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Granny in a Box

May 25

Written by:
5/25/2010 9:07 AM

Have low-cost alternatives for senior housing reached a new low? Richard Peck takes a look at backyard dwellings for seniors.

We’ve spoken before in this blog about the need for low-cost alternatives to institutional long-term care involving nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Well, how about building a small dwelling unit in your own back yard and installing your loved one there? That may sound a little far-fetched—naysayers have called it “granny in a box”—and it may raise uncomfortable questions about “what will the neighbors think?” But the fact is, the technology has arrived and companies offering it have started dipping their toes in the marketplace this year.

One of them, The Rockfall Company, LLC based in Connecticut, is marketing Practical Assisted Living Structures, or PALS. Constructible in the back yard and hooking up with all the family home’s utilities, the PALS offers occupants a bedroom and bathroom modified to accommodate handicaps. The structure is easily removed when it is no longer needed. Rockfall estimates that, even when including two meals a day and homemaker services provided two hours a day, leasing a PALS at $1,800 a month would cut the typical $74,000 nursing home bill in half; purchasing one for $55,000 at 7.5% interest would reduce the annual bill still further to about one-third.

Another recent arrival on the backyard unit stage is the MEDCottage, the brainchild of The Reverend Kenneth Dupin, a Virginia-based Methodist minister, and his new company called N2Care. Also connected with the family home’s electricity and water supplies, the less than 300 sq. ft. MEDCottage promises to offer a high-tech supportive environment, complete with sensor technology monitoring for falls, computerized medication management, telemedicine capabilities and a modern entertainment center, at a lease of about $2,000 a month. Dupin has already received state grants for the prototype, expected this June, and permission from the Virginia General Assembly to supersede local zoning laws to install such backyard structures with doctors’ orders.

That supra-zoning measure, though, indicates a potential problem with the concept: neighbors might be none too thrilled with the idea of having someone’s frail elderly mom “living in a box” so close to their homes. Several comments on the Washington Post website that included this story took offense at the idea. Others commented, though, that the concept promised to relieve caregivers of major logistical and financial burdens—and that was the sentiment that evidently carried the day with the Virginia legislators.

Considerably more ambitious in size but still, at a median cost of about $55,000, is the so-called “manufactured home.” These are essentially pre-fabricated homes made in sections in a factory and assembled on-site in quick order—in a little over two months, to be exact. These are not mobile homes—at least, not in the conventional sense. According to the Smart Senior web site, which evaluates senior living products of all types, these are categorized as “modular homes”—complete rooms delivered to the site; “pre-cut homes”—pre-cut pieces and parts delivered and assembled on-site; or “panelized homes”—assembled as complete panels including windows, doors and electrical, as well as floor and roof panels. These more conventional homes—i.e., occupying their own property—still run much cheaper than the costs for nursing homes, assisted living facilities or independent living campus apartments with multi-hundred thousand dollar entrance fees.

Time will tell whether any of these pre-fab little homes will deliver the amenities needed. But next time you hear someone complaining about “sticking granny in a box,” don’t rule it out immediately. They just might not have all the facts. For further information: www.palsbuilt.com; www.medcottage.com; google Smart Senior.

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Caregiving by Richard Peck

7 comment(s) so far...

Nice Article Richard Thanks for sharingA nursing home is a long-term care facility licensed by the state that offers 24-hour room and board and health care services, including basic and skilled nursing care, rehabilitation, and a full range of other therapies, treatments, and programs. People who live in nursing homes are referred to as residents.

By Albert on 5/28/2010 11:42 AM

I have wanted to work in home health care, but it seems I keep hitting a brick wall to find a job,
and now I cannot even enroll in the classes. I am homeless, and have no car, but there are ways
around both of those. I could go into a home to take care of someone, which I have done before,
and an advance on salary would get a rental in between. Maybe even someone in the family has
an extra car. Please start helping people who need it , not hindering them more.

By Judi Evans on 6/4/2010 3:00 PM

I like the health & safety sensor technology.

SEATTLE: I believe there needs to be some aging in place technology in place - My Virtual Companion™ is all wireless and easily retrofitted into any environment including Assisted Livings i.e.: Doris Peterson still feels a sense of security. She lives in a Smart Home her doors are monitored and if she gets out of bed at night to use the bathroom a pathway is lighted bedroom & bathroom sensors monitor her till the bed sensor is normal (in bed). Her Circle of Care™ caregiver is alerted if outside the parameters setup at the caregiver’s request.

ASSITED LIVINGS: Will now be able to improve on the personal care of a resident with this technology. The cost matrix in a Multi-Dwelling building would certainly make this cost affective.

ELDER ACTIVITY MONITORING: Other scenarios focus on monitoring an elderly person’s daily activity monitoring non-medical sensors such as environmental sensors, motion sensors, home sensors (e.g. bed, couch, door, window, refrigerator, food cupboards, water overflow, and stove top), etc

MEMORY: Lapses can make it difficult for some older people to take their medications correctly. Studies have shown that between 40% and 75% of older people don't take their medications at the right time or in the right amount.

ELDER: Using an elders TV as a REMINDER TOOL with “pop-ups”. This leads to improvement in medical compliance thus leading to better healthIf pre-scheduled events like taking medications or glucose readings are missed, you’re TV, lights, LED's, and a pleasant chime. These messages can be set to continue until activity is completed.There can be dozens of events and re-reminders. Add a custom reminder for a medication taken before a meal.

REMINDERS: If the elderly person has to follow a certain daily schedule such as taking a weight measurement in the morning, obtaining glucose level readings at noon and at 6 p.m. and completing an oxygen level reading after dinner. And should the person not respond to reminders, a message will be sent to your Circle of Care™ My Virtual Companion™ alerts your network of Family, Friends, and Caregivers with an email or a text message and web posting.

FAMILY: Members feel unsure about the care that their elder loved one is receiving while they are going about their own lives. Information can be sent to to the Assisted Living staff as well.

CAREGIVER: Can monitor the daily activity status of the person. If certain Activities of Daily Living. ADL’s (routine activities) are not completed; the person will be reminded & re-reminded. A phone call or visit by a caregiver, friend or neighbor may be required depending on the event.