Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Aging in Place Solutions for Older Americans: Groupthink Responses Not Always in Their Best Interests

2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/ppar/19.1.1

2053-4892

Stephen M. Golant,

Technology Use by Older Adults

—Continued on Page 33 Bernard Madoff was an investment genius; home prices will always go up; a black man will never become president; and Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Some very smart people and sophisticated organizations all believed these statements to be true. They were wrong. These are examples of what Irving Janis referred to as groupthink, a mode of thinking by a cohesive and single-minded group that believes it holds infallible positions. Consequently, its members discount warnings questioning their viewpoints, stereotype alternative perspectives as inferior, uninformed, or stupid, and interpret the absence of criticism as proof of their correctness. This groupthink mentality is disturbingly evident among those who argue that older persons who are having difficulties living independently should age in place. That is, they should remain in their familiar dwellings and cope with their age-related health problems and impairments by proactively introducing needed design modifications, assistive devices, medical monitoring, diagnostic and home security technologies, and personal assistance and Aging in place has come a long way since it surfaced over twenty years ago as a concept reflecting the phenomenon and preference of older persons to stay in their own homes. It has become an element of housing and aging policies, and was a major issue at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. Policy responses to support aging in place, however, have been piecemeal and fragmented, leaving many older people in homes that are unsupportive and in communities that offer them few housing options. Even worse, we continue to build new homes that lack the features to help the next generation of older persons to age in place. Nevertheless, there are several promising developments and opportunities to make physical housing a more viable element in our policies by coupling home modifications with energy conservation, changing codes to build housing better in the first place, and providing a range of housing options so that age friendly communities offer a choice for older persons.