generally be on hand to help if needed.
Gerzon said she became aware of the concept after a visit to London, where a version of the scheme was established back in 1993.
She wanted to transplant the idea to New Zealand to help keep elderly people actively involved in the community. ‘‘We’re not into segregating old people. Unless you get new, younger friends you can become quite isolated and vulnerable.’’
Professor Tim Wilkinson, a consultant physician in geriatric medicine at Otago Medical School, said home-sharing was important to combat loneliness and to promote good health. ‘‘Most old people want to keep independent.’’
Homeshare UK has placed almost 5000 older people in shared living since establishing six years ago.
Manager Deborah Fox said isolation and loneliness were a growing concern; and not just for the elderly.
‘‘Many younger people, particularly those living in shared houses of multiple occupation, are also reporting feeling isolated and having poor mental health. The homeshare model recognises and plays on the strength that both participants have something they need and something they can give.’’
Fox said a survey of participants in December 2020 found 96 per cent were less lonely since their homesharer moved in, and 86 per cent said they felt happy.
Here in New Zealand, findings from the Ministry of Social Development’s Social Report in 2016 found at least one in 10 Kiwis over the age of 65 experienced loneliness.
Age Concern National Manager of Social Connection Services, Louise Rees, said a lack of connection put people at risk.
‘‘Loneliness and social isolation are both risk factors for early dying and going into rest home care. It’s a serious issue: as detrimental to health as moderate smoking, and worse for you than being obese.’’
Rees said Age Concern had looked overseas, including at a Dutch nursing home scheme where university students live rent-free in exchange for spending 30 hours
‘‘It’s an amazing idea, being able to socialise. I certainly benefit from her friendship and it certainly is a two-way thing.’’ Andrea Hall
a month with the elderly residents.
‘‘We have a housing crisis, high levels of loneliness among younger people, and unaffordable rents,’’ she said. ‘‘That’s one of the models that have potential.’’
Greypower also backed the concept. Pete Matcham, national vice president and chair of the organisation’s national advisory group for housing, said work had been undertaken with Massey University to identify and address the issue.
Gerzon said two ‘‘shares’’ were currently in place, and acknowledged ‘‘we’ve only just started’’. She said police vetting and reference checks were conducted on all candidates, and meetings between parties often included extended wha¯ nau.
Liz Daniel, Bell’s daughter, said meeting was an important part of the process for the family’s peace of mind.
‘‘We needed someone in the house and it’s worked out really well. Within about half-an-hour of the first meeting, Andrea said she was happy to stay there. The whole family, we were happy with her from the beginning.’’
Eastern Bay Villages is not alone in introducing the concept.
Age Concern Hastings is also placing people in homeshares, like Doug, 94, and Geoff, 72, neither of whom wanted their surnames to be used.
Doug said Geoff moved in back in September, ‘‘which has been most successful’’.
Doug echoed a point made by others working with the homeshare concept – the importance of compatibility.
‘‘Hours that suit, mealtimes, bathroom, tidiness, TV programmes, food, cooking – the latter which Geoff does
most of, so we’re not in each other’s way with a good routine,’’ he said. ‘‘I consider homeshare is a wonderful concept with suitable matching. I strongly support it.’’
Doug, like Bell, was also keen to postpone a move to a retirement village.
‘‘While they are popular and beneficial for a considerable percentage, they can also have their drawbacks,’’ he said.
‘‘Particularly for those who already own large homes with affordable upkeep and are comfortable with good neighbours.
This is where homeshare can be most beneficial for both parties.’’
While Gerzon said the benefits of the scheme are clear, she admitted that for some older people ‘‘the decision to share housing is a big step, a major adjustment’’.
Tanya Jeffcoat, who ran the Age Concern Hastings scheme, said reluctance was most prevalent among the generation that would only have left their parental home upon marriage, but she believed that future generations would increasingly embrace the idea.
She said New Zealand’s much-discussed housing shortage would also play a role.
‘‘The housing situation now is so dire, not everyone will be able to find their own place.’’
Thankfully for Bell, who experienced shared living through boarding school, this wasn’t an issue. Back then, she said, ‘‘you had to learn to live with others’’.