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Visitability
Making Homes Accessible for Everyone
We know that Ohio's aging population is growing, and with it the rate of disability also is growing. We know that people would rather age in place in their own homes and communities, instead of in nursing facilities. However, structural barriers in their homes can prevent older adults and people with disabilities from doing so. These architectural barriers also make it difficult for older adults and people with disabilities who need basic accessibility to visit family and friends.
Many houses have steps at all entrances, narrow doorways, long and narrow hallways and lack an accessible bathroom on the main floor. To address this problem, advocates of housing accessibility are promoting the concept of visitability, which describes homes designed so that they can be lived in or visited by people who have trouble with steps or who use wheelchairs or walkers. A house is visitable when it has:
Designing for visitability when building a new home is cheaper than trying to remodel an existing home to meet the needs of an older owner. Ohioans spend more than $5 million annually in state and federal Medicaid funds, state MRDD capital funds and Ohio Housing Trust Funds to modify entrances and bathrooms in existing homes for people with disabilities so they can remain in their homes and avoid moving to more expensive, yet more accessible, facilities. That figure does not include the costs incurred by families or funds from other sources such as the Ohio Rehabilitative Services Commission or charitable organizations.
The aging population will have a significant impact on the nation's housing needs. According to a Journal of the American Planning Association article, Aging and Disability: Implications for the Housing Industry and Housing Policy in the United States, 91 percent of newly built single family homes will have a resident or visitor with physical limitations or disabilities during the home's useful life.
A family or builder who builds a home that meets the visitability guidelines ensures not only that family and friends will feel welcome and able to visit, but also ensures that the home will be comfortable and livable in the future. The Ohio Department of Aging strongly supports visitability in all homes, so that Ohio's aging population will be able to remain safely in their own homes and visit the homes of their family and friends.
For more information about visitiability, go to Visitability Ohio or Concrete Change.