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`MAY 30 1999
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`bringing about new
`products that
`.
`encourage
`independence for the
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`' Maybe it wasthe spacious-
`ness. Or else it was the easy-to-
`reach kitchen cabinets. Betsy
`Frazen couldn’t put her finger on
`why this house seemed so appsal-
`ing as she and her husband went
`house huntinglast summer.
`'
`Butshe kept comingback to
`“I went through here and
`thought, wow,
`this is\ pretty
`neat,"gsaid Frazen, 60.
`-
`The “neat” thing about this
`house insuburbang Richmond, ‘
`rates a con-
`Va., is that itmcorpo
`cept called Universal Design,
`which was originally conceived
`asawaytodesign buildings that
`could accommodate disabled peo-
`ple.
`Frazen and her husband,
`Dean, 56. are able-bodied. But.
`like many others, they are look-
`ing towards re-
`tirement and
`Wanting tostay
`put. They don’t
`. .want
`their».
`homes to ‘- be-
`some obstacle
`mums should
`
`they develop a
`disability as
`they -age. And
`they are fuel-
`ing emerging
`
`In' the bathrqong
`the decorative
`towel racksare
`slightlythicker than
`usual.They are
`actually grab bars.
`‘
`' And the shelf
`extendingfrom the .
`bathtub. helps
`‘
`someone sit dam
`and swing theirlegs
`over the ledge.
`
`,
`
`markets of
`home design
`and- new tech-
`nology .so they .
`won’thaveto.
`Before it was
`sold to the Fra-
`zen’s, the house Was showcased
`for a year as“ a special project be-
`tween' the AARP the local Rich-
`mon'd Realtors association, and
`its fea'-.
`‘area contractors. _ngAmo
`tures: wider doorways forwheel-
`chairs; better lighting for the
`visually impaired; andno stairs
`comingyintopor out ofthe house.
`Dean Frazen points out the
`electrical outlets atthe top and
`bottom of his home's extra-wide
`staircase. The width and the out-.
`lets are for an electric chair lift,
`should theyever need one.
`.
`
`‘
`
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`In their huge bathroom, the
`decorative towel racks are
`slightly thicker than usual. They
`are actually
`grab bars. And the .
`shelf extending from the bathtub
`‘sn’t .just for candlesor maga-
`zines.
`It’s to help someone sit
`down and swing their legs over
`the ledge. The stripe on theedges
`of the Corian countertops in the
`kitchen andtbathroom isn’t just
`decorative;it sdesigned to pro-
`vide clues to a visually impaired
`person.
`..
`The Frazens point out dozens
`of other details such as 'these
`that make theirs home user-
`friendly —. from raised electrical
`outlets (no deep bending) to a
`built—in ironing board.
`“Even ifyou’re not handicap-
`ped, thesearethekindsofthings
`that make sense,” Dean Frazen
`said.
`For people who do have disa-
`bilities, new technology”is bring-
`ing about hundreds of new
`products that encourage indepen-
`dence.
`'
`“This is the next fi‘ontier of
`research,” said Joseph Coughlin,
`director of the Massachusetts In-
`stitute of Technology’s newly es-
`tablished AgeLab, known more
`formally.as the Technology for
`HealthyAging Laboratory
`Since medical advances are
`allowing people to live longer, he
`said, “we have to make sure. we
`can live and live well during the
`time we have bought ourselves.”
`‘ One of the lab’s major areas
`of research involves transporta-
`tion MIT is working with car
`makers to develop products that
`will enable seniorsPto drive bet—
`ter.
`'
`“Transportation really is the
`glue that holds our life toygather,”
`Coughlin said. “Without transit,
`it's equivalent to sentencing (sen-
`ions) toequllifein prison.”
`Among new developments in
`the works.
`0 New options on cars that will
`make room for and store wheel-
`chairs and walkers. “Nobody
`wants an older, ,
`person’s car
`that looks ret-
`rofitted. You
`want it to be
`seamless,” he
`said.
`0 Toyota is
`working with
`MIT to develop
`a small electric
`car to be mar-
`keted'to resi-
`dents --of, adult
`communities,
`so they'can get
`around town
`. easily.
`
`o The lab is
`also research-
`ing “intelligent transportation
`systems,” such as audio warnings
`if a car is too close to another ob-
`'.ect
`J
`In the health care field, en-
`trepreneurs Alan Letzt and Steve
`Brown have come up with ways
`to help people better manage
`their home routines, from taking
`medications at the right time to
`remembering daily exercise.
