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

Published in Home Modifications on December 20, 2021

HomesRenewed Coalition recently presented a paper, “The Cost Efficiency of Home Modifications to Reduce Healthcare Costs,” that outlines the cost-effectiveness of remodeling homes for safer aging in place. This paper shows that the government will save on healthcare costs if more people modify their homes for aging in place.

According to the press release:

“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.”

HomesRenewed also released an executive summary about the paper, which states:

“In this paper, we show how the federal government might catalyze the widespread installation of home safety and accessibility features and save money doing it. Decreasing falls alone would be a huge step forward. Falls cost over $50 billion a year in medical expenses. Individuals over 65 years old have a 10 percent annual probability of suffering a serious fall incurring an average of $11,500 in expenses. Home accessibility modifications can lower the incidence and severity of falls, extending the time the elderly safely remain in their homes. Safer homes are foundational to achieving the promises of telemedicine, home healthcare and hospital level care delivered in the home."

Click on the following links below to access these resources from HomesRenewed:

VGM Live at Home will continue to work with the HomesRenewed Coalition on their initiatives as their partner in the Home Accessibility industry. For more information HomesRenewed and to learn about how you can support this cause, visit homesrenewedcoalition.com.

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