Planning for boomer housing

How our society responded to the pandemic showed how quickly unexpected events can change people’s lives. There is another change coming to our society which will not happen as quickly or dramatically as what we have seen occur over the last few months, but it is set to concentrate minds in the years to come.

The demographic bulge of the baby boomer population has been rolling forward, and with improvements in medicine and increases to government support for the older people to remain in their family homes, some of the predictions made years ago have not yet materialised in large-scale numbers, but they very likely will.

We may not like to consider a future where we are less mobile or when illness takes on much more serious complications than when we were younger, but as the majority of people ignore a future that will require changes in the way they live, and when the boomer bulge hits a point that cannot be denied, we will find that options and resources are limited.

There are only so many retirement villages with so many beds, and only so many who want to live in a retirement village. They often relate to complex funding arrangements that seem to elderly clients at best opaque or at worst skewed to those who operate them.

The recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which so far appears to repeat a range of negative findings from over 30 other reports delivered over the last 40 years, has not made it any more attractive.

People who elect to receive care in their homes, reflecting government policy, can be affected by delays in receiving care. These delays can then force people into aged care facilities if a health crisis occurs.

Most people’s homes are not designed for the health effects that come with ageing. Decreased mobility and loss of hearing or sight can result in the increased risk of incidents like falls – the sort of health crisis that can trigger unplanned changes to how people live and often result in a loss of independence. There are also the health implications that come with the isolation and loneliness that can occur with the elderly, including depression, cognitive decline and heart disease.

Trying to predict the future can be difficult, but with the number of boomers aged over 75 set to increase, we know the scale of the aged care issue is only going to grow.

Planning for the future of an elderly baby boomer generation needs to focus on developing well-devised, technologically advanced homes designed to reduce health risks and enhance lives. This needs to be a key objective for state and federal governments.