New Senior Housing? The MEDCottage
A Fairfax County (VA) official dubbed it "The Granny Pod.' He can't stand the invention a Virginia minister created to help people live at home when they need long-term care. But others look at it and say it's ingenuity for the Age Wave and a person's desire to live at home.
What do you think of the MEDCottage (it's not actually called the Granny Pod)?
A little background . . . According to a Washington Post article:
Rev. Kenneth Dupin, who leads a small Methodist church in Southern Virginia, has a vision: As America grows older, its aging adults could avoid a jarring move to the nursing home by living in small, specially equipped, temporary shelters close to relatives . . .
As senior minister at what was then Aldersgate Wesleyan Church in Falls Church, Dupin visited a shut-in named Katie. Her husband had served in the Eisenhower administration, and she liked to show off photographs of them dancing at a White House ball.
On one visit, Dupin found Katie in tears. Her adult children had arranged for her to go into a nursing home. Workmen were busy fixing up her home for sale. When he later visited her at the nursing home, she was miserable.
"When I got there, she was absolutely devastated, and she asked me if I could take her home. That stuck in my head -- the patheticness of it," Dupin said.
The MEDCottage, like an RV, could be hooked up to a house's electrical and water system. It could be wired with sensors and other technology and would lease for about $2,000 per month. Interestingly, an online poll (non-scientific) you can take here shows a majority of people would buy it.
5 Comments
This is a great idea for those peole who could still live at home but with assistance (assisted living close to family). They are allowed to be independant but under the watchful eye of family and special services. This eliminates some of the stress from "grandma" and the family when it is appropriate. I can see that in not all cases this would be ideal but in some less severe cases this seems like a great option. Thanks for sharing.
looks like isolation to me, a great concept except you still need a care giver and family works so what interaction does one get? Not much room for a wc or walker
You can visit photos of the prototype by clicking on the link at the bottom of the blog post. It is a new idea in caring for those temporarily incapacited or facing end - of - life care. http://www.handshake20.com/2010/07/medcottage-a-revolution-in-caring.html
You can see actual photos from the prototype dwelling here: http://www.handshake20.com/2010/07/medcottage-a-revolution-in-caring.html The building is designed to have plenty of room for a wheelchair and/or walker and comes with a lift to help with moving patients that are immobilie
Whjy not just lease the RV and build a ramp? At least granny would have wheels to leave if they decide to bunk the Great Dane with her! kg
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