The Washington Post has a story about Kenneth Dupin, a Methodist minister in the D.C. area who has dreamed up a solution to the problem of America’s increasingly aging population. As the baby boomer generation reaches its golden years, our country finds itself woefully unprepared for the drain on resources and the increase in medical care that the shift in demographics will bring. In other words, we don’t have enough nursing homes, or hospital beds, or long-term care facilities, not to mention elder-care workers and other healthcare professionals needed to care for the aged boomers.[SButtonZ button="digg"]
The solution, according to Dupin, is Medcottage, (pictured at left) a small, specially-equipped shelter that younger relatives could erect in their backyards and use to stash an elderly parent. According to the Medcottage’s Web site:
The MEDcottage is a charming modular construction that may be placed on the caregiving family’s property with little site preparation. It maintains an umbilical relationship to the primary dwelling through water and electrical hook-ups….This is no ordinary grandmother’s cottage; it is outfitted with the latest technical advances in the industry, including dynamic smart robotic features. It offers remote monitoring capabilities via Internet for the caregiver through their PC in real time. Some of the areas monitored include security, communication, environmental controls, telemetry, and medication dispensing.
Basically you could set the dwelling up like a wired shed in your backyard, and keep a constant eye on the sick friend or relative, including monitoring his or her vital signs from your living room. The cottage could even offer a selection of digital music and movies. As for cost, Dupin estimates that it could be leased for around $2,000 a month — not an outrageous sum, considering the thousands of dollars charged by many nursing homes. And of course there’s always the chance (hope?) that much of the cost would be borne by health insurers.
In a major victory, without even building a prototype, Dupin and his team persuaded the Virginia General Assembly to pass legislation changing local zoning laws and permitting families to install buildings such as the Medcottage on their property with a doctor’s order. In addition, the structures must be less than 300 square feet and conform to local regulations governing sheds or garages, and they have to be removed within 30 days after the occupant dies, or moves to a hospital or nursing home.
Granted, structures like these may run into staunch resistance from suburban neighbors who object to unsightly RV-sized mini-apartments being erected in their communities. But Dupin and his Medcottage have the legislature on their side, not to mention the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination against necessary provisions for disabled individuals. And hey, it beats putting an octogenarian parent in the spare bedroom.
Image: Medcottage
Tags: Aging America, Innovation
This reminds me of TinyHomes, though better suited for someone who is ill than the typical Tiny Home that is based on sleeping in a loft.
One wonders whether it could be downsized to 200 sq. ft, since in many standard codes, an auxilliary structure that is 200 sq. ft. or less can be put up without requiring a permit.
I like the sentiment, but there’s something a little creepy about erecting a pre-fab backyard structure where one’s parents will be cared for by medical droids.
Secondly, I’m not clear on how the legislation adopted by the Virginia immediately impacts local zoning laws. I know this varies from state to state, but if Virginia passes state enabling legislation, shouldn’t the local municipalities then have to go through the process of adopting zoning amendments for this on a local level, with no guarantee that it would pass? I wouldn’t have guesses that existing statutes would allow the state to override local zoning laws so easily.
This is SICK. Push the infirm or old out to a ‘shed’ in the back yard??? How unfeeling can our society become? Instead of the backyard why don’t we just create a dying field on the edge of town where we can have rows of these. After all once you put one of these in your yard you’ll have to replace the dead grass once the person finally has the courtesy and die.
And I think that the installation would be a little more difficult than putting in a shed. There are water and sewer lines as well as electricity (the easy one) to provide. And like JamesR said I don’t see how a single states enabling legislation will get this approved by local governments.
Hopefully this is actually a social commentary article along the lines of Jonathon Swift’s ‘A Reasonable Proposal’.