Annie Jacob realised that her home required some modifications after her 77-year-old husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years back. He had begun facing issues related to balance, with an increased tendency to have falls. She soon got in touch with architects specialising in home modifications for the elderly to make design changes within the house, especially in the bedroom and the bathroom. The changes they suggested were relatively minimal, including the fixing of grab bars and anti-slip flooring for the bathroom, but these turned out to be effective in preventing any falls.

“We got grab bars fixed in spaces that he uses most frequently. It is very helpful, and I also use it as it gives more confidence to move around, especially at night. Both our children stay abroad and visit us every few months,” says the 75-year-old Ms. Jacob.

Hospitalisation after fall

Kerala, a State with a high ageing population and a large section of the young working outside the State, has been witnessing a trend of home modifications to suit the elderly. Home modifications, which follow the concept of “aging in place” to ensure that senior citizens live safely and independently in their own homes, have caught on because falls inside their own homes are one of the major causes of hospitalisation for the elderly.

As per the findings of the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1, released in 2021, the self-reported prevalence of falls and resultant injuries among older adults of age 60 and above is 23% and 20% respectively. Kerala, with 30%, occupied the third position among States for prevalence of falls among the elderly above the age of 60. The State also has the maximum proportion of elderly people in its population compared to other States.

Parvathy Mohan, a paediatrician, looked for home modification options after her parents, aged 91 and 88, had fallen inside the home some months ago.

“Among the modifications we got done were, height adjustable toilet seats, grab bars inside the bathroom, near the wash basin and bedroom and adjustable railings on the sides of the beds. When one of them had to be isolated due to COVID-19, modifications were done in another room too,” she says.

Exclusive ventures

The increasing demand for home modifications has led to ventures like Elder Ease and Alive which focus exclusively on products to make the lives of senior citizens easier.

“Most people construct their home when they are 30-40 years old. So, they might not plan or design it for when they would be above 60 years. When clients contact us, we visit their houses, identify risk areas and give them suggestions on what needs to be done. When we launched six years ago, there was a lot of reluctance to make modifications as people don’t like to accept that they are aged. Even now, the majority accepts suggestions for modifications in bathrooms, but not in the sit-out, which is visible to others,” says B.R Brahma Puthran, co-founder and CEO, ALIVE.

According to architect Shibu Aboosali, most of the new houses are being constructed considering the needs of senior citizens, but a lot of clients approach to carry out modifications on older houses.

“Post the COVID-19 outbreak, there has almost been an equal number of demands for customising rooms for work-from-home requirements and home modifications for the elderly. This happened especially because geriatric treatment has been shifted from hospitals to homes after the pandemic. We receive calls for modification mostly after people have a fall and return home from hospitalisation,” says Mr. Aboosali.