Active Aging Resources with Janet Engel

Janet describes to Kathy about how her background led to her deep involvement in helping seniors to AGE in PLACE safely and with style. She also informs us how she saw the need to create a comprehensive DIRECTORY for seniors and professionals to easily access critical information and connect to a network of many professionals solving the myriad of challenges that seniors face as they decide "what to do next."

Janet Engle

VP of Clinical Strategy and Engagement at DwellSafe

Home Designs for Life podcast

https://janetengel.com/

Transcript

Active Aging PodCast (00:00)
Hi, I'm Kathy with Active Aging Resources, and today I'm excited to be having a conversation with Janet Engel of Home Designs for Life. Janet is an occupational therapist and instructor for the National Association of Home Builders, teaching the CAHPS certification program, which I recently enjoyed taking. She's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to aging in place and universal designs for the home.

and recently collaborated with a partner to focus on their new website, the Aging in Place Directory, which I'm really excited to learn more about. So Janet, welcome. I'm so glad to have you as my first guest on my program. Will you please tell us a bit about your background and how it led you to come up with the idea for the directory? Yes, Kathy, and thank you for having me as your first guest. I am excited to be on your podcast and I

you for taking this step because it's a big deal and I think that it will bring many amazing things your way. So I am very proud of you for being brave and doing this. Well I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I am an occupational therapist. I worked in home health for many years with mostly the geriatric population.

and was very involved in making recommendations for people to make their home safer. Many of my patients had either suffered a fall or they perhaps had a diagnosis like cancer that changed how they function in their environment. And so they were no longer independent.

activities like bathing or dressing, or they were less independent than they wanted to be. And so my job as an OT was to help people be as functional as possible with the abilities that they had and changing their environment. And so that was how I became passionate about home modifications, because I saw that the home really presented many hazards and obstacles.

for people, especially older people, to be able to live in their homes comfortably and safely. And I became a certified aging in place specialist, which you just earned that certification through the National Association of Home Builders. I did that four years ago. And now I'm an approved instructor for the NIHB. I teach CAPS. I also teach universal design.

And then recently, my business partner, Esther Kane and I created the Aging in Place Directory because we saw that there were many homeowners and caregivers that are looking for an aging in place specialist to come evaluate their home, give them recommendations on how to make their home safer. But they're not able to find these

knowledgeable professionals and vice versa. There are many aging in place professionals that are trying to get their businesses off the ground and they have a hard time connecting with homeowners and caregivers that are looking for their services. So, Esther really was along with the idea of creating a directory where specialists, regardless of which certification you have.

whether it's the CAP certification or CLIP or CEAC or the ECHM, where you can list your business profile on our directory and you can write a summary of what it is, the services that you provide. If you have a website, you can link your website. You can also link your social media to your profile.

and customers can actually communicate to you directly through our platform. So that really was the basis, just trying to connect homeowners with professionals who can help them. And it also sounds like connecting professionals with other professionals. So it's kind of a networking. So it's kind of designed to help both professionals.

homeowners and professionals really from all walks of life who are involved with senior care or senior caregiving. Yes, and a few of our subscribers are durable medical equipment suppliers that they sell products that are related to aging in place. And so as you said, it really is also a networking

platform because apart from the directory, which is aginginplacedirectory .com, we also created a second platform, which is aginginplacedirectorycommunity .com. And that is a platform that is only for the professional subscribers, and they can ask questions to each other.

If you sell a product or service, you can talk about your product or service on that platform and just connect with other people that do something similar, perhaps like you, Kathy, you're a real estate agent. There could be an occupational therapist on that platform that also lives in the Northeast. The two of you can refer to each other.

So it's a great way of creating this community of professionals that you can work with and that are like -minded. I love it. And what other types of resources are included in the directory for the families? We have educational resources on all of the different areas that we talk about when it comes to

making spaces safer. So we have a tab on multi -generational living, which many people don't talk about and don't realize that in order for a family to live in harmony, you really do have to design that space in a different way when you have multiple generations living under one roof. We also have resources for children.

children with a disability like either autism or perhaps it's a physical disability where they're in a wheelchair or use some kind of mobility device or perhaps it's a sensory impairment where the environment has to be modified in order for that child to function as best in their space. And so we have education on that and can connect you with a professional that

focuses in that area. Other areas such as exterior, when it comes to the exterior of the home, I believe it's just as important as the interior because for example, gardening is one of the favorite hobbies of older adults. Myself, it is one of my favorite hobbies as well. It sure is, one of mine, yes. And so you're...

