Courtesy of AgingBeautifully.com

I was sure I understood the subject, but I was talking with Cynthia Leibrock, an expert in universal design, and she knew immediately that I didn’t. Universal design is not about adding grab bars and ramps to our homes, to allow us to age in place, and calling it good. It’s much more forward-thinking than that, and she proves it by turning the interview around and asking me the questions.

Do you think of yourself as an elderly person who needs to remodel your home right now to accommodate a potential disability?

No? Then perhaps you’d be willing to consider a home that would improve your health and longevity. For example, how can your home make it fun to exercise and to use healthy cooking techniques? What can you change in your home to prevent accidents?

If you’re remodeling anyway, would you consider hidden features that could be adapted as your abilities change?

I honestly didn’t know how to answer most of these questions. I’d never thought about any of this. But her back-door approach gets to the heart of the matter. Universal design isn’t separate from the rest of the house, done to handle a problem that has suddenly arisen. It’s how you address your entire home when you’re still healthy, using products that are fun and design elements that are beautiful but adaptable to change if and when that time comes. In the meantime, your revamped home can actually inspire you to lead a healthy lifestyle.

It’s related to the things we never think about: a thermostat accessible only when standing, unreachable outlets behind furniture, narrow hallways requiring tight turns, slippery wood floors with inch-high throw rugs, towel bars that collapse when grabbed in an emergency, toilets too low to use—things that are invisible to us now that become painfully prominent when an unexpected disability appears, either temporarily from surgery or a fall, or permanently from an accident or debilitating disease.

For the boomer population, which prefers to distance itself from the notion of aging and infirmity (guilty), it’s a tough concept. While Leibrock allows that “a little denial about aging is healthy,” she emphasizes that the changes she proposes will keep you in control.

“Think about what are things I can do now to adapt my house in the future—what can I do while remodeling that would let me add grab bars in the future, that would keep me from tripping,” she said. Things like making bathroom walls strong enough to allow for eventual attachment of those grab bars. Using slip-resistant tile with multiple grout lines for traction. Having a shower with a temperature read-out control to prevent scalding. Cabinets and lights with touch controls. Recessed floor mats and area rugs. Refrigerators with shallow shelves. Hot water floor heating to keep the heat low in the room (whisper: nice for wheelchair users).

The beauty of it is, when these changes are made, no one would ever guess your house has been adjusted for aging. Nearly invisible design elements like these would prevent injuries and encourage a lifestyle that leads to health and longevity—in your own home.

“People wait until they get injured, and then they take a Band-Aid approach,” an approach that turns a house into a hospital. “I want them to pick up on it when they’re healthy. If they are remodeling or looking for a new house, they need to be aware that they have to have a checklist of choices. They need to do a quality job that will last the rest of their lives.”

Leibrock has been trying to get this message across to architects, designers, college students, and consumers for 25 years. It can be exasperating when something that’s so clear to her is given acclaim but not practiced universally. But wrap your mind about the boomer numbers: an estimated 78.2 million people were born between 1946 and 1964. Sooner or later, that group will have to look closer at where they’re living and decide if it will see them into old age.