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By Samantha Kanach with Melissa Stanton

At some point, most adults will find themselves providing care for another person. The same adults might someday need help caring for themselves.

The AARP Livable Communities Technical Advisors Program (often referred to as LC-TAP) and AARP state offices nationwide have been working with livability experts, local leaders and

volunteers to identify barriers and provide contextual solutions for addressing livability needs, including those that support caregiving. 

site plan and interior floor plan for how an ADU can fit on a typical residential lot. courtesy opticos design and the city of birmingham, alabama

Consistent with previous AARP surveys, the 2024 AARP Home and Community Preferences Survey found that 3 out of 4 adults want to reside in their current home for as long as possible.

Home modifications — such as grab bars in the bathroom, easy-to-reach storage solutions, zero-step entry and exit options — can reduce the risk of injuries, including from falls. These types

of home features are referred to as universal design (or UD) because the spaces are safe, comfortable and useful for people of all ages and abilities. Because UD products and home features

are attractively styled, the solutions are marketable to a broad audience. Older adults seeking to live safely and independently can add UD improvements to their current home or pursue

relocating to a home that already contains the UD features they need.  

According to a 2021 AARP survey of family caregivers, three-quarters incurred significant expenses (about $7,000 annually, or 26 percent of their income on average) due to being caregivers. 

In Fargo, North Dakota, AARP North Dakota hosted a housing design competition with help from the RL Mace Universal Design Institute to encourage local design professionals to think about

ways to create attainable, missing-middle-style, aging-friendly housing in in the city. (Some submissions to the contest appear in the AARP Housing Design Competition Tool Kit.)  

The city government of Birmingham, Alabama, engaged with AARP Alabama to encourage the creation of accessory dwelling units featuring universal design. A conceptual site plan (pictured) was

created with support from Opticos Design to demonstrate the addition of an age-friendly ADU on a typical residential lot. 

hyperlink in the text below to watch a video of Housing for the Care Economy Workshop. Capital TV

According to a 2023 AARP survey of registered voters, one-third identified as having been a caregiver in the past. One out of five voters were caregivers at the time of the survey, and a

majority of them had to balance their caregiving duties with their employment responsibilities. Half of all the respondents expected to be a caregiver in the future. On a related note, 65

percent are concerned they won’t be able to live independently. A similar number worry they will become a burden to their family. 

AARP Rhode Island used LC-TAP support from Smart Growth America to raise awareness about how a lack of workforce housing impacts the ability of older residents to secure long-term care and

supplemental services.

In 2024, AARP invited state and local leaders from the housing and long-term care sectors to the Housing for the Care Economy Workshop as a forum for discussing how access to quality,

affordable housing could help in recruiting and retaining direct care workers. Among the ideas:

repurposing vacant land or space associated with existing long-term care facilitiesreimbursing facilities that provide housing assistanceincentivizing the creation of multigenerational

housing and/or community-based modelsincorporating housing- and caregiving-related incentives into local zoning