The outside also has to be safe for us to be able to navigate in that space. It has to be comfortable, you know, shouldn't present hazards. I can give you the example of my neighbor that she has a retainment wall in her backyard and she has a garden on that upper surface and she was gardening and she fell from her retainment wall.

fractured her ankle and dislocated her elbow. She had to have surgery. She was in a wheelchair for about two months, in crutches probably for about five months, and she's in her early 50s. So an unsafe environment is unsafe for anyone, not just older adults.

So it's very important. It sounds like the help is out there. It just this directory will really help families of older adults help them. This is more for for everyone really. It's for everyone. It's completely free for homeowners and caregivers to use the website. You can get on our website, access the information.

search for a professional, buy a zip code, and you can also increase the radius if you don't find anyone near you. And you can also request a virtual evaluation. Love that. And what is the evaluation? Is it a special form that's filled out for them? Do you do like a FaceTime and you walk around, they walk around their home while you're

doing your evaluation? Yes, well, it is completely up to the professional that is doing the evaluation. So when we receive a request for a virtual evaluation, we will pass it on to one of our professional subscribers that we know slices in that area. And we give them the information of the client, and then they will conduct.

the evaluation and usually yes, it does involve going through a series of questions. The client usually also submits pictures of their space. They can also submit a video so that the professional can accurately give them recommendations based on what they need. Okay. And how can users ensure that the information provided in the directory is

current, up to date? Like how are you going to, I guess, moderate that? Well, all of the information with our blogs that we have in there, it's all based on current research. I'm a licensed occupational therapist, a certified aging and police specialist as well. My business partner, Esther, is a retired occupational therapist. She's also CAP certified.

She has several other certifications. For example, she has one with dementia. She has another one that I can't remember the name. I'm sorry, but she probably asked about four. Yeah. And so we're the ones writing the articles. So we're reviewing everything that is being posted on the website. Okay.

Professionals don't post articles. Any blog that is written is provided by you and Esther. And then can be shared. Yes. I think that's great. Yes. Professionals only post their business profile. Okay. Okay. How does the directory address the diverse needs of the aging population?

because now we've got the stages of aging, right? And we've got between the ages of say 65 and living to 100, those are different types of older adults, different levels of care needed, different levels of safety in their homes needed. Yes. So,

I think what you're asking, Kathy, is how do we cater to the three different segments of the aging in place market, which are the segment without urgent needs, which is our largest segment, mainly composed of baby boomers. Then we have our segment with a progressive condition, something like cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's, or it could be diabetes.

Parkinson's disease, these are all progressive conditions. And then we have our segment with traumatic change needs. This is someone who may have suffered a fall in their house or perhaps someone who's had a heart attack or just had a cancer diagnosis. So we have, that's why we really require for all of the professionals who join our directory.

to have some kind of certification in aging in place because that is where you develop that foundation of how to help people of different needs. And when we have someone with a progressive condition or a traumatic change, we recommend that an occupational therapist or some kind of healthcare provider take that case because that person is going to need

very specific modifications for their condition. Right, that makes so much sense. And hopefully as the professionals learn more about current trends in home design for universal living or for aging in place, I would like to be able to refer the different companies that provide

either beautiful design elements or whatever really is needed to make their home livable, safe and good looking really, which is what people want no matter what their age. Exactly. And that's why I think it's so important to have that networking aspect to the platform because I can only speak about aging in place from the

perspective of an occupational therapist. Because that's my education. That's my experience. You, Kathy, can speak to it from the perspective of a real estate agent. And an interior designer, what you're saying is that, well, yes, we want to make our spaces more comfortable. We want to make them safer, but we also want to make them beautiful. One day, all of us are going to sell our homes, right? Even if we die in our home.

someone, our children or our spouse is going to sell that home. And so we want our homes to be worth as much as possible. So that's why it's so important, the planning part of Aging in Place, because when you plan for Aging in Place, now you have options. Now you have time to hire the right people to make the changes that are going to work.

for you and your family, especially if you have a progressive condition, then it can be made for you. But guess what? Now we can also include universal design in that design of your home, in that renovation. And so it's going to be more beautiful. It's going to be contemporary. It's going to be usable by as many people as possible. It's going to have general market appeal.

