Monday, July 11, 2011

Paying for Home Modifications for the Elderly

When compared to the cost of a nursing home at around $70,000 a year, the cost of making modifications to one’s home to accommodate for aging challenges is not that expensive. Federal and state governments carry much of the load for the cost of nursing home care and they recognize that caring for the elderly at home is less expensive. They seek to avoid any unnecessary institutionalization of the elderly and providing assistance for home modifications is one strategy to achieve that goal.

Federal agencies such as USDA and HUD offer programs to assist families in making home modifications. The Veteran’s Administration also provides several grants for disabled and elderly veterans. Another source of assistance comes from non-profits and community organizations. National non-profit organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association and MS Society have programs that help accommodate independent living for persons with those respective conditions. Also many community organizations develop or participate in building projects that provide free labor to the elderly to make home improvements, such as the installation of handrails and wheelchair ramps.

To help families find assistance to pay for home modifications, our organization has added home modification assistance resources to our database of financial resources for eldercare. One can browse through the available programs or use the locator tool to discover how to pay for home modifications.

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