Episode 7:10 Senior Living vs. Staying at Home: Healthy Aging Advocate Scott Fulton Looks at the Future

The president of Home Ideations and Chair of the National Aging in Place Council® talks about the renewed focus on "healthspan" and the impact of place on aging well.

About Scott

Scott Fulton is a longevity authority and healthy aging advocate. An evidence-based researcher, innovator, entrepreneur and pragmatic engineer, Scott is recognized for outside-the-box, direct approaches to solve big challenges. He brings an uncommon systems mindset to public health and aging and believes most of us could easily add ten healthy years to life just by pausing, switching off the noise of life, and internalizing the healthspan opportunity within our reach today.

Scott is founder and president of Home Ideations, an education and consulting company focused on healthspan solutions. He teaches at the University of Delaware, chairs the National Aging in Place Council, and is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, National Health Association, and True Health Initiative Council.

Key Takeaways

• The not-for-profit National Aging in Place Council® is a senior support network based in Washington, DC, with chapters around the country. The number of older adults that want to age in place was 80% pre-pandemic, with the number today going over 90% according to most surveys.
• The three areas that everybody must cover to age in place are primary access to and from your home, the bathing environment, and workarounds for multi-level homes.
• Spouses often have different visions of where to grow older. One says “take me out of my home feet first” while the other has visions of living in a Disney Vacation Resort.
• Smart home technology and wearables will get even smarter. Instead of saying “you’re falling,” it will detect when you are at risk of falling and make suggestions about how not to fall.
• Technology is going to arm with precision data tailored to our specific genetics.