And guess what? It's also going to be cheaper than if we only use accessible design. So our goal is never to make a space look hospital -like or institutional. We want it to blend in as much as possible with the existing design. Or if it's a complete renovation or a new build, make that design.

look like it is for anyone. For anyone, right. Make it look like a home. That's what you want. You want to live and feel like you're in your own home and not an environment that looks more like a hospital. Right. Yeah, I get it. We did the same thing for my dad as he was aging and

He was in his 90s and we redid his kitchen, we widened doorways so that it was wheelchair accessible if necessary. We did everything we could while still making the home beautiful. And when he passed and we went to sell it, it looked gorgeous for anyone, for a family. We had offers from all walks of life and no one.

said anything about the walk -in shower. It was, people don't need bath bombs today. I love, Kathy, that you brought that up about the walk -in shower or it's also called a curbless shower. A curbless shower, yes. Or a zero threshold shower because that is one item in the home that has now become universal design. Exactly. Because it is so attractive. It is so contemporary. And

A

two -year -old can walk into a curbless shower the same way someone in a wheelchair can roll into a curbless shower. So the curbless shower is accessible for everyone, but yet there's nothing about it that aims disability. Nothing. Or aging. Not today. Not how they're designing them. Not how they're designing. The same thing with the comfort height toilet.

That's another home feature that were fixture that used to be considered an accessible feature. So our standard toilets are between 14 and 15 inches high. The comfort height toilet is usually between 17 and 19 and a half inches high. Well, guess what? Anyone that is doing a bathroom renovation is going to take out their 14 inch toilet and they're going to replace it with a

comfort height toilet, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. Because putting in a 14 inch toilet is ridiculous. It sure is. Yeah. And so there you go. That's, that is an example of how these features that were once considered accessibility features, because once people have them, they realize, boy, it's so much more comfortable to have this higher toilet or to have this handheld shower.

in my bathroom or to have a wall hung bench in my shower so I can sit down when I'm washing my hair, shaving my legs, or simply relaxing. We're gonna put these features in. Right, it's actually, it's a more luxurious look for your bathroom. It's more luxurious, exactly. Yeah, it's very interesting how things have turned.

And I think it will even be more so as 10 ,000 of us turn 65 every day, right? So with an aging population, we're going to need more of these comfort luxury items in our homes. So I think it's, I think we're in this profession at the right time. And there's so much that can be done to help.

keep us safe, happy and long healthy living. And you're right, Kathy, we're at the very beginning because we have our baby boomers are going to be turning 65 up until the year 2030. And then after that we have Generation X, which is the one I belong to. And then we're the ones that are next to age. And so really we're going to have

a super age society by the time 2060 comes. That's what the World Health Organization has coined the term super age. Super age. It's amazing. I like it. Yeah. So we definitely are going to have to have companies that hater to older adults, whether they're selling a service or product that is going to be specifically for helping people.

live with more quality of life, fall prevention, be more comfortable. And the companies that do that early on and recognize the huge potential in serving this market, then those are the companies that are going to survive and thrive. I agree with you. So back to the aging in place directory, what future plans or expansions? What are your thoughts for the future with it?

Where are you taking it? Yeah. So what we would like is to include many different services in our directory, not just home modifications, because as you know, as a realtor, there are lots of services that older adults and not just older adults, I would dare to say mothers, because I know that when I was, when I had just had my son and I was not working, I would have loved to have something like Instacart.

10 years ago that could bring me groceries instead of having to wait till my husband went to the supermarket or me getting my baby in the car. So there are many services that I could have taken advantage of when I was caregiving for infants. Services like getting your hair done at home because there are many older adults that

either are no longer driving or don't feel comfortable with driving at night. And so they would love to have a service that could come to them. So big services like that. You're thinking of adding services such as that to the directory as you grow. I think that's a fantastic idea. And are you going, you're nationwide, I would imagine. Are you sticking with that or are you going into

We are going to expand into Canada. Okay. We are only a few months old. I would say we're not even two months old. Our directory became public April 8th. So that's why we wanted to get the kinks out first before we expanded into another country. But yes, we do have plans to expand into Canada.

That is really exciting and I can't thank you enough for sharing all this information. And I'm looking forward to being listed on the directory because as a real estate agent, I work with a lot of folks who need help either with ideas to stay safely in their home or to think about selling and they have added different features to their home that I can

portray as a positive as a negative. So no, you don't have to remove your comfort height toilet. No, you don't have to change your shower and put a bathtub in. That's all false information that I am able to convey to my clients so that they know that there's not a lot you have to do with a home that has already been made safe to age in.

