Editor:
The last glimpse my late neighbour had of the house she lived in for half her 90-plus years was from a stretcher being bumped down her steep stairs by paramedics.
Her ears must still have been ringing with the sound of the burglar alarm I accidentally set off while responding to her Lifeline alert with an out-of-date key. She had refused to think of moving, though it was clearly not safe for her to live in that house alone, and I suppose that was her right.
I wonder, however, how many residents that don't want to face up to the fact their housing is no longer suitable justify inaction with the notion they are aging in place.
Aging in place should mean living among people who take an interest in you and services you know. It should not mean squatting under a big old unadapted roof.
Of course, people can also justify inaction by saying there is nothing to move to and pointing out how thoughtlessly the need for age-friendly housing is being addressed.
For example, there is a current application for an upper Tsawwassen housing development the proponent says is intended for empty nesters, which should mean they are compact and stair-free. However, the proposed houses are as big as a family house used to be, and four out of five have two flights of stairs.
Gail Neff Bell
