Seniors are living longer and are relatively healthier than their parents or grandparents. That is good news. Today, 95% of seniors live in the community, more and more in rental apartments and condominiums.
While the demographics have been rapidly changing, building managers and landlords have not usually had the opportunity to develop the necessary skills and knowledge on how to best serve the needs of an aging tenant population, even though they may have direct day-to-day contact with seniors. Apartment or condominium management is run primarily as a business that provides accommodation to seniors who are still able to look after themselves. But as in any service industry, the business changes as the clients' needs change. Management in the 21 st century must reflect that reality. The challenge is that good tenants stay, and they grow older. This is true "aging in place."
In the past, building managers' skills largely centered on custodial and maintenance roles. They collected rents. fixed the toilets and assured the overall cleanliness and safety of the building and grounds. In many cases individuals were thrown into these jobs with little or no training.
What are some of the special needs of an aging tenant population?
In a recent survey of a seniors' housing complex, residents were asked what they wanted most from their building manager. The two most common responses were "compassion" and taking the time to listen and understand. Most managers are 20 to 40 years younger than their Senior tenants, which can mean having difficulty understanding why Seniors act, think and feel as they do.
It is important to recognize that seniors are not likely to tell building managers, or anyone that they have these difficulties. People do not want to appear "vulnerable" or "different" and as a result they may mask the signs. So, when a senior seems aloof or to be ignoring you, it may be that the person simply does not see or recognize you or hear you. The visual recognition problem can be easily overcome by simply identifying yourself when you meet the person. Along similar lines, the Canadian Association for the Hard of Hearing and the Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (known as "SHHH") offer a variety of practical tips on how to communicate better with those who are hard of hearing (and shouting isn't one of the tips).
Buildings will need some physical adaptations in the future. The subdued lighting in foyers and elevators currently considered sophisticated can create a significant safety hazard for seniors. Not only may some seniors not be able to see the elevator buttons, they are more likely to fall and sustain injuries when the appropriate visual cues are not there. Dark places and subdued lighting also create shadows that can increase seniors' fears about their safety, further isolating them.
Sometimes seniors can experience memory impairments and it usually affects their short term memory. A building manager may mention something or make an appointment and residents may have forgotten. Memory impairments are not part of normal aging. Instead, they usually reflect some form of health problem, (e.g. infections), drug or drug-alcohol interactions (seniors are often on 5 or 6 medications, which means the potential for some adverse interactions in high), or, more rarely, Alzheimer's disease.
People are often surprised to learn that one out of two people with Alzheimer's disease lives in the community and many live alone. For seniors with memory problems, technological advances such as keyless locks and code number access may eventually end up becoming barriers to being able to get into their own homes. Building managers in the future will need to learn how to sensitively help when a person begins to forget. Building managers will also have to come to terms with the reality that sooner or later one or more residents will die at home. That means building managers must learn who to contact (police, the coroner, family), responsibilities regarding safeguarding personal effects, and collateral issues such as when to let neighbours know their friend has died.
Recognizing some of these growing needs, last year the Seniors West End Link in Vancouver offered a series of information sessions for building managers. These sessions addressed issues that the building managers felt they most needed to know. This spring the Landlord Resource Centre in Winnipeg ran its second workshop for residential building managers on how to be successful in this field.
For the future, those hiring building managers will need to select people with the right skills, attitude and willingness to deal wit older tenants. The focus will be on not only how they manage the physical building, but also how well they respond to older tenants' needs.
The preceeding article originally appeared in Top Story, the newsletter of the Apartment Owners and Property Managers' Association of Vancouver Island and is reprinted with their kind permission The statistics were changed to reflect the Manitoba experience.
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