Nearly one-fourth of Americans age 45 and older predict that they or someone they live with will have difficulty getting around in their home within five years. Older people generally have a greater desire to remain in their current homes than younger people. Unfortunately, fewer than 10 percent of the roughly 100 million housing units in America have significant features for universally accessible usage such as wide doorways, entrances without steps, stairwell handrails, grab bars in bathtubs, and light switches at the top and bottom of stairs. Today, a wide range of products are available from medical supply stores and other vendors to help seniors stay at home. Equipment vendors say navigating stairs and bathrooms are by far the top two problems the elderly face at home.
Costs vary considerably, and comparisons are in order.
Those products and more are part of the durable medical equipment industry, where both basic and technologically sophisticated items for the home have become a bigger business as society has shifted its focus from institutional care to finding ways people can stay in their homes. Although the technology is, like every other industry, becoming more and more impressive, the typical person over age 65 is not going to have an array of high-tech equipment. People raised in the Depression era commonly are reluctant to spend money on themselves simply to make their lives more convenient. They tend more to save their money and struggle through. Go60.Com accepts well written guest articles and editorials which are not intended to promote or sell goods or services.