Yes, or is visitable. So that's another thing that we learn about in the CAP certification is how do you make a home visitable so that your parents or friends that may be using a mobility device can come and visit you. Right. Right. Right. And that's such a huge perk of

renovating your house and making it more appealing to future buyers is just simply adding some accessibility features that really fall under universal design, like creating a zero step entrance into the home. You mentioned earlier having the wider hallways, having wider doorways so that people of different abilities can also use your space.

can also come feel comfortable. I often hear that people are looking for a place where their mother -in -law can visit or their parents or whoever who need exactly what you're saying. They need that possible curbless shower. They need the wider doorways. So I agree with you. I think that this

I'm really excited to be part of this aging in place community and professionals are teaching me all kinds of things that are only going to help my business. Yes. Yes, Kathy. And we're happy to have you. We would love for you to join our directory. We love realtors. We think there's huge value. They offer huge value to clients when it comes to helping them decide if they should renovate their home.

or if they should move to a new one. So I think it's such an important resource just as interior designers are. I think these professionals are already in the home. So might as well add some other tricks to your bag, to your toolkit. Absolutely. Share that with your customers. And in the directory we can help.

you spread the word about your business. So help your business grow. And I wanted to say that when you're a professional and you join our directory, you only pay the monthly subscription, which for our basic plan, it's only $14 a month. And once we get a referral, if it's for a virtual valuation, we offer it to you and you don't pay us any part of that fee.

that client is 100 % yours, you bill that client, whatever it is that your rates are. We do not dictate anything, any relationship or any payments for that referral. All you pay is that subscription fee. That's it. The $14 .00. How many levels of membership do you have? We have three.

We have three. We have the basic subscription, which is basically allows you to add your business profile to connect your website, connect your social platforms. Customers can communicate directly with you. And anytime someone searches in that zip code, your profile, if you are in that area, will come up. So you're not paying.

to be shown for 30 days, you know, where the amount of money you pay changes for the exposure that you get. No, your subscription fee for that month will put you on the directory for the entire 30 days. And then if we get a virtual request, which we do get quite a few of, then that's when those requests come to Esther and I, and then we will.

give it to a specific professional that we know serves that type of client. Got it. And so then our second tier is our professional plan. And this is more for business owners that want education on online marketing strategies, such as search engine optimization, or perhaps using AI tools to create content. They want business advice.

perhaps they're interested in podcasting. And so with that professional platform, you have access to webinars that Esther and I are recording and you can watch these webinars as many times as you want, have access to them. We have PowerPoints that go along with them so that you can then reference the information. We have links to whatever it is that we're discussing. So.

you can use these webinars to help you grow your business. And then we have our third platform, which is the premium platform where you have the business profile, you have access to the webinars, and we also have weekly mastermind meetings that are 75 minutes long. And basically it is Esther and I and whoever else joins the meeting and we discuss specific topics.

And we get into those masterminds held. They are held right now every Monday at 6 p Eastern. Okay. Over Zoom. And yesterday's meeting was on podcasting. How to create a podcast, the benefits of podcasting for your business. And every week we talk about a different topic and it's all related to business growth.

in specifically for the aging in place market. And so I didn't mention, Kathy, the second tier plan, the professional plan, that one's $24 a month and the premium plan is $34 a month. And you can cancel at any time. There's no commitment. You can downgrade your subscription or upgrade to a different plan anytime you want.

So it's very, very flexible. That's wonderful. I think you've created an amazing platform and I see a lot of growth potential there because there's so many people now getting involved in this niche, especially realtors. Yes. And you're so, I mean, you're educating everyone, including professionals. And that is huge because there's so much information out there.

I just, I'm amazed at all you've done and I'm so happy that I've had the chance to speak with you. Well, thank you, Kathy. I love that we met. I knew as when we met a few months ago, we were instant friends. We were absolutely. That's how I felt. I feel like I have a friend on zoom. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I hope I get to have you back on my show and learn how things are going.

Yes, I'd love to be back and I wish you luck with your new podcast. I'm sure it's going to be great and you're going to have many interesting guests that are really going to amplify the knowledge for many different professionals in this field. So I think you're doing a great thing. Wonderful. Thank you so much. You're welcome, Katherine. All right, till next time. Bye bye.