`Letzt, of Burke, Va.,_ quit his
`job at a marketing and engi-
`neering firm nine years ago when ‘
`his , mother complained she
`couldn’t remember which med-
`3360118 to take at which time of
`y.
`The result'is Jerry the Phar-
`macist, which will bereleased'in
`select pharmacies in Virginia
`and Ohio at the end of the year,
`and throughout the country early
`next year.
`It’s the size of a pocket calcu-
`lator and designed like a pager,
`beeping eachtime a pill needs to
`be taken. Push the button when
`it beeps, and a recorded. voice
`tells you what you need to do.
`Push another button when you’ve
`finished. -A third button will ad-
`vise you what to do if certain
`symptoms or complications arise
`from a certain drug.
`.
`Steve Brownie Health .Hero
`Netw'ork has aimore advanced
`version for people whose health
`care needs daily monitoring.
`Brown started his company 10
`years ago, and on March 30
`rolled. out the Health Buddy.
`,An online service posts daily
`questions to patients on a small
`screen at home, askingthem how
`they feel, whether they‘ve taken-
`their drugs, or if they‘ve devel-
`oped any adverse symptoms. An
`answer indicating trouble is im-
`mediately routed to a case mana-
`ger who will call the home.
`The result is that health
`5 problems are identified early, be:
`fore the point where someonelias
`
`3W hto the hospaiitlfill
`
`ero’s c ants are m y
`health plans, who give the de-
`vices to patients with chronic
`health conditions to head off
`huge' hospital costs, Brown said.
`“Ourpfundamental proposi-
`tionistbréplacea$10,000 hospi-
`'talization with a $100 doctor’s
`ofiice‘ visit," he said
`In otherfB
`of research,
`University
`ale study docu-
`ments the0co'st'-efi"e<':tiveness of
`various “assistive technologies
`and home modifications"onElthe
`frail elderly.
`The.18-month study pub-
`lishedinthe Archives ofyFamily
`Medicine, found that people who
`
`2
`
`had an array of devices available
`to help them get'around betterin
`their homes spent less on hospi-
`talizations and iii-home nursing
`care than those who didn’t have
`the extra devices, suchas noslip
`carpets, grab rails and balancing
`aids.
`“we have demonstrated that
`the cost of intervention'is far less
`than being institutionalized,”
`said professei’William Mann, (ii-
`of Biifi'a-
`, rector of the University
`10’3 Rehabilitation Engineering
`Research Center on .Aging and
`chiefauthor ofthe study.
`But most of that intervention
`is not covered by Medicare.
`“I want them to change their
`. policy,”Mann said. “We need to
`be more liberal in the way we
`consider what things should get
`covered.”
`Medicare oflicials acknowl~
`edge such concerns. But the fed-
`eral Health Care Financing
`Administration, which funds
`Medicare, is bound by Congress
`on what it can cover, said Dr?Jef-
`frey Kang, director of theagen-
`cy’s Office of Clinical Standards
`and Quality.
`“1 think that kind of study
`would inform Congress,” Kang
`.said. But it also
`begs the ques-
`tion of what is a medical issue
`and what is a housing issue.
`What we're really talking about
`is changes to people’s housing.”
`In the housing arena, design-
`ers andbuilders arecatching on.
`“Thecommunity of. designers
`really understands that there is
`a need for design thatis inclusive
`in every ."way, Irma Dobkin told
`a group of builders last week dur-
`ing a conference organized by the
`National Association of Home
`Builders. Dobkin is an interior
`designer whospecializesin Uni-
`versal Design.
`'
`.
`“What I’mhopingto do with
`the building c‘onimunityis to sen-
`sifize' them,” she said later “It’s
`beginning to happen, but we’ve.
`been preaching it for 10 or 15
`years."
`The 'builders’werehatching.
`Louis Tyler“, whose Mdryland
`company merchandiseshomein- '
`teriors tolarge adult communi-
`ties all overargthe country, -was
`ready to hire Dobkin as aconsul-
`tant. “I’Ve. learned a lot from‘
`her,” he said afterher talk,
`'
`Meanwhile in Richmond, the
`Frazen’s intend to adopt many of
`their new home’8 features when
`they get ready to build their re-
`tirement home in. Virginia"s ‘.
`mountains three or fouryears
`from new;
`
`