A new kind of retirement community

There’s a lot written these days about the concept of “aging in place”, or, doing things differently that allow a senior to stay at home as opposed to assisted living or a nursing home.

Some groups of seniors are taking it upon themselves to organize and provide each other the help that they need through a sort of “retirement co-op”:

Cambridge at Home, which began operations October 1, is one of a new breed of retirement communities that allow people to continue living in their own homes as they receive organized support. These types of communities are in their infancy, so their long-term success remains uncertain. But for seniors who are reasonably healthy, they promise a way to delay or perhaps avoid the need to move in with family or to a facility offering round-the-clock care.

Though the Cambridge at Home example is membership based, and, thus requires fees to participate, there are other similar programs called “naturally occurring retirement communities”, often in apartment complexes, that are funded with a mix of public and private dollars.

What a wonderful idea, especially form a social standpoint, and, other benefits to relatively healthy people.

But, I wish there were some sort of similar, affordable effort to help people who aren’t quite as healthy stay in their homes.