The USA Today had a great article discussing the concept of ‘villages’ that build a community for aging adults. These communities operate with a small staff of paid or unpaid volunteers that assist the residents with tasks that can be accomplished relatively quickly but may be difficult to accomplish as people age. The articles list opening a jar, trimming a garden, installing a rail, or reaching an item that was placed too high as a few examples. The goal is to provide basic assistance to individuals that can be independent on their own if they know there is someone to call for some help. Since 90% of aging adults, according to AARP, want to stay in their homes this is great compromise for individuals that find it too expensive to retrofit their home for aging-in-place or want some additional social interaction.

The volunteers described in the article were in their sixities while the reseidents are commonly in their mid-70s to over 90 years of age. The volunteers then hoped to join the village when they aged and needed some assistance, and hope for the cycle to continue. I found this cyclical form of volunteering and assistance to be traditional baby boomer mentality and evidence they will change the way retirement is defined.

The village concept is  a way for the aging community to have a low cost and independent way of living without having the institutional feeling of a nursing home or the expenses of an assistant living center. These benefits have been started throughout the United States and the online article in the USA Today provides a great list of existing villages. I recommend you to take a look at the full text at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-26-aging26_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

If you or a loved one have ever lived in a village or a similar concept please contact us at info(at)imstoreonline.com