practical living homes that enable , services that serve , enriching networks and preserving personal reputations . We could see no reason why they wouldn ’ t be the same habits for older people . So , we tested for their presence in retirement villages . Not only are they mostly missing , but we also found activity , expectations , attitudes and rules that actively occupy the space and displace them .
We should never confuse the residents ’ need for roles with the building grandness that is such a selling feature of new villages . We found that older people were more than happy to trade ‘ grand ’ for roles . Good news for operators because it lowers build cost and changes the dynamic of what ’ s supplied and what residents assume are their responsibility . Check out top-selling Lasell Village on the grounds of Lasell University in Boston , where the resident contract requires all residents to be students at the university .
Businesses really only sign up for serious change when leaders can see what the new ‘ good ’ looks like . And that ’ s been the problem . No obvious alternatives to the village . Operators haven ’ t asked , older people simply stay away .
Some recent co-invention work with older people indicated that of the six things people value most about where they live , only one of them is about the house itself . Looks like the significance of the role-function over the roof-function might increase with age . Goodness knows what co-design work with these older people and clever product developers might turn up as new housing options for modern elders .
And this is probably the only way to open the door on the other 94 per cent of the market , many of whom want to change houses ( usually to downsize their maintenance and upsize their lives ) but won ’ t have a bar of retirement villages . It ’ s likely to be more integrated with people who have roles , role-enabling , close to where buyers currently live , offer very discreet services , tech-enabled , way more storage , easy to move out of and never ever branded for older people . In the absence of housing that older people like , they ’ ve turned to building and renovating their own , with Thrive Housing reporting a 30 per cent increase in older people opting to build .
Until we see modern elders more as ‘ rolers ’ and less as ‘ roofers ’ we will continue to see retirement villages as the answer to older people ’ s housing , even if this means operators sacrifice significant market growth , profitability , customer satisfaction and community leadership . Such is the depth of embedded ageism , we would love to see them lead this change ( especially with their village managers ), more likely others will . ■
Mike Rungie specialises in the intersection between good lives and aged care . He is a member of a number of boards and committees including ACFA , Every Age Counts , Global Centre for Modern Ageing and GAP Productive Ageing Committee .
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